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Summary: On Talking Terms With Dogs : Calming Signals
Review: I am an American who lives in Germany. My husband and I are training our Labrador to be a search and rescue dog with a German organization. This book comes highly recommended by our group. I am in the middle of reading it and applying its teachings to the training of our dog; I can't believe the difference in my relationship with him. It takes time and consistency to make it effective...patience too, but it is oh so worth it! A couple of things that I have learned are:
1) If you think that your dog has messed up, look at yourself...99% of the time it's the trainer who has messed up.
2) It is usually the trainer who has hindered the dog in speaking and understanding "dogese", that is "calming signals", and therefore it is the trainer who has to learn and "re-teach" this language to the dog. Calming Signals is just the book to teach this. During our search and rescue training, my dog used to get so wound up just before he searched a pile of rubble for a "victim" that he didn't work well. Calming Signals has helped me to effectively calm my dog down by using HIS language, and not mine. When I was stern with him, he would only get more wound up. Now, we sit down on the ground, I don't look him directly in the eyes, and yes, I even yawn at him. It works! Dog training is an investment of time (and lots of it). Dogese IS a foreign language for humans, and if our dogs are important to us, it is our responsibility to learn their language! Don't expect to give your dog a few signals here and there and have everything magically fall into place. You and your dog are learning to "communicate" with each other and Calming Signals is the "phrase book" to this language. I very much appreciate the insights from Gunilla Melkersson's review of Calming Signals and especially the cultural difference in American and European dog training. It is absolutely true!
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Summary: Revolutionary!
Review: I am part of a 4 dog-pack and Turid Rugaas' book has made life so much smoother! I share a deep bond with my dogs now. Not the typical "Master/Pet" dynamic that happens to most American dogs. It has also made it possible for me to deal successfully with strange dogs when I am alone or walking my own dogs on a leash. I tested the information in this book at a wolf sanctuary (through the wire fence). The man who ran the sanctuary said he had never seen them accept a new human as quickly as they had me. They came right to the fence and greeted me using the behaviors outlined in the book. They understood my body language and answered me with the same language. I showed "submission" to an "alpha" male he invited me to interact! It is invaluable to anyone who loves their dog! I wish every person in America had to read this book! It is worth its weight in gold!
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Summary: Outstanding!
Review: I do purebred dog rescue, and occasionally I come in contact with very aggressive dogs. Using the techniques in this book, I have avoided getting bit when otherwise a bite or outright attack would have been imminent. I also use these techniques on my own dogs when they are stressed about something, such as going to the vet's or meeting someone they think is scary. It's a short but power-packed book that no dog owner should be without. If you love dogs, get this book!
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Summary: So that's what you're trying to tell me!
Review: I just loved this little gem - it answered so many questions, including some I hadn't yet thought about! There's so much good stuff packed into such a little book. I've since checked out the authors web site at: http://www.canis.no/rugaas where there are more helpful hints and examples. I've read the book multiple times now and made it required reading for my family! We are trying to incorporate the principles into how we handle our pet -I just wish there had been more suggestions on how to do this. On well, maybe that'll be the next book! I suppose I should order the video now.
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Summary: I wish my dogs would read this book :)
Review: I think this book offers a lot of good advice. Unfortunately, when I need to tell my dogs to calm down, they are inevitably not looking at me to see my "calming signals". I do wish that we could meet with another dog that knows the language well enough to teach it to my dogs. When I was out on a walk this weekend, my dog rushed over to try to meet a much smaller dog who was out on a walk. This dog immediately laid down to try to get her to calm down, but she kept on straining against her leash. I was forced to just tug her along with me. I guess I just haven't yet figured out how to teach her to talk to other dogs yet. I will probably re-read this book and try to figure it out better.
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Summary: I wish my dogs would read this book :)
Review: I think this book offers a lot of good advice. Unfortunately, when I need to tell my dogs to calm down, they are inevitably not looking at me to see my "calming signals". I do wish that we could meet with another dog that knows the language well enough to teach it to my dogs. When I was out on a walk this weekend, my dog rushed over to try to meet a much smaller dog who was out on a walk. This dog immediately laid down to try to get her to calm down, but she kept on straining against her leash. I was forced to just tug her along with me. I guess I just haven't yet figured out how to teach her to talk to other dogs yet. I will probably re-read this book and try to figure it out better.
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Summary: Obedience classes will do more good
Review: If you and your dog have never taken an obedience class, this book could be a basic tool for beginning to understand your dog's behavior. But I do mean a "basic" tool. If you have, however, gone through any type of obedience or behavioral training with your dog, this book might not be a good use of your time and money. The information it provides is rudimentary at best. That is not to say that it isn't interesting, nor that it might not help some people. Just be aware that it probably won't be a magical solution to your dog's behavior problem. Turid Rugaas gives few hard and fast answers. Many of her solutions rely upon using her own good-natured and well-behaved dog to help calm a problem dog. Since Ms. Rugaas' dog isn't available to the rest of us, not much help can be found from that quarter.
Considering that "On Talking Terms with Dogs" is more of a booklet than a book, having only 20-odd numbered pages and a few more unnumbered introductory ones, the price is fairly steep. A good obedience class will cost you a little more, but you and your dog will get far more out of it in the long run.
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Summary: Bought it, read it. Sure glad I bought others.
Review: Not a bad 37 page pamphlet as far as it goes . . . which is not very far. It came in a shipment of four books on the topic of dog to human communication, all about the same price. It has proven to be the least helpful by far. Dog Language by Abrantes is much more complete, is over two hundred and fifty pages with a seven page bibliography (vs. a ten item listing in this one.) This book thoroughly covers one word of the dogs vocabulary with dozens of variations. The anecdotal information is interesting but I expected more.
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Summary: On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals
Review: Revolutionary new approach to dog training. May only be a pamphlet, but contains a wealth of important information, and speaks volumes! Highly recommended for every dog owner, and future dog owner, who wants to sharpen their inter-species communication skills. Arlene Millman, author of BOOMERANG - A MIRACLE TRILOGY (The tale of a remarkable Boston Terrier).
Rating:
Summary: Revolutionary approach
Review: Revolutionary new approach to dog training. May only be a pamphlet, but contains a wealth of important information, and speaks volumes! Highly recommended for every dog owner, and future dog owner, who wants to sharpen their inter-species communication skills. Arlene Millman, author of BOOMERANG - A MIRACLE TRILOGY (The tale of a remarkable Boston Terrier).
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