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50th out of 237 books
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The Other End of the Leash
The Other End of the Leash shares a revolutionary, new perspective on our relationship with dogs, focusing on our behavior in comparison with that of dogs. An applied animal behaviorist and dog trainer with more than twenty years experience, Dr. Patricia McConnell looks at humans as just another interesting species, and muses about why we behave the way we do around our do...more
Paperback, 272 pages
Published
February 19th 2009
by Ballantine Books
(first published January 1st 2002)
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I'd read anything she writes. She's a wonderful writer and I can never learn enough about dogs.
4 1/2 for this one..I am desperate to understand how to communicate with my dog and this book sets the stage for that. I'm a snotty academic with a Master's in Anthro. so, I also love the fact that an individual with a background in ethology is describing not only canine behavior but our own primate actions/reactions. I'll definitely be reading her other books.
This was a fascinating book about the psychology of dogs, but based on a much more scientific approach than Cesar Millan's version of dog psychology. This is not so much a training manual, but part advice, part memoir, part comedy - I found the difference between a primate approach and a dog approach to things so interesting, and Patricia McConnell is a very engaging writer. I loved all her anecdotes about sheep herding. As someone who has owned a dog in the past, and hopes to do so again in ...more
Jen
is currently reading it
In progress but so far everything in this book has really helped me out with understanding how my dog thinks. I learned how to get her to be on a stay, and that's something that we have been working on for a long time! So far this is an easy to apply read and really recommend for anyone who has a dog or is thinking about becoming a dog owner.
For anyone who is serious about training their dog, this is a good book. I did not agree with McConnell's view of man, and her behavioral psychology got a little much when applied to people, but when reading for the purpose of behavioral training for dogs, it is very worth while.
this is one of my all time favorite books. i love the way P.M. writes, including anecdotes and then going through to explain the details of what she thinks about it. i think everyone who owns a dog should read this book.
This book is part dog training manual, part dog psychology book, part human psychology book. I learned a LOT from Patricia McConnell. She's come highly recommended by most of the dog communities I'm in and while I've had the book for some time and started it any number of times, I didn't really get around to reading it until just after the new year. If anyone wants to delve more into why YOU act the way you do around your dogs and why your dog reacts the way it does to the often unconscious (and...more
I really enjoyed this book. It is so weird because I have read so many puppy books, but Charlie is really more dog than puppy now, and it is time i face facts! I no longer have any use on the "how-to" books, and i want a more thoughtful perspective of dog/human interaction which before, to be honest, i couldn't really understand these books until owning a dog.
In this book, the author compares the social structure of dogs as they have descended from wolves to the social st...more
In this book, the author compares the social structure of dogs as they have descended from wolves to the social st...more
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Nicole
rated it
Recommends it for:
Dog lovers and those interested in animal behavior
Recommended to Nicole by:
Sandy from HART
This book was recommended to me by the folks at HART (Homeless Animal Rescue Team). It decribes the differeces and similarities in how primates and canines communiticate and how understanding these differeces can help you train and communiticate with you dog. Each chapter starts off with an antidote from the author's personal experiance as an animal behaviorist and dog trainer followed by an explanation of what went wrong or right as the case may be. This book is well researched and some what...more
Written by an applied behaviorist, this book compares and contrasts primate and canine behavior and psychology to give dog owners a little more insight into their companion's behavior. McConnell interweaves carefully referenced scientific studies and engaging anecdotes from her own extensive experience working with dogs (and their owners) to give readers a solid sense of the current state of the field of canine ethology. Extensive references are listed in the back and there are footnotes throug...more
I got this after some trying experiences with my adolescent pooch. I'm a few chapters in and already I feel much more able to communicate effectively with her. We've been working this week on coming when called, and have seen a big difference. She discusses the role of body language in communicating with dogs. Last night as usual Kaia was trying to sniff my dinner plate, while I was sitting on the floor, and I just leaned forward a little bit towards her to assert my dominance and she turned awa...more
This book made me wish I lived on a farm with sheep and cows that my dog could herd. I just don't know how practical that is when I have never done anything like it I wouldn't know where to begin but Locke could help me. I thought this book was very good. It made me see things from my dogs perspective. She must think I'm not very polite. This book was the beggining for me. It made me really focus on who my dog is and if she is happy. I hope so. I have found out Ruby is a social climber a...more
Marelis
rated it
Recommends it for:
anyone who loves dogs or wants to know more about communicating with them
Recommended to Marelis by:
librarian at the local college
if you want to read a book that will help you understand your relationship with your dog, this is it. McConnell writes in an easy to read way that is packed with great information. She even writes about the human psychology which causes many of the communication errors that people commit with their dogs such as hugging, direct eye contact, etc. This is a book which is worn and dog eared at my house, with many passages highlighted for future reference.
The Other End of the Leash is more about communicating with dogs than how to train them. Patricia McConnell masterfully explains how as primates we are consistently unaware of the signals we are sending to our four legged friends. In our defense it isn’t willful ignorance; humans just communicate differently. Things like eye contact, shaking hands and hugging, which are signs of affection among humans, are seen as rude and aggressive to dogs. Similarly we tend to disregard things like blinking a...more
It is one of the most exciting books I've ever read on dog training/behaviour. So exciting that I had to refrain myself to go further and read few pages (if not the whole title) in advance in following chapters; Or yet going backward to previous pages to find back a beautifully written description of a dog expression and check it on my dog's face. Thus it was a very enjoyable back and forth reading that I never wanted to end. When came to the end, I was relieved finding many more insights and wo...more
I learned a few things from the book about my interactions with my dog, but mostly, it is not a very engaging read. I couldn't finish it.
I could not get over the author's short, but frequent, quips to remind us how qualified she is to be writing about the subject at hand. OKAY, we get it! You got a PhD! Let's leave it alone now. Chances are, people already acknowledge your qualifications if they picked up your book...
The other major problem I had with this book is that it foc...more
I could not get over the author's short, but frequent, quips to remind us how qualified she is to be writing about the subject at hand. OKAY, we get it! You got a PhD! Let's leave it alone now. Chances are, people already acknowledge your qualifications if they picked up your book...
The other major problem I had with this book is that it foc...more
I find that dog literature is a difficult section of the library or bookstore to navigate. Much like parenting, the gamut has been covered for every style of selecting, raising, training, rehabilitating, and understanding our canine friends. Oftentimes, in my experience, I find that much of the literature is dumbed down to "Learning 101"and while I can appreciate the information presented in a syntax that is accessible, I don't enjoy reading on the levels of an 8th grader when I'm look...more
I cannot recommend this book highly enough for every dog owner that really cares about how they are raising their dog. This is not an instructional how-to guide for training dogs. Rather, it is about us humans that are usually sending so many mixed signals that it is a credit to our dogs that they learning anything.
This book was recommended to me by my dog's trainer, who wisely knew that if she could get me to learn a bit, my dog would learn 20 times faster. She was right. I have sl...more
This book was recommended to me by my dog's trainer, who wisely knew that if she could get me to learn a bit, my dog would learn 20 times faster. She was right. I have sl...more
I LOVE Patricia McConnell. This book focuses on how human body language is interpreted by dogs. First read her "For the Love of a Dog" which was a wonderful balance to the Caesar Milan school of dog training. (Lots to learn from Caesar, but he doesn't have all the answers.) Looking forward to adding to my bag of tricks to use on Dixie!
I didn't find this one as compelling -- perhaps, not as practical -- as For the Love of a Dog. I think this book could be boiled down to s...more
I didn't find this one as compelling -- perhaps, not as practical -- as For the Love of a Dog. I think this book could be boiled down to s...more
So, OK, I'm spending all my time lately reading dog training books. Talk about not what I want to be doing. I have a list of 4 books a training specialist told me to read, and I'm working my way through.
This one, though, I must say, was a fun read. Patricia McConnell understands a lot about a lot of different animal behaviors, and she has a talent for getting the point across to the rest of us. She lives on a sheep farm in Wisconsin, where in addition to her dog training business, sh...more
This one, though, I must say, was a fun read. Patricia McConnell understands a lot about a lot of different animal behaviors, and she has a talent for getting the point across to the rest of us. She lives on a sheep farm in Wisconsin, where in addition to her dog training business, sh...more
Very good book about the dog-human relationship. Patricia McConnell explains a lot about people in this book, and how we unintentionally confuse our dogs. She gives good examples of how to clear up the miscommunication, too. My favorite: apparently, calling your dog to come, while running towards her, is sending mixed messages. McConnel explains that dogs want to go in the direction your feet are pointed, so to effectively call your dog, act like you're going to run in the other direction.
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This book really helped me understand not only what my dog was trying to communicate to me, but also what my unintentional actions communicate to my dog. It explains the reasons underlying our primate-like behaviors, for example, how we tend to repeat and increase the volume on our spoken phrases. Then, it goes on to explain how dogs perceive these behaviors, which is sometimes not the way we think, and what we can do to communicate better with our dogs, both by sending them signals they underst...more
I purchased this book when I ordered two booklets by the same author. The administrators of our dog obiendence class had recommended Patricia McConnell, and I am so glad that she did. The Other End of the Leash does an excellent job of exploring how a social primate species functions with a social canine species. It reminds us that no matter how much we consider our dog as part of the family, they are still a dog. They do not speak English, they do not hug among their own kind, but they do t...more
37. 5/9/09: The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs, by Patricia McConnell. This book was SO useful and well-written. Everything in it is credible due to the source, not to mentioned explained in ways that are simple to follow. For example, the chapter on verbal communication... I am one of those people who talks to her dogs WAY too much because somehow I think it will help if I get louder and repeat things, lol. But now that I have read this book I know how to better manage...more
So far, this is the most eye-opening book I've read about raising and training dogs. Patricia McConnell is a positive animal behaviorist/trainer and sheep herder who needs working dogs to guard and herd her flock, as well as demonstrate at animal behavior seminars. She does an amazing job of breaking down the differences between primate (human!) and canine body and verbal cues, and teaches how to make small changes to the primate cues that are natural to us but send our dogs the completely wrong...more
So I read this a while back, so I can't remember everything I liked, but I really found this book fascinating, especially the section where it talked about a dog's sense of smell. This is a good read on how dog's perceive the world and how they interpret our actions, and how we can use this knowledge to be more careful in how we communicate with our dogs. She gives an example of a time where she needed to get a dog out of the road and instead of chasing after the dog, the way to get a dog to com...more
This is another book I read entirely on my phone, which is why it took me 7 months to get through it. I read it in line at the supermarket or while waiting for meetings to start. I just don't have that much downtime in my daily routine, I guess.
When I started reading it, I was a brand new dog owner bewildered by this being that had entered our life. When I finished it, Lola had become an integral part of our family and my 2nd-to-best friend after Angela. She and I, I think, understand ...more
When I started reading it, I was a brand new dog owner bewildered by this being that had entered our life. When I finished it, Lola had become an integral part of our family and my 2nd-to-best friend after Angela. She and I, I think, understand ...more
It's annoying that throughout the book she seems to continually refer to her Ph.D. and her job title as Applied Animal Behaviorist (capitalized like that). It seems braggy at times. Aside from that, it's an interesting book on behavior and body language and the differences between those characteristics in primates and canids. She includes a lot of anecdotes about her own dogs when she's explaining a concept, which is both entertaining and endearing, because it's obvious how much she loves dogs.
This is the first book I've read in preparation for getting a dog, and I found it valuable.
Key messages:
- Canine and primate instincts are not identical
- Don't hug your dog if you can resist. NEVER hug anyone else's dog.
- Be consistent in the words you use
- Talk less to your dog
- Use your body to block
- Use rewards to train, not aversives
- Think carefully about environment/situation leading to "bad" behaviour
- Remember dogs have diff...more
Key messages:
- Canine and primate instincts are not identical
- Don't hug your dog if you can resist. NEVER hug anyone else's dog.
- Be consistent in the words you use
- Talk less to your dog
- Use your body to block
- Use rewards to train, not aversives
- Think carefully about environment/situation leading to "bad" behaviour
- Remember dogs have diff...more
A look into how dogs think and how we can change our responses to their actions to bring about positive behavior and a more rewarding relationship with them. I thought it would have more training hints, but it was more about their psyche, primates psyche and our psyche with not much actual how to. Very interesting book. I felt it skimmed the surface on what to actually do, but delved deep into why they and we behaved a certain way.
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Patricia McConnell, Ph.D., a Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist, (CAAB) has made a lifelong commitment to improving the relationship between people and animals. She is known worldwide as an expert on canine and feline behavior and dog training, and for her engaging and knowledgeable dog training books, DVDs and seminars. Patricia has seen clients for serious behavioral problems since 1988, and i...more
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