New books offer advice on coping with incorrigible canines
REVIEWS BY JULIE HALE
Summer is the perfect season to spend relaxing quality time with your pet—unless, of course, you're the exasperated owner of a disobedient dog. If your attempts at training are met with stony unresponsiveness, don't let that lousy hound get you down! This month, we're spotlighting a few books that can help you reprogram your pet and yourself. No matter what kind of canine you're working with—a boisterous ball of energy who won't keep off the couch or a brooding bundle of neuroses whose problems transcend an inability to obey commands like sit and stay—there's a solution for you.
A man and his terrier
In an effort to better understand the fixation, the fascination, the downright adoration that dogs and only dogs seem to prompt within us, humor writer Alfred Gingold offers Dog World and the Humans Who Live There. Gingold, who has covered the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show for Slate.com and The New York Times, is the proud owner of a Norwich terrier named George, and in his new book, he chronicles his special relationship with this beloved pet. Taking the reader step-by-step through the adoption and training processes, Gingold recounts his history with the pint-sized George in a way that's instructive as well as artful.
If the author seems unduly preoccupied with George, that's because he is, and therein lies the key to this tribute to man's best friend. But Gingold moves beyond his own personal canine encounters to examine the larger cultural significance of the dog, providing commentary on dog racing, dog shows and dog accessories and memorabilia. He also includes helpful information on feeding and breeds, and an appendix with suggestions for further reading. This is a delightful look at the dominance of the dog, at the singular way dogs hold sway over the human heart.
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Homeschooling for difficult dogs
If your pet, like many, displays a host of annoying habits, then it's time to teach that pesky pooch some new tricks. Filled with innovative training tips you can implement yourself, Kathy Santo's Dog Sense: Everything You Need to Know about Raising, Training and Understanding the Dog in Your Life can help you guide your pet onto the path of improved behavior.
A familiar face on NBC's "Today" show, Santo is a New Jersey-based dog trainer who works with more than 100 animals each week. With this invaluable book, she reveals her secrets, offering sympathetic and compassionate advice in chapters focusing on commands, equipment, etiquette and specific behavior issues. Yes, there is hope for that seemingly irredeemable dog, and Santo offers it here. The concerns she covers in the book include incessant barking, begging, digging, aggressive social behavior and the canine tendency to chew on (only) valuable items. Spend some time with Santo, and she'll help you get to the bottom of your pet's problems.
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The dog wins, hands-down
Dog devotees are certain to appreciate the strange-but-true episodes collected in What the Dog Did: Tales from a Formerly Reluctant Dog Owner (Bloomsbury, $23.95, 256 pages, ISBN 1582345643) by Emily Yoffe. A regular contributor to Slate.com who has also written for Newsweek and Esquire, Yoffe starts out as a staunch cat owner, with no intention of having a dog. But one day, in answer to her daughter's demands, she brings home a rescued beagle—the nervous, sensitive Sasha. With this high-maintenance pet on her hands, there's no looking back for the author who—ready or not—enters the rocky terrain of canine ownership. Then, quicker than a twitch of Sasha's tail, the incredible occurs: Yoffe becomes a dog person.
Writing with affection, insight and humor, Yoffe chronicles this classic conversion experience. Her initiation into the canine world is both comic and poignant, filled with unforgettable incidents, as she studies to become a pet psychic (in order to telepathically communicate with her animals), trains the poorly socialized Sasha to work as a therapy dog and cares for a succession of needy beagles. Best of all is Sasha's miraculous metamorphosis from a hopelessly phobic rescue case to a happily adjusted member of the Yoffe household. The perfect ending.
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Julie Hale's dog, Howdy, who was rescued from a shelter, is still working on the basics of "sit" and "stay."
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