Your Dog and You: Understanding the Canine Psyche - Couverture souple

Garratt, Gill; Walters, Tom

Couverture souple

ISBN 10 : 1845847385 ISBN 13 : 9781845847388

Editeur : Veloce, 2014

A propos du livre

Revue de presse :

It seems as if once or twice a week I receive either a book or an essay about some aspect of dog behavior or about the nature of our relationships with these fascinating beings. This week is no different as a book by Gill Garratt [a psychologist and specialist in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT)] called Your dog and you...: Understanding the canine psyche arrived in my mailbox. This new book "examines the relationship between people and dogs from a psychological perspective, incorporating Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). Uniquely, this is the first time that CBT has been used to help owners relate to their dogs. A dog's behavior can be a reflection of the emotions an owner may be experiencing; it follows that insight into our behavior using CBT to reduce emotional unrest will, in turn, be reflected in a dog's behavior. Dogs have had to become experts at reading people in order to live with us. By understanding our dog and how he responds to us, we can comprehend more about our world and how our dog sees us. Dogs are naturally expert psychologists, and have, over centuries, been bred and domesticated to live harmoniously with us. That they have - in the main - achieved this so well reflects this amazing animal's ingenuity." As with other books published by the Hubble and Hattie Imprint, this book is accompanied by wonderful photographs, in this case by Tom Walters (for other examples please see Among the Wolves: Memoirs of a Wolf Handler and The Truth About Wolves and Dogs: Dispelling the Myths of Dog Training)... ...What I really like about this short "field guide" is the breadth of the topics that are considered... ... and how Mr. Garratt stresses how important it is for us to pay very careful attention to how our own behavior influences dogs and how they, in turn, carefully read us and use this information as a guide for assessing the nature of the relationship. For example, she writes about how we must reduce negative emotions in our life and how doing that will benefit the dog and also ourselves (pp. 43ff). She also notes that "Our influence on how our dogs develop is constant and profound; right from birth a dog has to interact with people." (p. 51) Among the other important and essentials lessons are included the importance of a "meeting of human and canine minds" for forming a lasting and close connection (p. 52), the importance of the first few months of a dog's life, and how to know when dogs are distressed (pp. 60ff) and when we are distressed (pp. 67ff), and how our distress influences dogs and theirs influences us. His summary table (p. 72) is an incredibly useful guide. Mr. Garratt concludes his discussion of distress by noting we must show our dogs "that all is well, and they have no reason to worry or to feel under threat." (p. 74) Lastly, his chapter on how dogs can benefit our health and well-being provides very useful information about how "this precious and special bond" can help us along (p. 79). All in all, I found Your dog and you...: Understanding the canine psyche to be an extremely useful read and highly recommend it to anyone who lives with a dog(s) or is thinking about sharing their home with one or more of these wonderful and sensitive beings. The combination of scientific data, numerous case studies and stories, and exceptional photographs make this book a most valuable addition to one's library. And, because of how it is organized and how the material is carefully presented, it's easy to go back to it time and time again to refresh our own memory about what we need to do to insure that dogs feel comfortable with us and how this feeling of peace and safety helps the beings at both ends of the leash. --Marc Bekoff Ph.D., Psychology Today

I found Your dog and you...: Understanding the canine psyche to be an extremely useful read and highly recommend it to anyone who lives with a dog(s) or is thinking about sharing their home with one or more of these wonderful and sensitive beings. The combination of scientific data, numerous case studies and stories, and exceptional photographs make this book a most valuable addition to one's library. And, because of how it is organized and how the material is carefully presented, it's easy to go back to it time and time again to refresh our own memory about what we need to do to insure that dogs feel comfortable with us and how this feeling of peace and safety helps the beings at both ends of the leash. Psychology Today [Gill Garratt's] concise, informative guide to positive rapport between [humans and dogs] will revolutionize modern canine education ... a thought-provoking read. --Geelong Obedience Dog Club

THIS is an interesting and enjoyable book, written by a specialist in cognitive behavioural therapy. She writes with the perspective of a psychologist who is also a dog lover and owner, has a relaxed writing style, but also backs up her statements with scientific evidence. The book contains many attractive photographs, which break up and illustrate points made in the text, and the chapters are relatively short and digestible. The author explores how canine behaviour is influenced by nature and nurture, in particular drawing attention to breed differences. The reader is introduced to the concept of tameness and evolutionary influences on the wolf as the ancestor of our domestic dog. She also describes various scientific studies in foxes and wolves to illustrate points about behaviour and temperament. As a psychologist, she is well placed to discuss aspects of the human psyche that are important when it comes to considering our relationship with our canine companions. She draws attention to behavioural characteristics in people, which may help or hinder their ability as dog trainers and handlers, and may also cause personality clashes with certain dogs. It is unusual to find an author who considers in depth the effect that our behaviour can have on our dogs, and why: this is a novel way of exploring the intricacies of the human/ animal bond. The book explores behavioural manifestations of stress in both people and dogs, some of which are very subtle and will only be noticed by the enlightened and perceptive observer. It becomes clear that our body language and expressions can significantly affect the behaviour of our pets, with positive or negative consequences. The author explains the differences and values of cognitive behaviour therapy versus behaviour therapy. People can express their feelings through speech and behaviour, but we have to be more observant to understand what our dogs are telling us. There is reference throughout to the enormous benefits, physical as well as psychological, of dogs to people, and the importance of the human/animal bond. The author also draws attention to the many ways in which dogs can be of therapeutic value, such as in cancer detection and psychiatric illness. Overall, this is a most enjoyable read for anyone who loves dogs, but particularly for those who would like to explore the theory, and have a better understanding, of the interaction between people and dogs. --Caroline Bower, Veterinary Record

Présentation de l'éditeur :

Your dog and you ...understanding the canine psyche examines the relationship between people and dogs from a psychological perspective, incorporating Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to facilitate this: uniquely, the first time that CBT has been used to help owners relate to their dogs. A dog's behaviour can be a reflection of the emotions an owner may be experiencing; it follows that insight into our behaviour using CBT to reduce emotional unrest will, in turn, be reflected in a dog's behaviour. Dogs have had to become experts at reading people in order to live with us. By understanding our dog and how he responds to us, we can comprehend more about our world and how our dog sees us. Dogs are naturally expert psychologists, and have, over centuries, been bred and domesticated to live harmoniously with us. That they have - in the main - achieved this so well reflects this amazing animal's ingenuity.

À propos de cette édition

• Éditeur: Veloce
• Date d'édition: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1845847385
• ISBN 13: 9781845847388
• Reliure: Paperback
• Numéro d'édition: 1
• Nombre de pages: 112