What Is My Dog Thinking?: The Essential Guide to Understanding Pet Behavior [Hardcover]

Gwen Bailey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 10, 2002

There are probably times when you wish you knew what your dog was thinking. From tail wagging to growling, from play bowing to lip licking, this fascinating book explains why your dog behaves the way he does. What Is My Dog Thinking? covers six major aspects of dog behavior: the importance of hierarchy, food and fitness, staying safe, reproduction, social behavior, and people and dogs.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gwen Bailey is the Animal Behaviorist for The Blue Cross, Britain's largest animal welfare charity. She is the author of several books about pet care including Rescue Dog and The Perfect Puppy.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Thunder Bay Press (September 10, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1571458700
• ISBN-13: 978-1571458704
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #634,498 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Friends often ask how I can be writing 'another' book about dogs, but there is so much to say. You never stop learning about dogs, which is why they are so fascinating and why I am so lucky to have had a career that has invovled them for so long.

I try to make sure that everything I write helps to enhance the life of dogs in some way. They are vulnerable, emotional creatures in a cruel world and need our love and protection. Aggressive owners produce aggressive dogs so all techniques are gentle and friendly, espeically for puppies. You don't need to be domineering with dogs to be successful.

I have been lucky enough to spend all of my adult life, and a lot of my childhood, learning from some of the great trainers and behaviourists. My books pass on as much of that knowledge as I am able to give, put together with all the things I have learnt over the years from the dogs themselves.

I hope they help you with your dog, to solve problems, train him or her to have good manners, and to give both of you a better life than before.

For those of you who have cats, there is just one of my books for you too.

Gwen

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars mediocre, January 12, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: What Is My Dog Thinking?: The Essential Guide to Understanding Pet Behavior (Hardcover)

This is a short review, as it is a short book. "What is My Dog Thinking" is a satisfactory overview of various canine behaviors and their meanings. This overview didn't offer much that I haven't read elsewhere. Also disappointing was its lack of instruction on how to address certain dog "feelings" - for example, if I can interpret that my dog is fearful, what are some basic ways that I can help my dog deal with this fear?

That said, for its price and the time it takes to read it and occasionally refer back to it, it probably is a worthwhile purchase for a dog owner or prospective dog owner, even if it is somewhat lacking. However, it would not be my first choice.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fun and informative book!, November 9, 2008

By 

Judy K. Polhemus "Book Collector" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What Is My Dog Thinking?: The Essential Guide to Understanding Pet Behavior (Hardcover)

"What is my dog thinking?" is a pure delight--both fun and informative! The reader will be so pleased to learn the meaning behind specific dog behaviors.

For example, why does a dog lick its owner's face? Originally, dogs in the wild licked their parents' faces for regurgitated food. Sometimes that was how feeding was done. However, your licking dog is not instinctively asking for a regurgitation: He is simply showing that you are the dominant one in the "pack" of his family.

Dogs are very much pack animals and do not like to be left alone. If you come home and he has scattered your personal things around him, he is just seeking your scent for reassurance that he is still part of a pack and that you will return.

A dog will acquiesce to your commands because as a pack animal, he is being cared for by the leader. He belongs, feels secure. The reason a dog likes to play fetch is a throw-back to the days dogs sought out and killed prey for food. The toy bone or ball is prey once again, marking the faint echoes of another time and place. There are just so many things to learn about dog behavior both with people and other dogs.

Another great aspect of this book is the number of pictures--at least two, sometimes three, that's per page, to demonstrate a behavior. So text and picture work in tandem to provide explanations. This is also a well-made book, which should extend its lifetime.

I intend to donate this book to the school library where I work. It will be a great hit with children of all ages. Actually, the 96-page book was probably designed with children in mind. (Warning: There are a couple of pictures showing mounting behaviors. I found them appropriate in explaining behavior children will surely see at some point. Also, the very young will probably find the pictures funny without further ado.)

Oh yes, I immediately ordered the companion book, "What is my cat thinking?"

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Promises much but delivers little, November 29, 2005

By 

L. Carol "carolcecilia, D.V." - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: What Is My Dog Thinking?: The Essential Guide to Understanding Pet Behavior (Hardcover)

This skimpy little book has a catchy title and full-coloured pictures but does not add much to an observant dog owner what he/she already knows. While the book maybe a quick read to prospective or new owners, I would recommend "Puppies for Dummies" by Sarah Hodgson which gives you the A-Z of raising those cute but oftentimes wilful pups and "The Only Dog Training Book You Will Ever Need: From Avoiding Accidents to Banishing Barking, the Basics For Training a Well-Behaved Dog" by Gerilyn J. Bielakiewicz, Andrea Mattei which discusses the highly effective method of clicker training for dogs at length. These books were major life-savers as I was a complete novice when I adopted my 3-month old Pembroke Welsh Corgi a month ago. I picked up insightful and no-nonsense tips off of the "Dummies" series and taught my pup over 10 commands with ease in just days (!) with the aid of a clicker. Betsy Brevitz's "Hound Health Handbook" is also another excellent reference book which offers credible advice from a writer-turned-vet behind the award-winning urbanhound.com site. These books are must-reads for owners who are experiencing problems instilling discipline/obedience in their dogs, not least prospective owners who are contemplating what breed to buy and the pros and cons as well as problems and the how-tos of adopting a dog(s) to complete their lives.