Grrr!: The Complete Guide to Understanding and Preventing Aggressive Behavior [Hardcover]

Mordecai Siegal (Author), Matthew 'Uncle Matty' Margolis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2000

According to a recent report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, dog bites cause 4.5 million injuries every year - that's one bite every 40 seconds! Finally, recognized dog experts & the authors of this book, offer owners advice on how to prevent & train aggressive dogs. Drawing upon years of experience, the authors provide concerned dog owners with important tips on how to prevent everything from bites to excessive barking. GRRRRRR! defines each type of aggressive canine behavior & examines its causes & potential for danger. Those looking for a puppy will find useful instructions on how to choose a new best friend for its temperament, as well as methods for training both puppies & older dogs. The authors also include invaluable information on confronting aggressive dogs. Written in the authors entertaining & accessible style, this new book from America's premier dog experts is perfect for everyone with a dog in their life.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

If your dog is displaying signs of aggressiveness, he's not the only one. Grrr!: The Complete Guide to Understanding and Preventing Aggressive Behavior in Dogs author and dog trainer Matthew Margolis says that more than 80 percent of his clients seek him out because of concern about their dog's aggressive behavior. The signs of an aggressive dog are obvious: one who growls, bites, jumps, barks, or nips without being provoked. Yet, as Siegal and coauthor Matthew Margolis explain, it's much more difficult to get dog owners to admit that there's a problem and that the owners may be contributing, even unintentionally, to the aggressive behavior.

Margolis identifies the major characteristics of an aggressive dog and the 10 different sources of canine aggression, including fear aggression, dominant aggression, and territorial aggression. Because each type of aggression stems from a different source, each requires a special treatment. The next step, then, is identifying your dog's aggression type, which dog owners can do using the book's definitions and tests. Once you understand where your dog's behavior comes from, Siegal and Margolis theorize, you can then begin to properly train, socialize, and desensitize him, processes that are covered in subsequent chapters. By retraining your dog, you can once again assert the proper ways for your dog to behave.

Along with helping aggressive-dog owners gain control over their animals, the book also advises prospective dog owners on what to look for when picking out a nonaggressive dog. Siegal and Margolis explain that aggressiveness sometimes stems from genetic behavior and can be identified as early in a pup's life as six or seven weeks. They outline several tests you can perform on a dog to pinpoint whether the animal has an aggressive tendency.

Siegal and Margolis's love of dogs and respect for caring owners is evident in the tone of the book. Grrr!'s sensitive and informative approach to dog aggressiveness should help owners retrain their animals and hopefully prevent some unfortunate situations.--Kris Law

From Library Journal

In their previous dog-training books (e.g., When Good Dogs Do Bad Things), coauthors Siegal and Margolis helped owners test puppies for a variety of temperaments. Here focusing specifically on aggressive behavior, they present tests to determine whether a dog is aggressive and which of ten types of aggression the dog might display, e.g., dominant, fear, and territorial. They also explain the factors, both genetic and environmental, that can contribute to a dog's tendencies. In clear language and with illustrations intended for the novice trainer, the authors teach obedience commands to control dangerous behavior and describe techniques to use to overcome problem situations. Although they have covered some of this in their previous books, Siegal and Margolis take a unique approach by concentrating on the identification and in-depth treatment of aggressive behavior. The popularity of the authors and the importance of the topic make this a recommended purchase for public libraries.
-Florence Scarinci, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; 1 edition (April 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316790222
• ISBN-13: 978-0316790222
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 1 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #581,344 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Grrr! - Get It!, April 8, 2000

By 

CM Gong (N. California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grrr!: The Complete Guide to Understanding and Preventing Aggressive Behavior (Hardcover)

Finally! For those of us who have kept our eye trained on Matthew "Uncle Matty" Margolis via his TV specials "Woof", and on Mordecai Siegal through his many articles and books, hoping to get more than the already generous advice they both have offerd on dog-basics, "Grrr!" is the perfect companion for understanding dog aggression. And, for those of us who have lived with an aggressive dog and are frustrated with the media in general for not treating the topic in a factual and prescriptive manner - but hyping or hiding it instead - it's about time we have thorough and professional expert advice for a change! The book is divided into 7 tidy chapters focused on helping the reader identify aggression, understand its general and specific roots, and develop skills to deal with it. The content is thorough, motivating, and easy to understand. For anyone who has previously read a Siegal/Morgalis book, this volume does not disappoint in either its customary straight-forward and practical style or its hallmark wit and common sense. As usual, the authors provide clear direction, illustrative examples, and concise reference to back up their assertions. "Grrr!" also offers a welcome departure from some of their early works, which can look somewhat like carbon copies of each other. "Grrr!" provides extensive information exclusively on aggression and leaves the rest of dog basics to the other volumes. For anyone looking to have complete reference materials, "Grrr!" and any one other Siegal/Margolis title - say "Good Dog/Bad Dog" - would certainly do the trick. And, for anyone dealing with the heartache of loving an aggressive dog, "Grrr!" is pretty much the only book you'll need. The book's only pitfalls are that is does get a bit overly preachy about owning up to having an aggressive dog and in an attempt to make each chapter complete, should the reader foolishly skip parts, some of the material is overly repetitive. In fact, chapter 7 could be discarded entirely and the book would still be an absolute gem. Other than that, "Grrr!" would have to be rated as a welocme addition to the general literature of dog training and a must have for aggression issues.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grrr!, August 2, 2000

By 

Melody M MacDuffee (Mobile, AL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grrr!: The Complete Guide to Understanding and Preventing Aggressive Behavior (Hardcover)

This book saved my dog's life. Literally. She had been on death row twice due to agressive behavior towards people other than myself, and a third time when she started turning on (and biting) me, her master. I hadn't ever been quite able to go through with the euthanasia (though the last time we actually made it into the vet's office before I called it off), but I was sure it was only a matter of time before it would become absolutely necessary. "Grrr!" helped me not only to learn what to do about her snarling and biting, but to understand why the agression was happening in the first place; where it was coming from in terms of how Hannah thinks. It made me realize that she was not the one who had let me down by turning on me, but that I was the one who had previously let her down by not continuing the process I'd begun of being a strong alpha dog for her in our little pack of two.

Within a week of following the advice in this book, she had stopped exhibiting any agressive behavior towards me, and within three weeks I was seeing changes in her behavior towards others as well. I am continuing to do 1/2-hour obedience training walks with her twice a day plus at least 30 minutes of massaging and direct one-on-one attention, as well as allowing her to follow me around the house (still leashed at this point) as I do chores or as I sit at my desk writing all day. We still have a ways to go, but I see improvements almost daily, and in the process, she's becoming an extremely well-behaved creature who I can trust to be a safe and loving companion in my house.

Thank you to the authors for giving me my friend back, and for giving me back to her, too.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars I found this book to be disappointing and not particularly insightful., March 14, 2006

By 

Dennis in Michigan (Metro Detroit, Michigan, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Grrr!: The Complete Guide to Understanding and Preventing Aggressive Behavior (Hardcover)

As an amateur trying to learn more about canine agression, I was actually quite disappointed with the content of this book. Overall, there is no significantly new or insightful information in this book, and frankly, much of the information about specific types and symptoms of agression problems in dogs can be had for free, often in better detail and more scientifically presented, on the internet, particularly if one searches for information generated by professionals in the field of canine agression, such as scientific papers presented to veterinary journals.
I DID, however, find the chapter on agression testing to be helpful -- I haven't seen this type of testing recommended elsewhere, and I did find it interesting and helpful to see the results of these tests on my young puppy. That being said, I am working on canine agression issues from more of a preventative than a curative or treatment basis, and I would have to give SERIOUS second thoughts about trying some of the suggested tests on a large, mature, and seriously agressive dog. To be fair, the authors also suggest a great deal of caution when performing these tests on older dogs.
The vast majority of the book is merely a recycled basic obedience course book -- sit, stay, heel, come, etc.. And, while I certainly would agree that a firm command of obedience is especially important to a dog with behavioral issues, I alread have several good books on the subject, such as those by the Monks of New Skete. Had I known that most of this book was just a rehashed obedience manual, I would have saved my money and skipped it. Based upon the title, I just expected a lot more out of this book than I got. For someone who really wants a good, in depth book about canine agression issues and their treatments, I'd say to spend your money on a copy of "Clinical Behavioral Medicine For Small Animals" by Dr. Karen L. Overall from the University of Pennsylvania. Although this is a very expensive book (it is a textbook for veterinary students and also a reference book for clinical veterinarians), it had the answers I was seeking and was definitely worth the money.