review by Katha Miller-Winder

Patricia McConnell is an animal behaviorist who knows her stuff and has a real gift for presenting it in an easily understood fashion. The Other End of the Leash is absolutely the best thing I’ve read about living with dogs; McConnell does a remarkable job of explaining why humans and dogs do the things they do.

Dogs are so much part of the very fabric of our lives and such close companions that it is often easy to forget that they are not humans in fur suits but are instead a completely different species that has its own culture and communication style. Have you hugged your dog today? No doubt it made you feel happy and satisfied. Primates are huggers. How about your dog? Did your dog enjoy the hug? Probably not; well socialized dogs learn to tolerate this human interaction but the full contact restraining nature of a hug isn’t an enjoyable expression of love for a dog. Take a look at some photos of people hugging their dogs; the people look relaxed and happy with open mouthed smiles, the dogs have closed mouths and their heads turned away. We hug our dogs but our dogs seldom if ever hug us. If we understand that cultural difference we realize that it isn’t a good idea to let a child throw their arms around the dog they just met at the park and give the dog a hug.

McConnell looks at the role of anthropomorphism in our relationships with dogs. There are times when it is very unhelpful such as when we attribute human emotions such as vindictiveness to dogs. Imagine you return home to find the dog has chewed your favorite pair of slippers to ribbons the anthropomorphic interpretation that the dog is punishing you for leaving them alone for so long is unlikely to be true. A more likely explanation is that the dog was bored, lonely and stressed by being left alone with nothing to do and did what dogs do to soothe themselves i.e. chew on something; your favorite slippers were the chewed object not because the dog wanted to get back at you but because the slippers smelled like you, the dog’s favorite person in all the world. There are also times when anthropomorphism can help you understand why your dog reacts the way they do. Suppose your dog is roughhousing at the park with a pack of dog friends and you call him over for some petting and a treat. Chances are that your dog is reluctant to come. Think about it, do you call your child out of their sports game to come to the sidelines so you can hug them? McConnell has a real gift for helping you see things from the dog’s point of view and giving you a better chance of setting your dog up to succeed.

Have you read The Other End of the Leash? Did you come away with a better understanding of why we do the things we do and why your dog does the things he does? Has it improved your relationship with your dog?

review by Katha Miller-Winder

Some have described Nick Trout as a modern day James Herriot. Like Herriot he takes us into the daily life of a veterinarian in this case a veterinary surgeon in a major veterinary hospital. He has a way with words and with him we experience the heart pounding tension as a surgery goes awry and the proud delight as everything turns out just the way it should. We meet the people and their pets and just as Dr. Trout does we become involved in their stories.  Trout frames the book between two very special dogs that came to him for surgery. Cleo was the young pampered Min-Pin princes and Helen the old, street smart Cocker Spaniel their lives couldn’t have been more different and yet in this book they are inextricably bound together. These two remarkable dogs come with equally remarkable people and Trout paints vivid word portraits of these people that give the reader a clear picture of who these people are and how their lives led them to a place where they had the grace and wisdom that’s so integral to the story.

In his writing, Trout shares with us the joys and the sorrows, the ups and the downs and the everyday miracles of veterinary practice. We share the tensions of surgery and the intense focus it requires. There are moments of proud accomplishment and moments of heart-rending doubt. There are moments of absurdity, such needing to get administrative permissions to do an internet search of the Victoria’s Secret website to research the ingredients of breast firming cream in order to help their paralyzed tree frog patient. The book made me laugh and it made me cry. Dr. Nick Trout is a very special veterinary surgeon who understands that all his patients are unique and wonderful and well loved.

review by Katha Miller-Winder

Adopting a dog was, for me, rather like having a baby; I stared lovingly at this new being in my life and wondered “now what.” And just as I did with my children I began to read everything I could find that would help me answer that question. I’ve taken away something that has improved the life of my dog from nearly every book I’ve read but some have been especially valuable. Those are the books that “Ranger Recommends” a tribute to my dog Ranger’s appreciation of how much better I’ve become as a dog parent thanks to these books. Merle’s Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog by Ted Kerasote is one of the first books I read about living with a dog and it had a profound impact on the types of questions that I asked myself. It is a very well done book that mixes factual scientific information with personal observation. I did not always agree with Kerasote’s conclusions or choices but I valued the thought-provoking perspectives provided.

On a camping trip along the San Juan River Ted Kerasote meets a Lab mix living wild. The two develop a relationship and the dog named Merle accompanied Kerasote to his home. Kerasote and Merle established an enviable life together. Where Kerasote lived dogs were allowed to roam free, as a writer his schedule was flexible, he'd made a lifestyle choice available where he lived to eat only what he'd hunted himself and he and Merle had an idyllic life together, hiking, skiing, hunting and when Kerasote was writing Merle was free to roam the town and surrounding countryside and/or to visit the other free roaming dogs in town. Having read about this idyllic life my question became how could I create a similarly idyllic life for my suburban dog.

Merle was free to come and go as he pleased and to make his own choices. Merle and Kerasote formed a partnership rather than a relationship based on dominance or assigned roles. There was mutual respect and love. Beautifully written and deeply moving dog lovers will appreciate this glimpse of how dogs and people are meant to work together and compliment one another's skills and abilities.

Years have passed since I first read this book and when I look at the relationship we have established with our dog Ranger I realize that I took away quite a bit from the idyllic relationship between Merle and his person. Ranger is a suburban dog and won't be roaming free establishing his own friendships and visitation schedule but he's living a pretty idyllic life for a suburban dog. We've partnered with Ranger to provide him with a minimum of three enriching activities per day. These include walks, car rides, dog park visits, play dates and training time. In return Ranger has shown us changes in our neighborhood that we'd never paid attention to before and taught us how to observe dogs. He's learned to fit himself into our lifestyle and we've found ways to accommodate his needs. He's made friends in the neighborhood and we respect that, even if we're in a hurry we still allow a few minutes for him to say hello to his friends. Even in a suburban setting it's still possible to form a partnership. I find that encouraging.

review by Katha Miller-Winder

Horowitz does a fascinating job of exploring the umwelt of a dog. Umwelt isn’t a concept that directly translates into English but think of it as considering what it is like to be a dog based on how they perceive, process, and experience the world. Dogs are not humans and they do not experience the world in the same way. Take the sense of smell. Take a cup of water and add a teaspoon of sugar. Can you smell the sugar in the water? The average dog can smell a teaspoon of sugar in an amount of water equivalent to what it would take to fill two Olympic size swimming pools! In humans sight is the dominant sense and we have tremendous visual acuity to help us navigate our world. In dogs the dominant sense is smell.

Dogs are acutely aware of smells. Take a deep breath. What can you smell? Now look around you paying attention to all the things you see. How much more can you see than you smelled? For your dog it is just the opposite. A dog’s vision is far better than ours at seeing motion and for seeing in the dark but a dog’s visual acuity is far less. When you drop that treat on your floor and the dog searches for it the dog isn’t being dumb or stupid, your dog can’t see it because it does not stand out against the background. Dogs do see colors but the colors they see are nowhere near as rich, vibrant and complex as the color shadings humans can perceive. Their visual world is made up of dull blues and greenish yellows.

Umwelt is comprised of all the different ways someone experiences the world. It isn’t just the physiological differences such as the construction of a dog’s nose. Umwelt is also the difference between the location humans view the world from and the location dogs view the world from. Stand up and take a look around. Things look pretty familiar. Now get down to your dog’s level and take a look at the world. It doesn’t look the same. Small wonder that your Labrador sized dog wants to stick his nose in everyone’s crotch. Not only is that an excellent source of smells revealing all sorts of information about the human involved but also it’s right at eye/nose level.

Inside of a Dog is easily one of the best things I’ve read about dogs and their way of experiencing the world. It’s one of those books I’ve been buying to give to my dog loving friends and relations. And thanks to Horowitz I’m becoming a better observer of my dog. Perhaps someday I’ll become as good an observer of him as he is of me. That’s another big difference between how we process our world. I’m a human and I don’t see/observe with much attention. My dog attends closely to all that I do. He probably knows me better than I know myself.

Does your dog know cues that help him predict when that anxiously awaited game of fetch will begin? Or when you’re actually getting up from the computer to go for a walk?

review by Katha Miller-Winder

This is a book I picked up because I'm interested in pet therapy. I didn't
get exactly what I expected but it was a fascinating read anyway. Oscar is a tabby cat living and working at Steere Nursing Home in New England and Oscar has an unusual profession. He works in the Alzheimer's care unit and when he's not entertaining patients and staff playing with his sister Maya, Oscar holds vigil with the dying and their families. Dr. Dosa is a geriatrician who works with Steere House and he isn't a big fan of cats. Still the more Dosa learns about Oscar's self appointed job the more curious he becomes. This curiosity prompts him to interview those who sat vigil with Oscar as their loved one passed on. In the course of these interviews Dr. Dosa doesn't learn a lot about Oscar or his unusual profession but he does take a fascinating journey into families whose lives are turned upside down by this horrible disease. As Oscar glides through the pages of this book he teaches Dr. Dosa about death and the acceptance of death. Oscar is an amazing creature who has chosen a difficult profession but his presence time and time again brings comfort and support to patients and families alike. This isn't the book for everyone. It is heart wrenchingly sad and yet there are small everyday joys to celebrate. In the end, just as Dr. Dosa, I learned a lot more about the horrific toll taken on families by Alzheimers and the myriad strategies families have found for coping.