Customer Reviews

Off-Leash Dog Play: A Complete Guide to Safety & Fun

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am the Senior Manager for a Doggie Daycare and I thought this book was was great! Several things I like about it:
*A quick read. It only took me about 2 hours to get through it. Granted, I read very fast, but it is something that people can read entirely in a short amount of time.
*Plenty of pictures to illustrate what you are talking about.
*Covering not only what to look for in the dogs, but what to look for in yourself. LOVE the chapter about being a good leader, ESPECIALLY the section "Your leadership skills need improving if you..."
*What I like the most, and what I was the most concerned about prior to reading it, is the fact that what is stated in the book does not say "This is the way you should do things" so it complements the training program I already have for my staff instead of ever contradicting it. I suppose with daycares that are less focused on improving the quality of experience for their dog and human clients might disagree, but I think this will be a great addition to our training program. It's like it is a nice overview of how things should work in an ideal situation, and then I get to fill in the gaps and give the finer details of what to actually do to make it all come together.
It is completely synced up with what we do in our daycare that it easily could have been written specifically for my business. I found myself nodding along with what I was reading a number of times.
I intend to make this required reading for my staff. Thank you so much for getting this out there! It is really going to be an asset to the doggie daycare world!

I've been offering interactive daycare for dogs for 14 years. This book is filled with what we've learned over the years, presented in a clear-cut, easy to reference format. It is a must read for anyone who runs a doggie daycare, is thinking about opening one, for dog owners who want to know what their daycare operator should know, or who take their dogs to a public dog park. I wish I had written this book.

This is a really great book which suggests ways of managing off leash play, including assessing dogs, and when play is "green", "red" or "yellow"... The big problem is that canine body language is not always blatant and often occurs in subtle sequences within varying contexts... The book offers pictures and explanations of behaviors, but I don't think small B&W photos suffice to get the point across in demonstrating the behaviors so well to the uninitiated -- you can't really freeze frame most dog behaviors... I think you really need good videographer as well as many breed examples to really train a person about the behaviors... For this reason, I think the book is very good for people who work and deal with dogs all the time and are already familiar with the signals, and are looking for a system to manage and assess situations... but if your goal is to learn how to read a dog's body language and you're very new at it, the book probably wouldn't be my first choice. - - In contrast, I'd suggested viewing Sarah Kalnajs "Language of Dogs" and "Am I Safe" DVD first, videos for those seriously fascinated with the topic - - but not for individuals who don't want to sit through a formal lecture on the subject.

All in all... I think this book offers a GREAT outline of the subject, but I really hope it might be expanded into an instructional video one day. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think there are any DVDs out yet that capture and analyze dog/dog and human/dog interaction at a dog park and go into analyzing situations. If there was, I'd get it in an instant! (Please give me credit if you decide to make one of course!)

This book provided an excellent introduction to understanding animal body language. I feel like I have a much more interactive relationship with my dog which has really helped to supercharge his training!

I just attended a 2 day Doggie Day Care seminar presented by Robin and Susan - the authors of this book. It was the best seminar I have ever attended on any subject - hands down. Much of the material we discussed is covered in this book. They both operate from the premise that we should be looking not only at the safety of our dogs but also their emotional well-being. While geared for people who work with dogs off lease in playgroups/daycare, the information is invaluable to any dog owner. I thought a yawn meant I'm tired or I'm bored. Did you know that a yawn "is often the first signal that a dog is uneasy" (pg 30) I didn't! Filled with hundreds of photos indictating GREEN/YELLOW/RED light behaviors, these ladies have written a GREAT book, and done a service for all dogs. I'll never look at a yawn, stretch, shake shake, etc in the same way again. Thank you Robin and Susan, and I'm sure a HUGE shout-out to you from dogs everywhere!

For any who may be interested in better understanding exactly what their dog is saying with his/her body language while in the company of other dogs off-leash. Written for the dog professional, it is nevertheless readily understandable to the lay dog owner. It is an excellent guide to what dogs are saying with their non verbal body language. I have parented multiple dogs for multiple years and read multiple books on dogs, but this is by far the most comprehensive and complete book devoted entirely to this topic that I have yet encountered. It is well written and easy to read and comprehend. I learned many valuable lessons about dog behavior while reading this book. I highly recommend it.

We used this book as a basis for a lecture on dog behavior for a dog daycare...it is a wonderful resource...

Have you ever wanted to run your own dog daycare. Have you ever wanted to start a dog play group. This book is for you. In fact I recommend this book to be read by any dog owner. Most of what the book talks about it how to keep your dog safe in an off leash setting while allowing it to have as much fun as possible and be a dog. I worked at a dog daycare over the summer once and they actually required all volunteers and interns to read this book.