Bringing
Light to Shadow:
A Dog Trainer's Diary
DogWise Publishing, $19.95 Buy
now
How
to Right a Dog Gone Wrong:
A Roadmap for Rehabilitatiing
Aggressive Dogs
Alpine Publications, $19.95 Buy
now
Pamela S. Dennison, the author of two new dog
books, appears to be developing into a prolific
and accomplished dog writer, not a "one
trick pony," writing the same book over
and over again. Both books, while on the same
topic, are as different as night and day.
 As
to journalistic integrity, I must point out
that both books take a purely positive approach.
I would use a more balanced approach, but that
is not what these reviews are about. It is my
job to review the books and both are great books
in the genre.
Many would ask which one is best? I would recommend
both. They each have a completely different
slant. The close publishing date of both books
fascinates me, as well as the fact that they
are by two different dog book publishers. Dogwise
is a "new kid on the block," publishing
books that other publishers won't touch, yet "deserve" to
be published. They started by selling dog books
and grew into a publisher. Alpine has been around
longer and even bought out some of the old Denlinger
book line. Both publishers put out a lot of
dog books and are independent as compared to
the earlier dog book publishers that have become
part of large conglomerates.
First, let's review Bringing Light to Shadow;
A Dog Trainer's Diary. This is a great
and appropriate title. Shadow is the dog that
trainer Dennison chose to rehabilitate from
its aggression problems. She also delivers
the goods by having an 18-month diary of her
journey to successfully obtaining Shadow's
Canine Good Citizen title. I find it troublesome
when a book doesn't deliver on its promised
title. Granted, it is not a day-by-day diary,
but there are enough entries in its 234 pages
to be called a diary.
Dennison uses quotes as chapter titles, and
I thought it was a wonderful, imaginative idea.
Also, the self-depreciating humor (at least
I hope it was meant as humor) was particularly
appealing. Dennison's opening line is, "There
is no doubt in my mind that I am crazy." Dog
people can all say that about themselves.
In Bringing Light to Shadow, you accompany
the author on her journey of rehabilitating
a problem dog. You see her despair and frustration
and her thoughts on "bailing out." Dedication
to the task at hand and her pre-conceived notion
that this dog will be a great competitor keeps
her trying.
Dennison's layout is interesting, convenient
and functional. There are sub-headings such
as "Training Concept." This is an
outstanding approach in presenting this book.
When a concept is mentioned, it is explained.
Dennison mentioned Shadow taking a Herding Instinct
test and she mentioned a couple of sheepdog
terms. There was a brief explanation of the
terms but not an in depth analysis that would
have been inappropriate and distracting. One
of the good qualities of the book is that Dennison
subtly repeats important points. She doesn't
bang you over the head but eases you into it.
As one French director told me in the explaining
the importance of rehearsals in French, "Repetition!
Repetition! Repetition!"
"Hindsight" gives us the unfolding
of Pam's thought processes. She unabashedly
lists her errors (and boy do we all make them).
Pam continues explaining why they were made.
You can see her growth before your eyes. She
corrects herself when making verbal corrections.
Here is a true purely positive trainer and you
learn to appreciate the complexities of dog
training, particularly with all positive methods.
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I appreciate
fanaticism and Pamela is a fanatic. Before you
jump all over me for calling her a fanatic, it
is meant as a compliment. Look at the word roots
of fan and fancier.
The diary approach would be something I would
enjoy reading by dog training icons but we will
never see that sadly. By the time the great
dog trainers reach that plateau, they would
not remember what went before. Furthermore,
the truly great dog trainers rather than being
immersed in theory feel what to do.
"Good Pam!" and "Good Doggie!" were
comments that often ended a day's work. "Good
Doggie" explained what Shadow did and "Good
Pam!" noted the right things the author
accomplished. Another repeated exclamation was "Holy
Smokes!" These comments were more in common
in the beginning of the book and petered out
towards the end. Pam praised Shadow more than
herself and was quite enthusiastic in her praise.
This rather than a sub-heading was a postscript.
Her exuberance spilled over to her "assistants." On
May 1, her 339 day of training she headlined, "Today
get the ‘HOLY SMOKES' Award!" She
sang the praises of a couple of her "dog
bait" (her term, not mine) omnipresent "friends." Dale
Carnegies classic "How to Win Friends and
Influence People" should be updated by
Ms. Dennison. Putting the dog bait mantle is
NOT the way to make friends, but she certainly
has the ability to influence people. They continually
reappear in her book and she is always searching
for fresh meat (my term, not hers).
How to Right a Dog Gone Wrong; A Roadmap
for Rehabilitation Aggressive Dogs also
had an interesting format. One repeated sub-heading
has no sub-heading at all. It is the silhouette
of a spaniel sitting. Inside of the dotted
lines is a further explanation and clarification
of previously mentioned information. I like
a good title, BUT I want the title to deliver
what it promises. The book is definitely a "roadmap" for
the all-positive trainer. Both books do this.
This book is extremely well illustrated with different dogs.
I find it offensive when a dog-training book
has only one dog in it. What? Has the trainer
only trained one dog? The Shadow book is,
of course, the exception—that proves
the rule. All photos in the Shadow book and
those on the cover are of Shadow.
 "Points
to Ponder" closes out the chapters and
is phrased in a manner that gets the reader
thinking. It is a variation on the aforementioned "Repetition!" Chapter
9, "Designing Your Desensitization Program," covers
23 pages and is as complete as possible. She
stressed logging all sorts of information and
while that is not my style I recognize the need.
It is particularly good for the person embarking
on a new training methods such as positive training
or a new area of training such as aggression.
The book brilliantly covers the problems caused
by the interaction with the dog's handler/owner/trainer.
If that person is in denial it is a major problem,
but it is only one of the problems. Tension/stress
on the part of the handler is transmitted up
and down the leash. Who discusses overcoming
these problems? No one! Pamela Dennison covers
these quite well. A book could be written on
breathing and visualization but that would be
overkill and a different book. A generous 14
pages is devoted to information, additional
sources and a glossary at the end of the book.
My primary criticism of purely positive books
is that many are so enamored with the technique
that they have to spend up to one-third of the
book singing the technique (and themselves)
praises. Are they doing it to pad the book or
are they as Shakespeare said, "The lady
doth protest too much, methinks?" Dennison
delivers the information. She has a lot to say
and says it. Both these books, in my opinion,
are the best of the purely positive genre and
deserve wise praise and recognition. Both are
great primers for the person interested in investigating
or doing purely positive training. |