Culture Clash

Rating:
Summary: A faulty manual but a vital mandate
Review: Donaldson's book was a revelation. Having grown up with dogs and watched many friends own and (more or less successfully) train them, I finally began approaching canine ownership with all the passion and compulsion people normally reserve for human pregnancy. I wanted to get a dog, and I wanted to do it right, dammit. I needed more than a training guide. I needed a training philosophy.

To that end, I ordered something like twenty books ranging from breed guides to "training for Dummies" manuals. Reading through them reminded me of a college anthropology exercise - the second I attached myself to what felt like a useful piece of information, the next book I read would come in with an updated, seemingly superior strategy. Thank god for THE CULTURE CLASH, which firmly established itself as the top-most tier.

This is a conceptual book, not a manual. And I totally agree with all the other reviewer comments expressing disappointment in the layout and overall inaccessibility of the book...by the end, I was a converted zealot without a plan. It was clear to me that Donaldson's beliefs and ideas were all factually and morally right-on and that this was and would remain the keystone of my dog training ideology. I also wanted to cry, or call her up and invite myself over for my puppy's first four months...though the book is full of concrete, well-explained exercises and strategies, it is not a do-it-yourself, a-to-z starter kit nor even a particularly accessible reference manual. I put it down feeling galvanized, vindicated, and completely overwhelmed. Which is probably exactly the point. The book is not the be-all end-all of dog training, but rather the correct starting point for mutually satisfying canine/human cohabitation mastery.

I would love to read a step-by-step puppy-to-senior dog training manual by Donaldson, but in its absence, I am enormously grateful for this book and have ardently forced it upon every dog owner I know. A friend - while eyeing my ever-expanding canine library - recently asked me what one book I'd recommend to someone about to adopt a puppy, and I immediately recommended this one. True, it's probably not the only one she'll need, but it is the only one that will successfully and beneficially influence the rest of the acquisition list.


Rating:
Summary: This is just a MUST HAVE for any dog owner
Review: I got this book when it was fresh from the presses. Well, I even got two, I knew that was probably the only way I would be able to have one at home at all times, according to what I had heard about this book...

English is not my language, and back then I had barely read a book in English, so I was a bit worried. I soon found out that there wasn't any need to worry... I brought it with me travelling the day I got it, and soon was totally captured. I even made a fool of myself, laughing out loud on the airplane.

This book is so fun to read and it gives you so many "A-HA Experiences" about your dog and it's behavior... Back then I had my wonderful Shanti, the best Yorkie friend anyone could wish for. She had a tough past before I got her though, and was troubled by severe anxiety. The best thing I ever did for her, was getting this book and Turid Rugaas' book "On Talking Terms with Dog's: Calming Signals" (hope I got that right)... Soon Shanti and I understood each other much better, and her anxiety was much better controlled, giving us both a better quality of life. I will forever be grateful to Jean Donaldson for learning me how to understand Shanti (and now my also highly loved Yorkie Peanut) a lot better.

I of course also had to buy Jean Donaldson's follow-up book (Women are from Venus, Men are from Mars...) "Dogs are from Neptune" a bit later, and it is just as wonderful as this one, also a must have, if you ask me.

I find that books like this often get a bit boring, just like reading a school text book, if you get my drift... But that can surely not be said about Jean Donaldson's books. She has a wonderful writing style. It is easy to read and full of humor, makes you really understand in a fun way, with examples that makes you laugh and go "YESS!". It is definately not without reason that this book is a best-seller!!!

And, I really must add, I really recommend buying more than one, because this is sure one of those books that everyone wants to borrow!!! If I had to do it again, I would get at least 3, because this is knowledge I sure want to share with friends and family!!! I had both of my books out at all times for a couple of years, as all my dog owner friends had to read it, even if many were real concerned by the fact that it wasn't written in Norwegian, and as me, they had never read a book in English... They're reactions were just like mine, it didn't matter at all, that is how easy to read it is, and on top of that you get some useful training in the English language (wonderful side effect of reading this book, don't you think?)!!! So, if your language is English, Chinese or Norwegian - Go for it!!!! Enjoy!!!

Had I been able to give it 6 stars, I would have!!!

I just have to mention a few other dog books that I got on amazon.com which I also recommend:
Karen Pryor's books about Clicker Training, especially "Don't Shoot the Dog" - also must have's!!!
John Fisher's books
"Dominance, fact or fiction" (booklet) - Very useful (also in discussion with "the old school" dog owners who believe in being very rough with their dogs as if they were wolves)!!!
"Dog Tricks for Dummies" - Tricks is a lot of fun both for you and your dog!!! Great for raising a battered dog's self esteem!!!
(I'm probably forgetting some now, this is just from the top of my head)
One booklet ("Reader's Digest format") which I really love too, I haven't been able to find here, I found it in a US Wal-Mart or K-Mart, is "What do Dogs Dream About", if you see it - Grab it!!!

Happy Book Shopping!!!

Rating:
Summary: A Waste Of Money and Time
Review: I was so excited to receive this book and couldn't wait to start reading it. I was totally bored within minutes. The author is extremely disorganized and critical of what seems like the entire world. The use of so many big, obscure words is totally unneccesary and pompous. I currently own six dogs of various breeds and have been involved in animal rescue and training for many years. I got the feeling that the author really doesn't know dogs at all! I wasted my money and will probably throw this book away because I wouldn't want to sell it to anyone and have them disappointed too. I wouldn't have given it a star at all, but that wasn't an available option.

Rating:
Summary: ... sharp, incisive & informative ...
Review: Together with Karen Pryor's "Don't Shoot the Dog" ... Jean Donaldson's "Culture Clash" encouraged me to re-examine my relationship, my methods of training and attempts at communication with our dogs ...

Jean Donaldson has a no nonsense writing style ... she says it like she believes and thinks - no excuses, no grey ... take it or leave it ... and there is no where to hide ... the reader can either agree or disagree but there is little doubt in Ms Donaldson's own mind ... And she tells it from the dog's perspective ...

Unlike many training books that just set out the procedures & techniques for training a dog ... Culture Clash takes us one step further along the road ... and helps the owner/trainer understand why certain training methods work better than others ... Why positive & operant training methods coupled with an understanding of dog behaviour, instincts & psychology is the way towards a less frustrating, less stressful and more successful method of teaching/training our dogs.

Culture Clash is a training manual, in that it teaches us how to teach/train our dogs - it is more than a training manual because Ms Donaldson also explains how dogs think and perceive our methods & style of training ... she explains why & what makes dogs nervous ... why & when dogs bite ... what makes our dogs tick and do what they do - or not do ... she tells us what may or may not work ... she tells us of the various psychological thresholds that exist within all our dogs ... and she does all this with clarity & in detail.

No Lassies and no Rin Tin Tins - the author describes our dogs as they are ... and offers us an insight and understanding into their true nature ... and she writes of what is really required to build and maintain a meaningful & responsible relationship with our dogs.

The book offers the reader a deeper appreciation of what is going on in the dog's mind as training progresses ... making for more effective training, and perhaps most important - improving our relationship with our dogs ...

But the least the book will do - is make us re-think the aspects and elements of our relationship with our dog ... and that cannot be bad ...

Culture Clash is a wonderful balance between a dog behavioural book and a training manual ...

A good reference book ... a worthwhile buy & read ...

Rating:
Summary: Great complement to dog training books
Review: This is a great book to read along with your other dog training books. It focuses more on understanding why dogs do what they do, and especially on how dog 'culture' compares with/interacts with human 'culture.' I think that a few of the other reviewers are a bit off the mark when they criticize the book for not being a basic step by step training manual -- this criticism is technically accurate, but I don't see this book as being designed to fill that need (try the Monks of New Skete books for that). Instead, this book helps to understand WHY dogs behave (and react) the way they do. It helps lead to a training approach (or helps you understand how the dog reacts to you in general) where you see why the method/training works, as opposed to you just learning a training approach by rote.
If you are looking for a step 1, step 2, step 3 type of training, this book is probably not the one to start with. If however you want to understand how and why dogs react the way they do, then this is a very helpful book.

Rating:
Summary: In praise of praise training
Review: The only thing amazing about Ms Donaldson's book is that anyone would put up with her caustic and defensive writing style. She puts forth nothing new for us behaviorists and trainers though still manages to say it in a way that is both condescending and pretentious. (...)

Rating:
Summary: Nothing new...
Review: The back cover of this book sports a recommendation saying that the book is "literally overflowing with information that's so new it virtually redefines the state of the art in dog training." Alas, I've been unable to find this information anywhere in the book. In much of the book Donaldson quite correctly points out techniques used by many, perhaps the majority, of dog owners that are bound to make life sour for the dog and the owner, such as punishing a dog for an offense comitted hours ago or yanking him around forever on a choker. That the people doing this are wrong and Donaldson is right is proven thousands of times every day by people who can't train their dog. Yet nothing about this is new. If Donaldson had consulted dog training literature even from the nineteenth century, she would have found the same observations. (E.g., Carl Tabel's very punishment-oriented classic makes this point very clear.) These things were known long before Skinner ever got to abuse his first rat.

Donaldson's strong aversion against punishment is entirely acceptable, yet the way she condemns everyone who uses corrections in her moralistic tone is not. Donaldson admits that corrections, if and only if adminstered correctly, can increase the reliability of a command, and she also admits that one can reasonably argue that a command that could save the dog's live might be "installed by all means necessary." She could have added that the increased reliability can lead to increased freedom for the dog, and thus enhance his quality of life. What is more, at the end of the book, when she finally gives practical training advice, Donaldson falls into using "active corrections" all the time. Her innocent insistence about halters and anti-pull harnesses that "I honestly don't know how it works. Perhaps there's some aversive being applied." is ridiculous. These things might indeed be better for many dog owners than choke collars, but the reason is, and Donaldson herself correctly states, that in order to deliver a convincing correction with a choker you need to apply a serious yank. Like so many other advocates of "positive-reinforcement only" training, Donaldson does not practice what she preaches. I have seen people who clearly abuse corrections, people who arguably overuse them, and people who arguably underuse them, but I never have seen anyone living with a dog who did not apply some form of coercion or punishment at times.

Finally, Donaldson needs a better editor. Her constant use of nouns as verb modifiers and techniques of emphasis "soooooo" make me "distress vocalize."