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Beware Of The Dog - Positive Solutions For Aggressive Behavior In Dogs
Be (more) aware!Here is your road map to evaluating, managing and modifying aggressive behavior in pet dogs. Beware of the Dog offers a wide-ranging look at all types of aggression and the way these troublesome behaviors develop. It explains the latest protocols for evaluating and dealing with the problems of aggressive dogs from classical conditioning to operant conditioning, and prescribes management strategies that really work. Written in an easy-to-understand style that meets the needs of trainers as well as the motivated dog owner.Pat’s new book should be on the desk, not the bookshelf, of every professional studying or working with aggression cases. It will become your “go to” reference manual for all case management and behavior modification protocols. Your personal copy will quickly become dog-eared, highlighted, bookmarked, smudged with fingerprints, annotations and filled with post-it notes. Niki Tudge, President of the Pet Professional Guild and author of People Training Skills for Pet Professionals Full of engaging anecdotes that illustrate Pat’s approach, which is steadfastly force-free and humane. Jean Donaldson, Founder, The Academy for Dog Trainers and author of The Culture Clash, MINE and FIGHT
- GenresDogsNonfictionAnimals
210 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 30, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 9, 2025
It's wonderful that this effective resource on positive solutions for aggressive behavior in dogs is now in audiobook format. As a professional dog trainer (not a behaviorist), I want to read as many dog training books as I can, but print books are less accessible to me. This audiobook was thoughtful about how to effectively present this information to the reader by including a 72 page PDF. Be sure to check that out because in addition to having the links and references the audiobook refers the reader to, it also has full color pictures depicting dog body language as well as pictures on how to teach some skills. The audiobook narrator does a great job, reading it in a neutral voice with no issues with other noise or breathing. If you've been wanting to read this book, I recommend the audiobook!
As a guardian of a reactive rover, as Pat MIller calls them, and also a predatory aggressive dog, I will use these skills, especially CAT (constructional aggression treatment) to help improve their behaviors. I have done substantial work with my reactive dog, but not CAT, so I am hopeful that the new perspective Pat Miller provides will help him move a bit more towards being able to tolerate being around other dogs, especially my partner's dog. While I have used most of these skills, like CC (counter conditioning) and OP (operant conditioning) before, the way she breaks down the process is helpful and feels easier to follow than some other resources (like Fiesty Fido) and will be easier for my partner to implement with her fear reactive dog, especially when we work with both dogs together. If you're interested in CAT, CC, or OP, for your aggressive dog I recommend this book. Note that while the predatory aggression section has some helpful and likely effective ideas, I suspect it won't go far enough for you to be able to trust a high prey drive dog (like mine) to be off leash with prey like my partner's recently acquired chickens. If you are exclusively looking for a resource on predatory aggression, I'd recommend checking out Simone Mueller's books and courses.
The content of this book is a little less consent and force free based than I am as a professional dog trainer and thus I didn't rate the content as 5 stars. This book is much better than other resources and books I've seen on this subject and I recommend pet dog guardians and professional dog trainers read this book. As Pat Miller says, if there's something about a training method you aren't comfortable with for your dog, even if it's her recommendation, be your dog's advocate and do it a different way after researching how to do it in a more consent based way. Choice, cooperation, and consent aren't all the same thing and this book leaves out consent, though does have a lot of choice and cooperation based skills. Hopefully in the near future there will be another resource that comes from a consent based focus (maybe Grisha Stewart's BAT 3.0, if she is able to finish writing the book) that a skilled pet dog trainer or professional dog trainer could use to combine with these methods in such a way that the training is solidly consent based and an effective positive solution to aggression in dogs.
Thank you to Dogwise Publishing for providing me with a review copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.
As a guardian of a reactive rover, as Pat MIller calls them, and also a predatory aggressive dog, I will use these skills, especially CAT (constructional aggression treatment) to help improve their behaviors. I have done substantial work with my reactive dog, but not CAT, so I am hopeful that the new perspective Pat Miller provides will help him move a bit more towards being able to tolerate being around other dogs, especially my partner's dog. While I have used most of these skills, like CC (counter conditioning) and OP (operant conditioning) before, the way she breaks down the process is helpful and feels easier to follow than some other resources (like Fiesty Fido) and will be easier for my partner to implement with her fear reactive dog, especially when we work with both dogs together. If you're interested in CAT, CC, or OP, for your aggressive dog I recommend this book. Note that while the predatory aggression section has some helpful and likely effective ideas, I suspect it won't go far enough for you to be able to trust a high prey drive dog (like mine) to be off leash with prey like my partner's recently acquired chickens. If you are exclusively looking for a resource on predatory aggression, I'd recommend checking out Simone Mueller's books and courses.
The content of this book is a little less consent and force free based than I am as a professional dog trainer and thus I didn't rate the content as 5 stars. This book is much better than other resources and books I've seen on this subject and I recommend pet dog guardians and professional dog trainers read this book. As Pat Miller says, if there's something about a training method you aren't comfortable with for your dog, even if it's her recommendation, be your dog's advocate and do it a different way after researching how to do it in a more consent based way. Choice, cooperation, and consent aren't all the same thing and this book leaves out consent, though does have a lot of choice and cooperation based skills. Hopefully in the near future there will be another resource that comes from a consent based focus (maybe Grisha Stewart's BAT 3.0, if she is able to finish writing the book) that a skilled pet dog trainer or professional dog trainer could use to combine with these methods in such a way that the training is solidly consent based and an effective positive solution to aggression in dogs.
Thank you to Dogwise Publishing for providing me with a review copy of this audiobook. All opinions are my own.
July 21, 2017
This book is an excellent resource for anyone interested in, or dealing with, aggression issues in dogs. Chock full of relevant and valuable information without being too complex in jargon or theory, Beware Of The Dog presents readers with proven behavior analysis and modification procedures in a simple and easy-to-follow format that is perfect for the average pet dog owner.
Aggression, as a whole, can be a vast and complex topic, and yet in this book Pat Miller has masterfully tackled the subject and broken it down into it's most basic parts, equipping owners with the knowledge and tools they need to get started right away in building a proper management and modification plan. Topics discussed include a discussion on aggression (what it is, and what it isn't), Alpha theory vs. stress and fear-based aggression, preventing aggression through socialization, as well as management techniques and training strategies.
Common theorized causes of aggression are also discussed in an open-minded format that I found very refreshing, however if I could make one change to the book it would be to include the influence of gut dysbiosis as well as heavy metal and vaccine toxicity on behavior (and which I believe are a major contributor to the exponential increase in aggression cases over the past decade).
Also included are helpful anecdotal case stories to further illustrate the methods Miller endorses and uses herself, which I especially found useful. Training examples are included for a wide variety of aggressive scenarios, including resource aggression, dog-dog and predatory aggression, leash reactivity, and more.
Beware Of The Dog is a wonderfully thorough yet easy-to-understand book on a challenging issue that is far too prevalent today. Probably one of the best books I have read on the subject to date, I highly, highly recommend it!
Additional recommended reading for those interested:
Behavior Adjustment Training 2.0 by Grisha Stewart
The Complete Idiot's Guide To Positive Dog Training by Pam Dennison
Bringing Light To Shadow by Pam Dennison
How To Right A Dog Gone Wrong by Pam Dennison
Click To Calm by Emma Parsons
Scaredy Dog by Ali Brown
Aggression, as a whole, can be a vast and complex topic, and yet in this book Pat Miller has masterfully tackled the subject and broken it down into it's most basic parts, equipping owners with the knowledge and tools they need to get started right away in building a proper management and modification plan. Topics discussed include a discussion on aggression (what it is, and what it isn't), Alpha theory vs. stress and fear-based aggression, preventing aggression through socialization, as well as management techniques and training strategies.
Common theorized causes of aggression are also discussed in an open-minded format that I found very refreshing, however if I could make one change to the book it would be to include the influence of gut dysbiosis as well as heavy metal and vaccine toxicity on behavior (and which I believe are a major contributor to the exponential increase in aggression cases over the past decade).
Also included are helpful anecdotal case stories to further illustrate the methods Miller endorses and uses herself, which I especially found useful. Training examples are included for a wide variety of aggressive scenarios, including resource aggression, dog-dog and predatory aggression, leash reactivity, and more.
Beware Of The Dog is a wonderfully thorough yet easy-to-understand book on a challenging issue that is far too prevalent today. Probably one of the best books I have read on the subject to date, I highly, highly recommend it!
Additional recommended reading for those interested:
Behavior Adjustment Training 2.0 by Grisha Stewart
The Complete Idiot's Guide To Positive Dog Training by Pam Dennison
Bringing Light To Shadow by Pam Dennison
How To Right A Dog Gone Wrong by Pam Dennison
Click To Calm by Emma Parsons
Scaredy Dog by Ali Brown
September 26, 2018
Great resource and a lot to absorb.
March 30, 2017
Really great read! While I do have some questions regarding some of the protocols there are fairly nitpicky and do not detract from what I felt I learned from the book.
Very comprehensive without bogging me down with too much information.
Again the only protocols I would have liked to have seen fleshed out a little more were the Resource Guarding chapters (especially the use of tethering) but other then that excellent book!
Very comprehensive without bogging me down with too much information.
Again the only protocols I would have liked to have seen fleshed out a little more were the Resource Guarding chapters (especially the use of tethering) but other then that excellent book!
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews