Customer Reviews

Breaking the Code of Silence

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I've been a dog handler for 4 years in the world's largest K9 training center. While there are techniques to train dogs that are vile they are very rarely used. I myself have not used them and know of no one else that has. Normal dog training uses techniques that to a tree-hugger animal rights activist would seem cruel. However, when you have an 80 lb shepherd that in a moments notice can rip your bicep off (seen it) obedience is priority one. Dogs do not come out of the womb obedient, and non-compulsive (no physical corrections) are primarily used. However, there is a point in time compulsion (physical correction) is required to change a negative behavior. I'm not going to argue over right and wrong, but unless you experience police/military dogs going by one person's view is unfair. Just because it's printed doesn't mean it is gospel. This book reads like a very poor detective/conspiracy novel as a lot of it sounds just ludicrous. The lieutenant she talks about seems to be a mastermind in their police department and is able to conduct illegal operations with extraordinary ease. While I'm sure there is some truth in her book a lot of her writing seems to be presumed. There is no brotherhood hiding cruel secrets in dog training or people threatening others to keep our "world" secret, at least in the very large(thousands of personnel) circle of dog handlers I am a part of. This is by far the most satisfying job I've done and respect the majority (there is always jackasses in whatever career field you are in) of everyone in this career field I've worked with.

This was an extremely interesting expose of how police K'9's are actually trained in some cases. This inhumane treatment should be thoroughly investigated. Since the author got her information first hand, one could hardly question her information.

While I have read many books about humans' vile treatment of animals, Ms. Marston's "Breaking the Code of Silence" is the first book I have seen on the topic of abusive training of dogs by K-9 officers. She is to be commended, not only for bringing this sadistic practice to light, but for bravely persevering against intimidation and thinly veiled threats by the cowards who abused the dogs, and the cowards, at high levels of authority, who covered up the abuse.

This book should be read by all animal lovers - and also by those who, while they may not have a personal attachment to animals, are moved by issues of injustice and violence against the vulnerable by those in positions of power (and ALL humans are in positions of power in relationship to animals, who are at our mercy, or lack thereof).

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This book is also highly recommended for those seeking trainers for their own companion dogs. Do NOT ever hire a trainer who uses these methods and who will not let you be present when the dog is being trained (aside from the abuse, any trainer who does not insist that the dog's human be present to be part of the training procedure, is not doing a proper job).

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