To Better Your Dog's Behavior

Among the other challenges of dog behavior covered in the book are preventing car sickness, introducing puppies to established pets and to your friends, stopping them from nipping the children's ankles or escaping whenever the door is open, and coping with the pet's excess energy.

Best results come, says Johnson, if you are ". . . sure to speak softly . . . when correcting. If you yell at the dog, you will teach it to listen only when you yell!"

She makes it clear that if a person doesn't intend to spend considerable time training and enjoying the dog, it's asking for trouble to acquire one. Like children, animals need supervision and reinforcement of acceptable behavior throughout their lives.

Johnson's methods take advantage of the fact that all canines, including mixed breeds, still carry traits and tendencies for which various breeds were developed, such as hunting, tracking, herding or guarding. As a result, canines need worthwhile and amusing activities. Johnson explains plenty of them, including games and more formal pursuits such as obedience, tracking and agility trials and conformation shows.

A detailed entry-level obedience course is included, and there are lots of appealing photos. Johnson's book is full of common sense and respect for both animals and humans.