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Jean Donaldson

Culture Clash: A New Way Of Understanding The Relationship Between Humans And Domestic Dogs Paperback – January 1, 1996

by Jean Donaldson (Author)

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*The Culture Clash is special. Written in Jean's inimitably informal yet precise lecture style, the book races along on par with a good thriller. *The Culture Clash depicts dogs as they really are - stripped of their Hollywood fluff, with their loveable 'can I eat it, chew it, urinate on it, what's in it for me' philosophy. Jean's tremendous affection for dogs shines through at all times, as does her keen insight into the dog's mind. Relentlessly she champions the dog's point of view, always showing concern for their education and well being. Without a doubt, Jean's book is the hottest doggy item on the market. Best Training Book Of The Year! (Maxwell Award)

Print length

224 pages
Language

English
Publisher

James & Kenneth Publishers
Publication date

January 1, 1996
Dimensions

5.75 x 1 x 8.75 inches
ISBN-10

1888047054
ISBN-13

978-1888047059
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Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ James & Kenneth Publishers (January 1, 1996)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1888047054
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1888047059
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11.2 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.75 x 1 x 8.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #459,733 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #906 in Dog Training (Books)

Customer Reviews:
532 ratings

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Jean Donaldson

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Author Jean Donaldson has over 30 years experience in dog behavior and training and is the Founder and Director of the San Francisco SPCA Academy for Dog Trainers. Jean’s award winning books include The Culture Clash and Oh Behave! She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her Chow, Buffy. Visit www.jeandonaldson.com to keep up to date with Jean and her work.

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Sarah

A flawed book that nonetheless conveys an important message that most dog owners need to hear

Reviewed in the United States on August 11, 2020

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This book is one that many cite as completely changing their view of dogs, and for a good reason. Donaldson points out the way we attribute human motives like spite and "to get back at me" and human morality ("he KNOWS it's WRONG") to dogs, as well as the ways we mistreat them due to these misconceptions, in a clear and straightforward way that helps the reader to think of things from the dog's perspective and understand why they behave as they do. While this is not my favorite dog book for several other reasons, this is something that most pet owners need to hear.
Three complaints I've seen in comments: the author's tone is "arrogant" and " patronizing, " her claims "aren't backed up by facts," and she uses " big words." 1 . I just don't see that. She is blunt. Boohoo. We are all adults here right? Surely we don't need information sugar coated for us. 2. While I am disappointed by the lack of a reference page at the end, pretty much everything she said is common knowledge to anyone in the psychology field. Pick up any intro to psych book and you will see. And 3. If you paid attention in school I really don't think you'll have a problem, but if not, well, that's what dictionaries are for.
Like I said, the average dog owner really needs to hear this message in a clear and straightforward way. And that is where the value of this book lies.
However, there are, IMO, some problems.
On one page, Donaldson says that we tend to have an easier time justifying mistreatment of animals if we think they aren't very smart. On another, she says that the reason we have an easier time justifying mistreatment of dogs is because we think they ARE smart. The way she sometimes contradicts herself is a little confusing. On a related note, the author basically says dogs aren't very smart and encourages us to think of them as "lemon brains" in an attempt convince the reader to abandon the idea that dogs are capable of having morals, "knowing" things are "right" and "wrong," and doing things like plotting revenge or thinking up some grand scheme to dominate us. I get that she is trying to make a point, but I think this is just too big of an oversimplification. I think we can appreciate dogs as the intelligent and emotional creatures they are (and that research has shown them to be) while at the same time understanding that they don't think the way we think and they don't have the capacity to understand our morality or make plans to "get back at us" for leaving them alone when we go to work. It seems like this book makes dogs out to be less intelligent and complex than they really are to get a point across, and that just feels dishonest to me. I think most people are capable of understanding a more nuanced explanation.
Another thing I disliked is that the actual training recommendations are heavy on extinction and negative punishment. While the techniques recommended are certainly far more humane than most training books, There are lots of skilled trainers these days who can show you how to do it better and without the need for nearly as much of those things. Some passages read a lot like NILIF to me, which, again, not the worst but there are better ways.
Like most popular training books, this one doesn't teach you anything beyond Skinner and Pavlov as far as behavior and learning theory, but that's kind of outside the scope of the book anyway.
Over all, I give this book 4 stars because I agree that a lot of pet owners need to lose the fantasy ideas about dogs that our culture teaches us, and this book does a good job of explaining why those ideas are wrong and how they impact our relationship with our dogs. Despite its flaws, there are definitely some pearls of wisdom here.

14 people found this helpful

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Jeff Morgan

Seal Training for Dogs

Reviewed in the United States on October 21, 2012

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I would have qualms about recommending this book due to the dogmatic and elitist presentation of the author. Donaldson attempts to establish operant conditioning as the only modern, scientific, and humane method of dog training. If you are a not familiar with operant conditioning, think marine mammal performing act. Animal hears cue, performs action, gets fish. This method works. But the approach (and this book) does not really educate the owner to understand the Dog as a Dog. In the Conditioning world, a Dog is a Seal is a Parrot.

The author opens the book with a carpet bombing attack on common views of dogs and Anthropomorphism - the attribution human attributes to dogs. This is fair enough criticism, we all do it at times (even Behaviorists I suspect). But the lesson here should be the dog owner must think like the dog, since the dog is incapable of thinking like a human. Instead, the author uses the "guilt" of anthropomorphism as a jumping-off point to both run down her pet peeves and undercut the foundations of any other dog training approach. Her primary targets are dog intelligence, pack behavior, and that dogs would have any desire to please their owners.

In the authors oft-repeated words, dogs are "lemon brains" capable of only the most basic functions of a living organism. Except of course where she needs to make a point, such as the dog understanding contexts or performing complex cost benefit analysis as to whether your offered treat is worth performing some desired trick. And for "lemon brains" she imbues dogs with these smarts fairly often.

Admittedly, it is somewhat uncomfortable to think of Man's Best Friend as a fur ball whose brain is governed by twenty or thirty lines of operating code. However the nature or extent of canine intelligence is still debated. Dogs have been demonstrated capable of extensive vocabularies, and canine intelligence is certainly somewhat more than she gives them credit for. For starters I would point the interested reader to the Dog article on Wikipedia where over 100 citations are provided.

Next up on the target list is Pack Behavior and hierarchy ( a.k.a Dominance). Despite the rather firmly established lineage of Canis Lupus Familiaris, Donaldson dismisses pack instinct as a myth. This will no doubt be a great surprise to Wildlife Biologists who have documented pack behavior in virtually every member of Family Canidae. But according to the author, it doesn't exist and therefore can not be leveraged for training purposes.

The last of the primary targets, closely related to cognitive ability, would be the concept that the dog has any desire to please or work with people. This despite the fact that humans have selectively bred dogs specifically for this trait for 15,000 years (or longer). The brutal truth is that those falling short have been culled. At this point, one has to ask themselves if the author truly understands the dog as the unique animal it is, or merely sees it as another lab subject to be taught (or conditioned) to perform with a limitless and unending stream of food treats.

Over the years the dog training has changed, largely for the better. For example, 30 years ago putting a dog in a crate would have been considered abuse. Today, it is recognized as both normal and helpful in house training, leveraging the dog's natural den instinct. In todays politically correct climate, there exists the idea that using corrections in training is abuse. Sadly, Donaldson is in this camp lumping any form of corrections under the umbrella of carefully undefined "Aversives". So if you have ever corrected your dog verbally, used a light leash pop, or grasped your dog by the scruff of the neck, in the Conditioning world you are the equivalent of Michael Vick and his dog-fighting ilk. Donaldson is strangely quiet on the fact that mother dogs (and other pack members) issue a range of corrections to pups and young dogs as a matter of course. While a seal has little desire to work with a human, dogs are attuned to do so, and corrections do have a place. lastly consider that in humans the results of a few generations of children who don't know the meaning of the word "no" is apparent for all with open eyes. One should expect about the same results with other social hierarchical pack animals such as .... dogs!

Despite my issues with the author, the Operant Conditioning method itself is a fine approach and may indeed be the best for certain dog personalities - sensitive, shy, submissive. I do not use these terms in a pejorative way, a dog of this personality tends to be born into every litter of every breed. Your task as a dog owner is to have many training approaches to draw from. I have found that many authors (even the controversial Caesar Milan) have some insight to offer, if one looks hard enough.

So, who should buy this book? If you are a professional trainer it has a place on your shelf, due largely to Donaldson's technical explanation of the Operant Conditioning theory and mechanisms.

If you are interested in Operant Conditioning or clicker training but don't want to read a dozen books, you can get the same thing without the attitude from authors Patricia McConnell or Ian Turner. Or the Donaldson book "Train Your Dog Like A Pro" has the nuts and bolts of the OC approach without the soap box.

If you are a new dog owner and only want to read one book, I would recommend the new (2009) edition of "The Art of Raising a Puppy" by the Monks of New Skete. The Monks approach is more "holistic" - understanding the Dog as a Dog, and attempting to get the human to think like a dog, instead of treating the dog like a seal or a parrot. Applying what wildlife biologists have learned from the dogs ancestors, the Monks approach leverages the innate instinct of the dog. Their approach is also largely positive - although they do address the politically incorrect topic of Corrections - but used in a limited, timely, and humane way. The Monks approach is focused on building the relationship between you and the dog. But if you would rather have your dog view you as a Dysfunctional Food Dispenser instead of the Benevolent Pack Leader, Culture Clash is for you.

38 people found this helpful

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Robertpatten

Read this book.

Reviewed in the United States on February 15, 2021

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This book blew my mind. It’s not only the best dog training book I’ve read, it’s one of my fave books on ANY topic in recent memory.

The author advocates for the “conditioning” or “positive reinforcement” school of thought. There’s a zillion books on that - this one explains it particularly well. She lays out WHY first, then WHAT. I could almost hear the clicker in my brain.

Donaldson exudes compassion and empathy for dogs. Reading it made me love my dog MORE - by helping me deal with the inevitable frustrations. The “Gorn” story wrecked me - I felt guilty about every time I’ve felt angry when my dog didn’t do what I wanted. (Note to author: please publish the Gorn story online. Every dog owner should read it) The author rages against training techniques that are ineffective and ultimately harmful. Seriously, don’t mess with her beloved dogs or she’s gonna bite you.

Donaldson writes with a clear point of view. She tells you what is wrong, what is right, and how you will benefit. Her commands are unwavering, unambiguous, yet somehow friendly.

This is no beach read. It is dense and thought-provoking, sometimes like a psychology textbook. I needed to take breaks while reading. Short sessions worked best.

The book has great nuggets for specific situations. Whatever dog issues you’re having, she’ll teach you tricks.

If you have long-held beliefs about dog training then this book with probably trigger you. No one likes to be told “no.” You might even bark at the pages.

There is a beautiful irony to this book. I felt like the author was training ME - almost like a dog. You see, I’m not a bad human, I’m just inadequately reinforced.

One person found this helpful

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SallyT

A good message but could be delivered better

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 7, 2020

Verified Purchase

If you are an English competitive obedience trainer you might quickly get rubbed up the wrong way with this book. She appears to have a big downer on competitive obedience training methods based on her American experience and she tars everybody with the same brush. Apparently we all pinch ears! I don't even know how pinching an ear would work as a training tool yet alone have ever heard of it and certainly never seen any of my fellow trainers use such techniques. We also apparently make heavy use of check (choke) chains well, maybe they do in the states but in the UK that largely disappeared 20 years ago. She makes you feel like you are being accused of mistreating your companion even if you haven't done any of the things she mentions. I'm not perfect and certainly there are things I have done, like losing my cool at times, that I know were wrong but I this book basically implies that none of us deserve our pets. All that aside and the first few chapters are really very negative and disparaging. I really felt that I didn't want to read any further but it does improve. The message she is trying to get across is an important one and if you can allow yourself to read this book without taking any of it too personally there is a lot of very useful information in it.

4 people found this helpful

Bryn Griffith

Clear, direct, no soft pedalling, challenging and a tad irreverent

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 2, 2013

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This book was published some time ago and science has now provided greater insights into the needs of our beloved companions. However, I believe the core of this book still holds true.

For example,

1. Dogs do not aim to dominate. They are motivated not by power but by how to get fed, affection, play, sex etc.
2. Aversive training (i.e. punishment for wrong behaviour) is cruel and often counter productive in the long term 3. Dogs are animals and therefore inherently unpredictable. This is something owners must always be aware of
4. The first 3-5 months of a puppy's life are critical to its well-being.
5. Dogs are amoral. There is no such thing as right and wrong, so don't expect them to understand that certain anti-social behaviours (in our eyes) are understandable in dog-world. A dog needs to be motivated away from such behaviours. Methods to achieve this are explained.
6. Dogs are social. Being alone for a dog is unnatural.

I liked this book's style. The reader is assumed to be intelligent and there is no dumbing down of terminology. You are told things only once, and left in no doubt about where the responsibility lies for the welfare of your dog, and other dogs and humans it comes into contact with; YOU.

I found this a useful and entertaining reminder about how to raise my dogs. Treat them with love and respect, but remember they are not humans and see the world in an entirely different way.

13 people found this helpful

Fiona Blackburn

Firstly I have to say that I rarely write reviews ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 23, 2015

Verified Purchase

Firstly I have to say that I rarely write reviews, but I feel I should with regards to this book. I have to agree with other reviews that it is too complicated, both in the words used, and the way it is written. I have never read a book where I have needed to go back to what is said several times to work out what was meant. I also feel that this is 3 books in 1 and would benefit greatly from at least being separated in 3 parts: understanding how your dog functions, training your dog, solving issues with your dog. As it stands now, it's all one big muddle which makes it difficult to actually take what you want/need from the book without reading pages and pages of info that is not actually of interest. I have now read 70% of the book and I've decided to give up, it's just too much hard work for what I am getting from it! Shame.

14 people found this helpful

AK

Essential for dog owners

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 7, 2010

Verified Purchase

Donaldson's book was a revelation - something I can warmly recommend to any dog owner, who feels even a bit of affection towards their four legged companion, and who would like to keep them well behaved and integrated into society.

To put this into perspective, our dog has previously attended a dominance paradigm based training school, which definitely got results - HOWEVER - the results were short term only (one would not have lasting improvements in behaviour in spite of following all the rules, not unless one went back for some 'rough treatment' by the trainers regularly) and required punishment type training. What had me nervous from the start of that approach was the assertion that the dog's tail needs to be down, not up. Be that as it may, a proficient 'dominance theorist' dogtrainer will likely bring about an obedient and relatively well adjusted dog, however as an amateur this approach is both relatively difficult, as well as stressful on the animal - no matter that the dog always went through narrow spaces last, ate last and we adhered to every single aspect of dominance based theory, behaviour did not improve, it just slid further back into the pre-training mode.

Donaldson takes the opposing view of analysing a dog's learning process and then working with the results of behavioral science in direct / operant conditioning, using primarily reinforcement for behaviour shaping.

While we previously managed to get reliable responses to simple (and useless) commands such as sit and stay using the dominance approach, we only managed to get the more complex stuff such as reliable object retrieval and recall with an approach based on the techniques described in this book. It shows you how doing what naturally feels right (i.e. not treating the dog roughly to educate it) can produce results, without falling into the antropomorphic trap of treating dogs like other humans and attributing human emotions (revenge, obstinacy, guilt) to them.

On top of that the book is very well written, with the right dose of humour, easily readable and full of very practical advice on specific games to play and approaches to use to reinforce a certain wanted behaviour. I can recommend it very warmly, in my opinion this is definitely one of the must have books for dog owners and in a totally different quality league from something marketing (look at me) oriented such as Milan's Cesar's Way: The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding and Correcting Common Dog Problems , where I struggled to find anything but the most basic advice on dog training and behaviour (but there is plenty on the childhood of Milan).

9 people found this helpful

Canis bonus

The book that made me want to become a dog trainer

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 27, 2011

Verified Purchase

the Culture Clash is the book that has had the strongest influence on my dog career. It opened my eyes to science-based and humane dog training.

Jean clearly masters the subjects she covers (e.g. learning theory, etc.), and makes it a breeze for the masses to understand them. Her writing is at once funny, unpretentious and engaging. Once you pick it up, you will not be able to put it down.

The culture clash will make you look at your dog, and why he behaves in a certain way, from a completely new perspective. It gives you not only specific tips, but a new way of thinking which you can use for all your interactions with your dog.

The Culture Clash is now a classic in dog training literature, and deservedly so.

After I finished it, it spoke to me so profoundly that I started dreaming up a plan to become a dog trainer. 2 years down the line, I have achieved that goal, and, although I have since then read hundreds of books on the subject, the Culture Clash remains heads and shoulders above the rest.

7 people found this helpful

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