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Dogs Gloriously Being Dogs Meg Hannan reviews How to Love and Survive Your Teenage Dog: The Complete Guide to Your Teenage Dog by PPG Australia president, Barbara Hodel
H
ow to Love and Survive Your Teenage Dog: The Complete Guide to Your Teenage Dog is written primarily with the dog guardian rather than the professional trainer in mind. The writing style is straightforward and easy to understand but, at the same time, is based on science. That is, it follows scientific principles while providing clear explanations for the layperson. Having said this, I don’t want to give the impression that the book is just a simple “howto” guide – it is so much more than that. In fact, it contains pretty much everything I believe you need to know to get you and your dog through the teenage phase of life. Not to mention that many dog trainers would also benefit from reading it. Throughout the book, author Barbara Hodel adopts an empathic ap proach to the problems dog guardians have when they realize their cute puppy has turned into a difficult teenager. When you are learning a new skill, you will inevitably find yourself – at some stage – unsure of what to do next. There is nothing more annoying that spending time scanning through pages and pages trying to find the salient point you know you read previously. So I loved that, in this book, the 10 chapters are clearly numbered in point form: Chapter 2 and then 2.1, etc. This makes it very easy to find relevant information. There is also an excellent index and reference section at the end. The text is broken up by some lovely black and white photographs scattered throughout showing some dogs being well behaved and calm, others engaging in typical teenage dog behaviors, such as inappropriate jumping and chewing, and still others training and having fun. In other words, dogs gloriously being dogs.
Ethical Training Hodel begins the book explaining that ethical training methods can transform lives, and she reassures the reader that they will be able to survive this challenging teenage phase: “Remember: your teenage dog is not giving you a hard time; they are having a hard time! You are not alone and you and your dog can do it!” The book goes on to explain the similarities and differences in the canine and human brains. Hodel’s explanation of adult vs. teenage
Hodel begins her book explaining that ethical training methods can transform lives, and reassures the reader that they will be able to survive the challenging teenage phase
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