Amazon.com Review
As any parent knows, adolescence is the most challenging part of raising a child. However, as Carol Lea Benjamin proves in "Surviving Your Dog's Adolescence," illustrative cartoons, pertinent case studies, and good advice can certainly make that challenging age easier to handle.
As a professional dog trainer, Benjamin focuses her advice on positive training techniques designed to help both parent and teen through the tumultuous adolescent period. Many of her insights are portrayed through the eyes of a canine, and help to illustrate the types of thoughts entertained by the teen dog. These range from the dog who responds to his owner's calls of "Come" with "When Pigs Fly," to the dog who demonstrates his tenacity by staking out a mole hill with a flag that says "Never Say Die." Also included are techniques for effective training, guidelines for appropriate dog-owner relationships, and tips for dealing with specific dog "problems." Case studies of real-life dogs offer substantial evidence to back up Benjamin's recommendations.
A must-read for any owner of an adolescent dog, "Surviving Your Dog's Adolescence" can help any parent understand the teen dog and help to provide guidelines that result in a rewarding relationship for both dog and owner. --Jennifer Pugh
From Publishers Weekly
Lest any dog owner think thorough puppy-training sufficient to ensure happily-ever-after canine camaraderie, the author of the puppy-training classic Mother Knows Best pinpoints a trouble spot in doggie development. At anywhere between five and 10 months of age, warns Benjamin, the typically "underemployed" family dog will hit adolescence, and even a previously obedient dog may become "bratty," "moody" and easily distracted. The language here may be anthropomorphic, but Benjamin quickly goes on to offer sensible solutions to a legitimate set of canine behavior problems. She bases her training on the well-known model whereby the owner assumes the so-called Alpha role in the "pack"; while she has explained her theories and methods in previous books, and while most of her strategies for "winning your dog's respect" are more explicitly discussed in her colleague Job Michael Evans's People, Pooches and Problems , her focus on the adolescent dog is unique and her insights about general training are stimulating. The tone is chatty and the pace leisurely--which may reassure those in need of sympathy and aggravate others who want to get down to business. Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
