Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #126314 in Books
• Published on: 2001-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 266 pages

Customer Reviews

It's a dictionary!
I don't understand the point of this book - what's it for? I wasn't sure what to expect, as there was no information offered, no reviews...

I've discovered it's just an alphabetical list of common dog terms, with the same few drawings thrown in now and then to show what a snarling dog looks like - for those who don't know, we're enlightened as follows: Snarling (to be found under 'S') is "behaviour shown when a dog draws back it's lips and show it's teeth, with or without a deep characteristic sound".

Such insights as "breathing (under 'B') is for bringing oxygen to the lungs". Duh?

The layout is instantly off-putting, and it doesn't offer anything not already said in every other dog book, with a very strong leaning towards the dominance theory. Maybe I'm missing something... probably just the money I spent on this book.

Good study aid
Ok, this isn't a "How to train your dog" or "solve behaviour problems" type book. As it states on the cover it's an encyclopedia of dog behaviour. It covers virtually all behaviours and is backed up by scientific study. Some definitons and descriptions are quite brief but others go into some depth, the section on aggression is detailed and informative for example.
Areas covered in this encyclopedia are (to name a few) The evolution of canine behaviour, The ontogeny of aggression, body language, classical conditioning, visual comunication, reinforcement schedules. The list of behaviours covered is quite comprehensive.
Backed up with good tables and illustrations, if you are studying a canine subject this book could be an invaluable reference source.

great reference book
This book is wonderful. It does what it says on the tin. Its not a book you will likely read from cover to cover on the first go, it's more a have-as-a-reference (which is, i suppose the very dictionary definition of an encyclopedia)book.

Its good to use as a reference, or simply a good read as and when you would like a quick couple of snippets of canine information.

It doesnt pretend to be anything else, 1 star? i think not.