Customer Reviews

How to Talk to Your Dog (Talk to Your Pets)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

While this is a fun book to look at, and addresses a badly needed topic, this book contains some misleading, questionable, potentially dangerous advice. As a person who works with dogs and children, and who spends much of my time cautioning children about keeping away from a dog's face and watching their movements and body language around dogs, both familiar and strange, I cringe at the possible results of a chid following the advice, "Sniff his nose to tell him not to be angry or confused." I would not advise an adult to do that. Waving objects over the head of a dominant dog, as suggested in the text, can also be dangerous. Dogs see children as litter mates and tend to want to correct them as they correct each other, with their teeth. I urge you to approach the ideas in this book with extreme CAUTION!

This book deserves _5 stars_ except for ONE THING...Jean George assumes children will realize that you cannot use these techniques with a strange dog. I wish this were true, but as a librarian, I was obligated to write my own disclaimer and glue it in the front endpapers. I adore the book (as does my 7 month old puppy!) and the skills really work (especially the kissy noises on the back of the hand), but I think Jean George kind of blew it by not telling children to NEVER EVER PUT THEIR FACES NEAR A STRANGE DOG!

This book shows young people the joys of communicating with dogs, from how to recognize dog talk through body language to the various ways animals communicate through whimpers, sniffs, and barks. The book, however, assumes that young children will know not to apply these very "hands-on" techniques to strange dogs--a very dangerous assumption that could lead to dog bites. The book offers two suggestions that one should never do in front of an aggressive dog: one is to wave a newspaper above the dog's head, the other is to sniff a dog's nose to calm an angry or confused dog down. Children should never be expected to calm an angered or aggressive dog down. While the book has lots of good information on dog behavior that could benefit both children and adults, it lacks the cautionary requirements to keep kids from getting bitten by dogs too.

I purchased this book for my daughter after we got a new puppy. I was disappointed with the content and illustrations of this book. Almost every page contains a super-imposed photo of the author (a stoutly elderly woman) working with a cartoon dog, demonstrating a training technique. One training technique suggests that a child put his/her face next to the dog's face and touch noses with the dog.

This book is a basic book written to show children what a dog's body language means and how children can communicate with their pet using their own body language.

I was disappointed in the content, potentially dangerous suggestion to put your face close to a dog's face and rub noses, and the illustrations of this children's book.

I was blown away by how wonderful this book is--I love it asmuch as my daughter does, and it is appropriate to a much wider agerange than just four to eight--very few adults would find this book less than wonderful, if they love dogs. This book is so lovingly written for people who really appreciate dogs, by a person who is clearly a dog lover. It has such warmth and charm--I really like reading this book when I am by myself too! (Of course, I also talk to my dog a lot and understand his answers, so I may not be representative of all walks of people).

The drawings of Sue Truesdell are as wonderful and charming as they could possibly be, but the most special part of the book is how some of the illustrations include a picture of the author (not a drawing) juxtaposed with one of the fabulous cartoonlike dog illustrations! It's sort of like the mixture of people and cartoons in the "Roger Rabbit" movie or "SpaceJam", but even cuter! The communication between dog and author seems as real as if it were a photo of the author and her real dog, but have the whimsey of cartoon dogs--it's a stroke of genius and works so well I want to give this book to every dog lover I know.

The charming text also provides more information than most of the adults I know have about communicating with dogs--especially the special dogs you love.

My daughter was born loving dogs as much as people and this book is such a delight for her and me to read together (and our dog likes it too!)

The text is written in very large print, but there is a good deal of text on each page to hold the attention of a better than just beginning child reader as well as an older sibling reading to a younger child. In fact, this book would still be appropriate for a dog lover even if there is no child in the house at all--I find it absolutely fascinating, and I'm almost 49! .

If you love dogs, GET THIS BOOK!

I opened this dog from the library and couldn't believe the bad advice contained. It's like the lady went down the list of things we told the kids not to do, and said "try them for fun!!"

We have a large dog and a small dog. The play rough together chasing, and tackling, and biting. As others have said, a lot of problems occur between dogs and children because dogs will tend to see children as other dogs instead of other humans.

They attempt to play with them, and sometimes will try to dominate them as if they are other "pack mates".

If you stumble upon or god help you purchase this book. Do not let your children attempt any of the "advice" without your supervision. My advice is simply throw the book away.

It's such a shame to see children's delight with the family pet turn into fear and tears because as Jean George extremely poorly thought out book.

Do not put your children in danger! They will be if they follow many of the authors recommendations. Please see the review written by Julie Shaw it is right on the money. Ms. Jean Craighead George makes suggestions that if used on the wrong dog could result in a person being bitten. For canine behavior stick with books by Jean Donaldson, Karen Pryor, Ian Dunbar...not Jean Craighead George.

When I was given this book by a client I was thrilled. The book's a brilliant red front cover is beautifully illustrated with a cartoon dog. The inside pages are illustrated with more canine cartoons interacting with photos. At first glance it seems to be an intriguing children's book. Unfortunately the cover of this book is where all positive comments end.

I believe the author's intention in this book is to teach canine communication skills. If I am correct in this assumption, she not only failed miserably but may have caused more harm then education.

She advises "To say hello to your dog, sniff toward his nose. That's dog talk. He will answer by pulling his ears back and close to his head. What he is saying is 'Hello, Leader". Ms. Craighead-George is describing a dog who is telling their nose-sniffing-human "This is a bit uncomfortable, please stop". A dog's ears going back can be a conflict behavior.

She goes onto say "'Good night' in dog talk is physical. Rub your dog's head, ears and neck. Lower your lids and sigh into his fur. You are the mother dog licking her pup off to sleep." Although I often enjoy a nice snuggle with my dog I am relatively certain he knows I am not his mother or a dog. I was relieved that she did not suggest I lick my dog, we all have to draw the line somewhere.

Ms. Craighead-George advises "'Good-bye' is a whisk of the tail, then turning and walking off. Since you don't have a tail, swish your hand downward and show your back. If your dog does not choose to hear this unwelcome message and races after you, tell him, `I am the boss,' in dog talk, then repeat the dog `good-bye'." I will admit to frequently suffering from serious bouts of tail-envy but I'm afraid my hand waving behind my rear end is a bit of a stretch in wishful thinking.

Ms. Craighead -George crosses the line from embarrassingly silly to potentially dangerous in her section titled "How do you say `I am the boss'?" She advises, "The most effective way is to put your mouth on his muzzle. That means in dog talk that you are the leader. His ears will go back and against his head, and his tail will lower. This is his way of saying, `Yes, you are my leader'." I suspect many people who attempt this will have time to contemplate what their dog was really saying ("You have totally lost your mind and you are frightening the heck out of me") while they wait patiently in the emergency room to have their dog bite treated.

She suggests if your dog becomes anxious or confused you should "Sniff his nose to tell him not to be angry or confused. Nose sniffs are peace talk." I have a sincere concern that for a dog that is in an anxiety situation, a human sticking their face in his to sniff his nose may increase the stress level to a point where the dog may feel he has no other option but to bite the face that sniffs him.

It is cautioned in "How to Talk to Your Dog" that children should not roll onto their backs while playing with their dog or they will be saying in dog language "I am your humble servant". My own dogs must be the most misinformed canines on the planet. They have three young humble servants in their household and they don't even realize it!

I would recommend that the author stay with ridiculous but harmless comments suggest as "You can pass other messages with your eyes. Think, `I love you. I love you,' and your lower lid will involuntarily come up and soften your expression. Your dog will read that and return this message by softening his eyes."

I am still uncertain to what population this book is directed. I can only hope it was not written for innocent children and will only fall into the hands of adults who will quickly realize this book for the nonsensical hogwash that it is.

YOUR dog may not love it when you put your nose next to his, but MINE does. Critics of Ms. George's techniques have clearly missed the fact the the title is How To Talk to YOUR Dog, not how to talk to EVERY dog. The author is assuming that you know something about YOUR dog's personality and behavior. While a disclaimer might have been beneficial, I think she does what she tells you she is going to do-that is, help you figure out how to communicate with your own dog. This book explains not only how to interact, but why in simple termsthat were clear to even previously non-dog people like me. Its a book you should read WITH your kids about YOUR dog.

Honestly, this book is for anyone, I found it just as interesting as my child did... The illustrations are very humurous and cute and the concepts are realy intriguing and funny. My daughter goes around the house talking, sniffing, and barking at our dog, and they both seem to enjoy themselves tremendously. This book is a definate must buy if you enjoy silly things to do with your children.