TAMAR GELLER with ANDREA CAGAN
Synopsis
from dust jacket flap: Every
dog owner must make a choice: Do you want a fearful and submissive
pet, or do you want a happy, joyful, and well-mannered member of the
family?
Tamar
Geller's mission in life is to teach her cruelty-free method of "life
coaching" for dogs and their people. Her revolutionary
play-training uses mutual understanding and respect -- and puts an
end to outdated methods that rely on physical exhaustion, choke
chains, prong collars, dominance rollovers, or stressful aggression
of any kind.
A
former Israeli intelligence officer who witnessed the horrors of
military dog training methods, Tamar went on to observe wolves in the
wild. She discovered that wolves educate and socialize their cubs
with games, bonding, and body language, not dominance or punishment.
As a result, she developed teaching systems that address a dog's
authentic nature, part wolflike and part toddlerlike. Learning can be
a positive experience that dogs enjoy and look forward to, and we can
actually make it fun for our dogs to listen to us and behave as we
want them to.
Tamar's
insights have brought dog training into the twenty-first century, and
her groundbreaking techniques have won the approval of the Humane
Society of the United States, for which she is a longtime advisor.
Her celebrity clients include Oprah Winfrey, Ben Affleck, Courteney
Cox-Arquette, Owen Wilson, and the Osbournes, and she has appeared as
an expert on the Today show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Animal Planet,
and more.
In
The Loved Dog, Tamar gives you all the instruction, insights, and
tips you need to teach your dog good manners, as well as to
troubleshoot specific problems and unwanted behaviors. She helps you
and your dog learn a common language, resulting in a loving,
respectful relationship that will bring you years of joy and
companionship. Tamar's play-training approach is so gentle, even
children can get involved.
Whether
you use Tamar's methods to raise a puppy or teach an old dog new
tricks, you'll love The Loved Dog.
Stats
for my copy: Hardback,
Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2007.
How
acquired: Thrift store find.
My
thoughts: I
was browsing through the books at a thrift store yesterday when I
came across this book. My daughter has a hyper pup who she loves to
death, but who is driving her up the walls. They attend a training
class each weekend, but he seems to forget everything as soon as he
learns it. This book sounded interesting, so I thought she might like
to read through it.
After
eating dinner last night, I picked up the book and flipped through
it, and this passage caught my attention:
Most people think of socialization in terms of taking a dog outside and introducing her to people, kids, and other dogs, but that is far from the truth. Just because your dog is exposed to different life experiences does not mean that she's ready to tackle any challenge. Exposure does not equal socialization.
I
adopted an older dog a few months ago, after his previous owner
passed away. For six years he had lived in her backyard, having very
little contact with anyone but her. He wasn't abused or treated
badly, and he's very well behaved. But he was completely
unsocialized, and very fearful and timid. When I went to her home to
meet him, where he was still living in the backyard while her
daughters were slowly packing up and removing her possessions, he ran
underneath a shed and refused to come out. He eventually had to be
given a sedative with his food in order to be caught and brought to
my house (after being taken to a vet for checkup). While he was still
woozy that first day I petted him a bit. But after that, it was
several weeks before he would allow me to touch him. It's been seven
months now, and I can pet him and have finally been able to take him
out for short walks, but he still has a long way to go.
Anyway,
I turned back to the beginning of the book and began reading. I'd
never heard of Tamar Geller, and until now Victoria Stillwell has
been my dog training idol. But I liked what Ms. Geller had to say,
and the methods she uses. The book starts out more like a memoir, as
the author talks about her abusive childhood and her military
training. But those periods of her life are important, because they
laid the foundation for who she would be as an adult, and helped her
to develop empathy for dogs.
After
those chapters begins going through basic training techniques, such
as sit, down, and stay, as well as potty training, leash walking and
issues with jumping on people. Apparently Ms. Geller is a big name in
dog training circles, and she works with a lot of celebrities –
there is quite a bit of name dropping throughout the book, and
stories about her clients and their dogs.
Overall,
I really enjoyed the book, and I plan to try some of her tips and
instructions with my boy. As my daughter has struggled to overcome her
pup's potty training issues, separation anxiety and nipping, we've
talked a lot about using positive reinforcement over negative, i.e.,
rewarding good behavior and not physically punishing bad behavior.
Ms. Geller's methods are very much about positive reinforcement, and
making training into a game for the dog. I'm eager to see if my
daughter can start applying some of her methods and what kind of
results she'll get.
