This is awesome! What a nice resource for people :). I’ll have to pick up some of the ones on your list. Two books that I thought were just amazing and helped change my perspective a little bit.
1. The Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell PhD.
Brilliant thoughts and researched commentary about the dog human bond and how we can improve things on our end.
2. The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson.
Incredibly smart commentary on old thinking versus new thinking about dogs and dog training. But also a lot of specific usable, training games and plans.
Thanks for your post and I’ll take a look at your other articles. Nice work!
Ooh, it’s been ages since I read The Culture Clash. Jean Donaldson sure is getting some well-deserved shoutouts in this comment section—seems like my sign to revisit her work!
This is such a great list! I'm a big reader, though mainly fiction for fun, but one of my goals this year is to read 1 nonfiction educational dog/human/emotions book each month. This gives me lots of great books to add!
I'll definitely be coming back to this (probably multiple times). I'm feeling a little saturated right now, and have in me only quick, silly essays about chickens, but the desire to read, learn, and write things of more substance will come back around. Thanks for this list!
Haha, that's probably what I'll be posting for the foreseeable future! If you need a silly little chicken break, feel free to stop by. I've also started taking photos of their silly little faces. :)
I don't remember the title and I don't know where the book is. But I am an animal lover and I know it's how you raise them and I'm referring to pit bulls and other dogs too. I bought this particular book that talked about pitbulls and how wonderful they are. I forgot to give it to my sister for Christmas and I told her oneday and she said in her snotty tone, “I would never read it anyway they're just horrible dogs.” Still have it still haven't read it. I am way behind on my reading!! But I'm on my fourth dog! Third dog was behavioral challenged and so is this dog. He's my sweetie pie.
Is it possible it was Pit Bull by Bronwen Dickey, mentioned above? I wouldn't say it's just a book about how wonderful they are—it's a really nuanced deep dive into public perception of blocky-headed dogs, history, culture, etc from a journalist who did a ton of research—but the ultimate message clearly dispels lots of myths about the breed. I loved so much of it! And regardless of what the title was, I'm sorry your sister wasn't open to the read. I always think books are one of the best ways to wade into new perspectives!
I'm not personally an "it's all in how you raise them" person (I've found that phrase can create a lot of judgment and isolation when folks use it to claim that a dog's behavioral struggles are all the "fault" of their owner—something I've struggled with intimately) but am most definitely on the "nature AND nurture work together, and we need to acknowledge the complexity and impact of both" train.
I don't know if this one's on your list but I got a book from the library probably 30 years ago called “how to make your dog your best friend.” I started reading it and 1 day I came home from work and my dog, a beagle had chewed the cover and several of the pages after the cover and so I went to the library and I had to pay like $29 for the book but I got to keep it! Still haven't read it but he became my best friend anyway.
I've had a couple library-turned-mine books like that over the years! Oops. But I never feel bad about giving the local library the funds to get a brand-new copy—and sometimes it's very cool to end up owning a book that's been read so many times by other people (occasionally with their notes and marks). Glad you and your beagle had a wonderful relationship regardless 💛
For all Scout’s many struggles over the years, we’ve actually never had to deal with resource guarding in any real sense (only some mild, natural discomfort our trust quickly countered). I’ve heard lots of other people recommend Donaldson for great advice re RG too!
Her Fight book is good too. I rescued an 8 year old springer that bit me twice, thinking I was taking something away from him. Her book helped me a lot as did videos teaching “leave it”. She worked with a lot of dogs in shelters and her book is targeted for new shelter workers. I know trainers can be helpful but not everyone has access to a trainer. Love your list!
That last point is SO key to me. Accessibility in education and resources matters!! I wish everyone was in the position to work with a professional trainer from day one with their dogs, but it just isn't reality—and good thoughtful books, online content, in-person meetups, etc can do so much to help fill the gap!
This is awesome! What a nice resource for people :). I’ll have to pick up some of the ones on your list. Two books that I thought were just amazing and helped change my perspective a little bit.
1. The Other End of the Leash by Patricia McConnell PhD.
Brilliant thoughts and researched commentary about the dog human bond and how we can improve things on our end.
2. The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson.
Incredibly smart commentary on old thinking versus new thinking about dogs and dog training. But also a lot of specific usable, training games and plans.
Thanks for your post and I’ll take a look at your other articles. Nice work!
Ooh, it’s been ages since I read The Culture Clash. Jean Donaldson sure is getting some well-deserved shoutouts in this comment section—seems like my sign to revisit her work!
Amazing, thank you for this list! I have a read some of them but wasn’t aware of a lot of them, this is great!
This is such a great list! I'm a big reader, though mainly fiction for fun, but one of my goals this year is to read 1 nonfiction educational dog/human/emotions book each month. This gives me lots of great books to add!
I'll definitely be coming back to this (probably multiple times). I'm feeling a little saturated right now, and have in me only quick, silly essays about chickens, but the desire to read, learn, and write things of more substance will come back around. Thanks for this list!
Silly little essays about chickens also sound wonderful!!
Haha, that's probably what I'll be posting for the foreseeable future! If you need a silly little chicken break, feel free to stop by. I've also started taking photos of their silly little faces. :)
Don’t Shot the Dog, by Karen Pryor. An oldie but a goodie.
There are so many oldies but goodies, aren't there?
Thank you for sharing, greatly appreciate you.
Thank you for taking the time to read!!
I don't remember the title and I don't know where the book is. But I am an animal lover and I know it's how you raise them and I'm referring to pit bulls and other dogs too. I bought this particular book that talked about pitbulls and how wonderful they are. I forgot to give it to my sister for Christmas and I told her oneday and she said in her snotty tone, “I would never read it anyway they're just horrible dogs.” Still have it still haven't read it. I am way behind on my reading!! But I'm on my fourth dog! Third dog was behavioral challenged and so is this dog. He's my sweetie pie.
Is it possible it was Pit Bull by Bronwen Dickey, mentioned above? I wouldn't say it's just a book about how wonderful they are—it's a really nuanced deep dive into public perception of blocky-headed dogs, history, culture, etc from a journalist who did a ton of research—but the ultimate message clearly dispels lots of myths about the breed. I loved so much of it! And regardless of what the title was, I'm sorry your sister wasn't open to the read. I always think books are one of the best ways to wade into new perspectives!
I'm not personally an "it's all in how you raise them" person (I've found that phrase can create a lot of judgment and isolation when folks use it to claim that a dog's behavioral struggles are all the "fault" of their owner—something I've struggled with intimately) but am most definitely on the "nature AND nurture work together, and we need to acknowledge the complexity and impact of both" train.
I don't know if this one's on your list but I got a book from the library probably 30 years ago called “how to make your dog your best friend.” I started reading it and 1 day I came home from work and my dog, a beagle had chewed the cover and several of the pages after the cover and so I went to the library and I had to pay like $29 for the book but I got to keep it! Still haven't read it but he became my best friend anyway.
I've had a couple library-turned-mine books like that over the years! Oops. But I never feel bad about giving the local library the funds to get a brand-new copy—and sometimes it's very cool to end up owning a book that's been read so many times by other people (occasionally with their notes and marks). Glad you and your beagle had a wonderful relationship regardless 💛
Add Mine by Jean Donaldson. It will tell you all you need to know about food aggression and dog bites. Gives you exercises to deal with it.
For all Scout’s many struggles over the years, we’ve actually never had to deal with resource guarding in any real sense (only some mild, natural discomfort our trust quickly countered). I’ve heard lots of other people recommend Donaldson for great advice re RG too!
Her Fight book is good too. I rescued an 8 year old springer that bit me twice, thinking I was taking something away from him. Her book helped me a lot as did videos teaching “leave it”. She worked with a lot of dogs in shelters and her book is targeted for new shelter workers. I know trainers can be helpful but not everyone has access to a trainer. Love your list!
That last point is SO key to me. Accessibility in education and resources matters!! I wish everyone was in the position to work with a professional trainer from day one with their dogs, but it just isn't reality—and good thoughtful books, online content, in-person meetups, etc can do so much to help fill the gap!