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The rest of the 300+ pages describes in nebulous descriptions how great the author is and how she solved dog problems by her mere presence and greatness. The author is a self-proclaimed equivalent in the dog training world.
There are many good dog training books. If she really possesses a talent, it is not apparent by reading this book.
This book was disappointing at best. The author boasts about getting her inspiration from a well known horse trainer.
Don't waste your time or money with this one. The actual informational content can be boiled down to 2 tips: eat a bite from your dog's bowl before you feed it, and don't pay attention to your dog right after you come home.
The author plows through multiple examples of dog problems and that they were solved, but without providing any details that are usable to the reader.
Perhaps the most ill informed section of the book is her off-leash training recommendations in the 30-Day Training Guide. While I give her kudos for refraining from using too many exclamation marks, she could use a decent style guide and a new editor. I believe that Jan Fennell loves and understands dogs (at least the ones she breeds - throughout the book she demonstrates a profound misunderstanding of rescue dogs), but her methods seem based on whims. While I agree having a well behaved off-leash dog is a wonderful goal, suggesting people begin working in public with an untethered dog after just 15 days is irresponsible.On the production side, Fennell's writing is subpar. The text is fraught with errors and inconsistencies. She exhibits no scientific foundation in canine behavior, psychology, or physiology. Some of her recommendations are shocking and even cruel, such as withholding exercise (preposterous) and ignoring a dog for up to four days (abusive).
Each chapter revealed a new insight into the pack mentality and how to assume the alpha position to have a mentally happy, healthy and loving relationship with your dogs. I have read a lot of dog training and behavior books. I believe I gained a lot from this book. I would and have suggested the reading of this book to anyone who has or is thinking of obtaining a new furry friend. This book was simply outstanding. I felt like I was reading a novel where I couldn't put the book down.
It was a bit like a treasure hunt to dig through her personal chat to be able to come up with the salient facts or information about this process. This book helped me begin to understand not only the response of my 4 legged friends, but also provided a glimpse into the genetic disposition of why they respond in a certain way.
It was enlightening. It gave me a bit of control by virtue of the given situation I present to them, i.e., I'm a better leader of the pack and they're a happier pack for my having read the book.
I liked this book. It makes such perfect sense to me, since my belief is, we, human or animal, never act from "nothing", but rather, act in response to the given situation.
I have much to learn. The shortcoming, as far as I'm concerned, is too much "story telling" and not enough factual information.
Having said that, I love the idea of the psychology of the hardwiring of the canine brain.the DNA of behavior, if you will.
Helps people understand what their dogs are saying and need to be true members of your family. A must read for anyone who has a dog, but most certainly for the multiple dog family. Wonderful insightful book. This is written in an easy style to read.
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