Book Review:

What Do I do...When My Dog Pulls?

By Turid Rugaas
Published by Qanuk Ltd
9 The Meadows
Rugeley, Staffs WS15 1 JH

Review by Phyllis Delvin

(I know this book was reviewed in issue 22, but I feel it is worthy of a second appraisal - Ed)

PULLING on lead is possibly one of the biggest complaints that pet owners have, aside from not coming when called. Strangely enough, the number of training techniques as well as the published material available is not especially varied or unique. The training bits are usually buried deep inside comprehensive and sometimes intimidating books. For example, every year we get about 12 new puppy books for review. I think WHAT DO I DO is only the second book I've seen devoted specifically to this one problem.

Turid Rugaas and Sheila Harper of Qanuk Ltd have collaborated on a well-done little manual for pet owners to overcome dramatic winter days like this: "Down the hill at full speed came the owner sitting on the ground, legs stretched out in front of her, holding on to the leash of a very happy Bernese Mountain Dog... the owner was not quite so happy and was relieved when the dog stopped... she had absolutely no chance of standing on her feet on the icy road, and so they made this spectacular entrance."

Since these things don't just happen in Norway Turid has written out a simple, gentle, step-by-step method for training loose leash walking. She begins with teaching the dog to respond to a signal such as clicking your tongue or patting your thigh. Once the dog has learned to look up on that cue, the handler is instructed to STOP immediately when the leash becomes tight, or preferably when the leash is about to become tight. The handler WAITS two seconds without doing anything. The handler then gives the cue the dog has learned, and PRAISES the dog. Walking a few steps in another direction, the handler REWARDS the dog for following.

Aha. Soooo easy with that one-year old golden whose elderly owner has just had shoulder surgery! But don't worry. Turid has laid it all out in gradual steps, beginning with no distractions, describing how and when to reward the dog for learning the cue before handler or dog has even taken a step on lead. From that step to the last there are seven steps total ending with more and more difficult distractions: cars, bicycles, children, cats, livestock. She stresses that each new distraction is begun at a distance and gradually moved closer.

Turid's knowledge of dog behavior and particularly her ideas of training with the dog's abilities and limits in mind are prevalent throughout this book. "If your dog loses concentration it is because he is tired. It is likely that you have worked for too long...the ability to concentrate can vary with age, stress and previous working experience." This knowledge comes to the fore in the sections entitled "Why do dogs pull on leash?" and "Troubleshooting".

The author is also a realist and gives readers an explanation and examples of when NOT to use this technique with alternatives for the dog's exercise and owner's sanity.

Anyone familiar with Turid's work and philosophies can safely assume that she completely covers the myriad reasons why force should not be used and why and how a pulling dog can injure itself even without corrections from its owner. Several pages are devoted to both preferable and inappropriate equipment.

The chapter "Learning By Association" explains how dogs can develop terrible behaviors with several brief case studies, to illustrate how the associations are developed.

This book is beautifully illustrated with color photographs. Like most of Turid's presentations, her photographs are half of the fun. Lovely European dogs in lovely Scandinavian countryside and cities (mostly). I do love those Leonbergers.

"What Do I Do..." concludes with a summary followed by some telling comments by trainers and instructors as well as a little anecdote by Turid herself which made me laugh because it tells us more so much more about her than about Taku, the subject:

"...I had the privilege to have Taku on the leash (not many are allowed to!). On a narrow path, we were suddenly in the middle of chaos. Sheep on the left, only one metre away, cattle on the right side, just as close. And I wonder if any dog would have kept calm then. Taku did not. He bellowed and barked and made all the scary noises a Malamute can make, jumping up and down and lunging to the left and right. All on a totally loose leash! I was just standing there, with a loose leash and a hysterical dog on the other end, and I must admit that I enjoyed the whole thing!"