The Culture Clash: A Revolutionary New Way to Understanding the Relationship Between Humans and Domestic Dogs (Paperback)

~ (Author) "A book published in the early 1990s refers to the "moral code" of dogs..." (more)
Key Phrases: reinforceable response, strangle collar, reinforcer hierarchy, Ian Dunbar, Walt Disney, Karen Pryor (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Culture Clash is special. Jean Donaldson's first book is quite simply the very best dog book I have ever read. It is utterly unique, fascinating to the extreme, and literally overflowing with information that is so new it virtually redefines the state of the art in dog behavior and training. Written in Jean's inimitably informal yet precise lecture style, the book races along on par with a good thriller. In fact, I read the manuscript three times in a row before it was even published. The Culture Clash depicts dogs as they really are - stripped of their Hollywood fluff, with their loveable 'can I eat it, chew it, urinate on it, what's in it for me' philosophy. Jean's tremendous affection for dogs shines through at all times, as does her keen insight into the dog's mind. Relentlessly, she champions the dog's point of view, always showing concern for their education and well being. The Culture Clash joins a very distinctive group of books and it runs at the head o! f the pack. Like Karen Pryor's Don't Shoot the Dog, The Culture Clash has a refreshingly original perspective. Like Gwen Bohnenkamp's books, The Culture Clash cuts to the chase - no if's and no but's - here's the story - now educate your dog! Without a doubt, Jean's book is the hottest doggy item on the market - the quintessential book for dog owners and dog trainers alike - a very definite two paws up! Do yourself and your dogs a big favor: Give it a read! And let's look forward to many more books by Jean Donaldson.Dr. Ian Dunbar -- the publisher

Product Description

*The Culture Clash is special. Written in Jean's inimitably informal yet precise lecture style, the book races along on par with a good thriller. *The Culture Clash depicts dogs as they really are - stripped of their Hollywood fluff, with their loveable 'can I eat it, chew it, urinate on it, what's in it for me' philosophy. Jean's tremendous affection for dogs shines through at all times, as does her keen insight into the dog's mind. Relentlessly she champions the dog's point of view, always showing concern for their education and well being. Without a doubt, Jean's book is the hottest doggy item on the market. Best Training Book Of The Year! (Maxwell Award)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: James & Kenneth Publishers (January 19, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1888047054
• ISBN-13: 978-1888047059
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (164 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,421 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

236 of 249 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A classic that needs re-editing, December 7, 2001

By	I. Westray (Minneapolis, MN USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Culture Clash is a good example of a classic that really needs to be recast, re-edited in some aggressive ways.

This book gets an incredible number of word-of-mouth recommendations from within the dog world, and for good reason. It's also somewhat exasperating, also for good reason. An updated edition might turn into a sort of Dr. Spock guide for dogs; as it is, even for its few blemishes, if you're interested in training at all -- you have a dog, you should be interested -- you need to read this one.

The book is basically an engagingly-written set of essays on positive-reinforcement, operant-conditioning dog training. (In a nutshell, that means concentrating on setting a dog up to succeed, and then on rewarding it when it does succeed, rather than on punishing the dog for mistakes.) Culture Clash does two things: it gives you a broad sense of why positive reinforcement techniques work, and it really, REALLY lays into old-style, aversive, leash-jerking training methods. The reason it gets recommended so much is that it's GREAT for people who have only a vague idea of how to train a dog based on what they see others doing, and who might end up with a miserable dog and a sore arm from tugging at a choke collar. Donaldson does a truly excellent job of showing you how and why positive reinforcement will help you communicate with your dog. She does a great job showing you how happy that can feel, and showing you the broad outline of how it works.

What she DOESN'T do especially well in this book is give you a specific, basic training regimen for your dog. That's where my editing objection comes in.

As I said, the chapters in this book are almost more like stand-alone essays. They don't really flow into one another as well as you might expect. Other, how-to training guides will structure themselves around common issues -- a chapter about housetraining, or sections based on a puppy's age or something. Culture Clash doesn't do that. It reads more like Jean Donaldson -- a lively, agile writer whose style and sense of humor is a delight to read -- sat down and decided to write a set of thematic articles, and like those got packaged together in the form of the book. Each essay is trying to do both the book's jobs at the same time, so we're talking about treats and clickers AND ripping into the "Bad Dog" school of thought simultaneously. That means the level of detail in the text varies pretty dramatically from page to page. So, for example, you'll be reading about how to train a "down stay" or something, and suddenly Ms. Donaldson is skewering leash-jerking in a long aside. She delivers her barbs with obvious relish and skill, she's a heck of a writer, but when you're reading to pick up practical tips, that's a somewhat frustrating style to work through.

So, the chapters in Culture Clash are this sort of mishmash of different material, but it's well-written and you enjoyed reading it through. Now, you remember some clever idea about how to train that "down stay" that Rex just can't "get." You turn to the index... and there isn't one. The single easiest thing the publisher of this book NEEDS to do is include a thorough index. Argh! Frustration!

The other irony, of course, is that the book doesn't use positive reinforcement on the reader all that well. When Donaldson goes after the leash-jerkers, or talks about ear pinching at obedience schools, she's saying "BAD DOG" to the old school of dog obedience in about as loud a voice as anyone can write in. You can see why a few people take this book as a sort of personal affront. She sure isn't luring THEM along, she's just plain scolding...

If you're already sold on the idea of a rewards-based training regimen for your dog, I still think you'll get a lot out of this book. You might want to avoid dealing with a lot of the hard-hitting criticism, though, and choose a simpler how-to guide. "The Power of Positive Dog Training" by Ms. Donaldson and Pat Miller, is a more practical guide than Culture Clash. It gives you a specific, six-week training regimen. Also, Karen Pryor would be a good author for you; she has a great puppy book, and a nice little book-with-two-clickers-and-some-treats kit that sells in pet stores. Pryor spends almost no time on dissing the "bad trainers," she's all about the positives.

(If you've got kids, you may want to go with something a little more accessible for them; there are guides specifically written for the whole family that way, but you should probably judge those by age by seeing them in a store.)

97 of 100 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Training from the dog's point of view, June 7, 2000

By A Customer

I was originally turned off by the beginning of this book. The author's ideas about dogs having no "desire to please" their owners was so contrary to everything that is considered basic about dog training and dog behavior that I didn't believe it to be true. However, she thoroughly backed up her ideas and completely clarified the difference between "desire to please" as we see it and "desire to get treats or attention" as the dog sees it.

It's difficult to get beyond the "Disney" approach to dogs as she calls it, the way society and Hollywood have taught us dogs should behave, but the book opened my eyes to what sort of relationship dogs really have with people.

The book takes dog training from a dog's point of view - and that is the best way to get results. The empathy for the dog's position that the author encourages was a completely new experience for me. I adopted an adult dog from a shelter four months ago who had never been indoors before. She had been abused and you could hardly say "no" to her without her cringing and running away. I needed a training method that was completely positive and non-abusive in every sense of the word. More importantly, I needed a training method that worked.

My dog can sit, down, stay, come, wait, drop, and fetch; she doesn't jump up, she doesn't chase the cats, and she's housebroken - all thanks to this book.

The author thoroughly takes you through the way dogs learn with specific examples and exercises. It's hard not to get excited about teaching your dog after learning so completely how to teach!

I highly recommend this book to new dog owners and to people looking to improve their relationship with their pets. Getting rid of unrealistic expectations makes all the difference in understanding and relating to your dog.

108 of 116 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Never be ashamed of your Halti & your Clicker again., June 22, 1998

By A Customer

I have read many dog training books in the past 6 months, but this is the only one that really rang true for me. Jean Donaldson articulates what many dog owners have felt for some time: that yanking, yelling and regimentation do NOT constitute positive training methods. She rightly calls slip-collars and choke chains "strangulation collars," and makes it clear that the "leash correction" is simply a punishment -- and not a very effective one at that. Her whole training ethos is based on the premise that dogs are dogs, not people. That may sound pretty obvious, but it doesn't seem to be, at least not to traditional dog trainers. If you have a dog that likes to be a dog (interacts with both humans and dogs in the same manner, and doesn't like to be restrained in any way) Donaldson's training methods will save your sanity -- and perhaps your dog's life. This book is more than a manual, however, as it fully explains the theory before detailing the methods. Along the way, it provides a good read and some great laughs. This is also the first book I've read that describes some fun and effective training games to play with your dog, rather than just saying "play with your dog." It's not all fun and games though: I dare you to read the section called "Empathy 101" and remain unmoved toward the plight of the average family dog. My only (minor) complaint about "Culture Clash" is that it needs either a more detailed Table of Contents, an Index, or both. That said, however, I urge you to buy this book, and leave the traditional methods of dog training back in WWII, where they began, and where they belong!