Rating: 
Summary: Highly recommended!
Review: This book does not deal much with the "how-to's" of training a dog, but it sets a good foundation for building a solid human/dog relationship, which is essential to all good training.McConnell explains many of the common mistakes humans make in their interactions with dogs, and she does so without coming off as preachy or judgmental. Although some of it might seem like common sense, her writing encourages healthy reflection in the reader. If we are more aware of how we our own actions are perceived by our canine buddies, we might put more thought into our training methods. She does get into some specifics, such as how to teach your dog to politely wait at the door instead of barging through. With the help of this book, I've become better at using my body language to communicate with my dog in situations such as this, and it has helped greatly. I found her view of dominance to be very interesting, because in my dog's obedience class, I was taught very differently. I don't have any dominance problems with my dog, so I really can't comment on the effectiveness of her approach if your dog does have such problems, although her advice seems to make sense. But I still appreciated her view that we are to act as benevolent leaders, rather than aggressively forcing our dogs into submission. Also, many doggie behavioral problems are not dominance-related at all, but they are viewed that way too often. This book was also very entertaining. I enjoyed reading about McConnell's own dogs, as well as the many stories of other dogs she has worked with. Overall, I found this book to be very enjoyable and informative.
Rating:
Summary: Great insite into the behavior of dogs & the people they own
Review: Patricia McConnell really captivates the art form of learning the language of canines. What really intreagued me about this book is not only does it discuss the behavior of dogs, but also the behavior of us - their handlers! You learn how even the slightest movement can make all the difference in getting your dog to listen to you. This is an essential book for any dog trainers, animal behaviorists, or just dog owners/lovers!
Rating: 
Summary: Have to weed through many personal stories for useful info
Review: I thought that the author provided some useful insight into relationships between dogs and owners, but felt like I was weeding through all of her personal stories in order to get to the info I wanted. I also could have done without having to read example after example of how other species behave similarly or differently from dogs and humans.
Rating: 
Summary: Works in Hours
Review: Within a few hours of finishing this book my dog started barking outside. My husband thought that perhaps the dog across the road was out again. so I looked outside at my dog and told my husband that it was the kids not the dog that were out across the street. the dog was showing the come play with me attitude not the dominance display, and I finally got the signals! Wonderfully intutive and a good read. Full of lots of fun stories and information in an easy to read format that really helps with all dogs.
Rating:
Summary: A great gift for any dog lover
Review: Patricia McConnell's book is packed full of information to help people understand their dog's behavior. The truly delightful and and helpful ingredient is that McConnell gives us a very good look at human behavior. McConnell is very good at showing us where we match - companionship, meeting nurturing needs, enjoyment of a foreign species, and most importantly, showing us where we don't match - heeling, resource guarding, comprehending verbal instructions. I use the information in Patricia McConnell's book in the dog training classes that I teach to help my clients understand the world through a dog's eyes. Dogs are delightful in many ways, but they are not interested in viewing the world from a human perspective. Once my clients are able to understand why dogs do the things they do, training can really progress. Patricia McConnell's book does a great job of telling personal and professional dog stories as well as providing valuable information. Her love for her own small pack of dogs as well as the dogs she meets in her practice shines through. I love this book. I have given it to many of my teen volunteers and have recommended it to my entire dog training club. It's a definite five stars.
Rating:
Summary: Your Dog wants you to read this
Review: This dog-book is entertaining, endearing and helpful to every pet owner. I've read many dog-books and some are very dull. But this book keeps you amused while equipping you with modern dog training techniques and helps you understand dog-nature as well as human-nature. also, there are wonderful narrative stories - one of which made me teary-eyed.
Rating:
Summary: A very interesting read for dog owners
Review: Many of the ideas in this regarding dogs aren't really new. I read much the same thing in Jean Donaldson's Culture Clash. What is immensely fascinating though is the information regarding primates and primate interactions, how we humans still follow our primate roots and how this confuses our dogs who interact in an almost opposite way. Peppered throughout are many useful behaviour tips such as teaching "enough", and how to get a reluctant dog to come to you when called when you own several dogs. When I discovered clicker training it suddenly seemed that my dogs understood me better in training. Now, knowing when to not act like such a primate has had the same result in my day-to-day interactions with my dogs. The writing style is friendly and approachable and not at all dry like would be expected from someone in academia.
Rating:
Summary: Good Information about HER DOGS mostly!
Review: Well, if you want to know more about her own dogs, this is the book for you. Yes, there are some important behavioral issues, but it would of been nice if she would of used her client dogs as examples rather than in EVERY chapter something is mentioned about her Border Collies and their behaviors.....yawn. Anyone who has had dogs in their lives will agree that they ALL have their own personalities, even those from the same litter. Can't say that I gained much from this book! So, if you want to read about her farm dog's behaviors, get this book, otherwise don't waste your money.
Rating:
Summary: I think I have a better understanding of my dogs now.
Review: I've seen Trish McConnell on Animal Planet and listened to her radio show. So I already knew I liked her and her dog "philosophy". The book is a fun read and informative. It is not a training book, however. You will not read about HOW to make your dog sit, stay, come etc. What you will read about is dog to dog interactions, human to dog interaction. From this information, she is able to give you insight on how what you do or don't do will make your dog react. She compares humans to primates and dogs to wolves and discusses the similarities and differences between all. While I was reading the book and after I finished, I found myself watching my dogs carefully. Sometimes my dogs do just what she said, other times I see something different. But keep in mind that I think she is often talking about dogs with behavior problems. She talks about social manners between dogs. Dogs do not approach each other head on. I've watched this happen now. But she mentions that dogs do not like to hug. Mine initiate hugs, but I understand now that that is because they recognize that as something that I like and they are comfortable with hugs with me but not with strangers.
The anecdotes about her dogs are great for helping the reader to understand a point. At the same time they are fun to read, heartwarming and brought tears to my eyes. If you love your dog(s), you'll like this book. I especially would like to read more and I would love a chance to talk with and ask questions of Trish McConnell. She seems to have so much more information to share than could ever be written in a book
Rating:
Summary: Excellent.
Review: Being involved in the pet industry, I have read many dog books- training, behavior, care, etc. This in is my list of top 5. After reading this book, I see dogs in a different light. I am more conscious of how they interpret our body language, how they use theirs, and how to communicate with them more effectively. This is very important to me, not only because I deal with dogs continuously, but especially because I share my home with a couple of rescued dogs with issues that I can now help ease. And Patricia McConnell explains it all in such an entertaining way... I couldn't put the book down! Between her captivating style of writing and the amazing information in this book, this book deserves every one of the five stars I am giving it. Every dog-lover should have this one!
| 
