Book Review ~ Brad Pattison's Synergy

Yay! I'm in Month 4 of my quest to read and review 13 Canadian dog books, and for the first time I'm doing two reviews in one month (a good thing since the one book/month thing ain't gonna cut it in terms of the ultimate "13" goal). This time I've read Brad Pattison's Synergy in Training between Man and Dog. Pattison is well known from his television show At the End of My Leash, which airs on Slice in Canada (apparently my favourite network). According to Wikipedia, Brad was born in Calgary, so he is, yes, a bona fide Canadian author.

Let me just say that I have a love/hate relationship with the Brad I see on At the End of My Leash. He is extremely opinionated and comes across as confrontational. But, he's easy on the eyes and (most of) his advice makes sense, so I remain a loyal viewer of his program. However, Brad the writer is different from Brad the tv personality. His no-nonsense, in-your-face attitude is still very apparent, but the book has quite a bit of humour. And, surprisingly enough, Brad the writer anthropomorphizes. Who wudda thunk it?

I have a few quality issues with the physical book. Some of the black and white photos that were intended to be diagrams, I frankly couldn't make noses nor tails of. Also, I'm not sure if this was just my copy or if it is a prevalent problem, but the text was clearly formatted beyond the acceptable borders of the finalized printed version, and alphabets are missing along those edges. Some short words were missing entirely as a result of this, making it necessary to puzzle out the sentences.

But those are just quibbles. This is a great book about dog training; supplementing what you may have already learned from Brad the tv guy, or introducing you to his unique training methods and his thoughts on our canine companions. Two particular points of interest for me: Brad argues that changing dog food frequently is a good thing (which I've always believed) and that dogs do have memories. Dog trainers often subscribe to the belief that dogs have very short memory spans, and that it's pointless to incorporate mistakes (such as chewing your shoe while you are at work) into training, as the dog's memory of the shoe will only last for about 2 minutes after the last bite is taken out of it. I pretty much accepted that as gospel, but Brad feels differently and after reading his examples, Brad's theory makes total sense. My own two clearly remember where certain things are on our walks as well as where things stay in the house. They can gauge where I am off to (walk time, play time, Jacki time) based on which jacket I put on at the door. I would also argue that they do remember routes on our drives, as they become increasingly excited the nearer we get to our destinations.

I visit Brad's website on occasion, and I was also suprised to see that he advocates for clothing and booties for dogs in extreme weather, which I thought were a big Brad no-no. On one episode of his program, he berated a woman for putting clothes on her dog, telling her that if her dog is cold, she shouldn't get his coat cut so short. As Archie is always cold - and has never had his coat cut - I was a little peeved. It was a relief to find out that Brad the tv guy might be amping things up a bit for the sake of ratings.

My love/hate relationship with Brad may have a little more love in it these days.

I reviewed this book for John Mutford's Third Canadian Book Challenge.

Book Review ~ The Dog who Wouldn't Be

Month Four of my quest to read and review 13 "Canadian" dog books brings me to a classic - Farley Mowat's The Dog who Wouldn't Be. Mowat is, of course, one of Canada's most beloved authors, who penned forty-two books. The Dog who Wouldn't Be was his fourth, first published in 1957. The book takes place in the gritty 1930s, when Mowat was a child. It chronicles the adventures Mowat and his dog, Mutt. Let me just say that I have no idea how I avoided reading this book up until this point. It's a great story; it's about dogs; and not only is it Canadian, but it's primarily set in Saskatoon and surrounding areas, where I've lived my whole life.

According to Mowat, Mutt decided that he didn't want to be a dog. Mutt was definitely a character and definitely whippersnapper smart. I think he was also definitely a dog. Some of his feats were amazing but believable - such as scaling a ladder. Others feats would be considered neat conversational starters, but actually pretty commonplace - such as eating cherries and spitting out the pits. Some of the tales are most likely yarns, or at least embellished (a lot). I'm not a fan of tall tales, but I kept reading because the writing style is familiar and engaging; the stories are fun to read; and there's a fair share of history too - although secondary to the story of a boy and his dog, you certainly do get glimpses of the Depression years on the Canadian prairies.

I read the Emblem edition (pictured above) which was published in 2009.

First snow ~ Dogs on Thursday

Book Review ~ The Intelligence of Dogs

I am in Month 3 of my quest to read and review 13 Canadian books about dogs over the course of a year. This month's offering is Stanley's Coren's The Intelligence of Dogs: A Guide to the Thoughts, Emotions, and Inner Livers of Our Canine Companions (and just for the record, I read the "Revised and with a New Preface by the Author" edition, published in 2006). Born in the US, Coren moved to Vancouver in 1973 to take a position with the Psychology Department at UBC. Coren is now a professor emeritus at UBC, and continues to teach, research, and publish.

I have long been a fan of Coren's, ever since discovering his program Good Dog!, which used to be on the Life Network (now Slice) in Canada. I've previously read Coren's How Your Dog Thinks; How to Speak Dog; and Why Does my Dog Act that Way? I've consciously put off reading The Intelligence of Dogs because it contains a list of dog breeds, ranked by how intelligent they are, and I am well aware that most people do not consider beagles to be very intelligent. Which I would argue about, but it is too soon in my review to digress.

I believe The Intelligence of Dogs is the first book that Coren wrote about dogs, and it is still the most controversial. Coren argues that dog intelligence is largely predetermined by breed; and that certain breeds are more intelligent than others. Coren is careful to thoroughly explain what he means by "intelligence," and that the intelligence he measures and ranks in the book are based on "working or obedience intelligence" or how quickly and easily dogs can learn the commands we use to train them.

For the record, beagles are ranked at #72 in a list that goes to #79. What does this mean for me, and other beagle guardians? Coren states that dogs with a ranking of 70-79 are the most difficult to train, and any skills they do learn may "evaporate" without practice. That said, Coren, who is active in obedience training, trials, and competition, owns - and, yes, trains - a beagle named Darby. As Coren points out, sometimes intelligence is overrated. Very smart dogs may turn out to be a handful, as they may get bored very quickly or figure out behaviours to get away with things we don't want them doing. I would argue that beagles are most adept at figuring out such behaviours . Gabe can turn a doorknob and scurry backwards to allow the door to swing towards him. Archie is a master faker, and will do things like bark up a storm as he runs towards the gate, prompting Gabe to leave a prized toy or chewie behind in his rush to find out what the ruckus is about. My foster girlie, Annie, was quite adept at hoarding prizes on her bed, and she gained her prized possessions by opening cupboard doors and laundry basket lids.

There are sections in this book that show you how to measure your dog's IQ, how to test your dog's obedience personality, and how to stretch and improve your four-legged friend's intelligence. In my rush to get at least one review posted this month, I did not have an opportunity to do the testing, but I definitely will at some point (likely in the winter when it is too cold to go outside and I am looking for some way to amuse both the boys and myself).

Overall, this is a very interesting read and I continue - four books in - to be astounded by how well Coren "translates" boring scientific detail and terminology into lay(wo)man terms. Discussion on how dogs evolved from wolves/jackals/dingoes and a look at how Descartes's opinions shaped our view of dogs for centuries could be dry reading indeed, but Coren somehow manages to make it interesting and accessible. One quibble I do have with Coren's work is that he reuses some material from book to book, so that if you've already read one book, you'll likely be able to skip part of the next book you read.

Hi there cutiepie!

Book Review ~ Mad Dogs and an Englishwoman

John Mutford's The Real Canadian Book Challenge on his The Book Mine Set blog motivated me to set a goal: read 13 Canadian books about dogs within the next year, and review them here at Gabe n Arch. The second book I've read is Polly Evans's Mad Dogs and an Englishwoman: Travels with Sled Dogs in Canada's Frozen North.

Polly Evans is a British travel writer, and one who combines travel with a challenge. In Mad Dogs, Evans writes about 10 weeks spent in the Yukon, learning to run sled dogs. Her base is Muktuk, Frank Turner's home near Whitehorse. Turner competed in 22 Yukon Quests and operates Muktuk both a tourist operation and the home base for his son Saul, who is now running in the Quests.

Evans learns about sled dogs from the ground up, literally, beginning with scooping the poop of Muktuk's 108 dogs and learning how to properly fit dog booties. Her first excursion (or two) with a sled is somewhat hapless, but she hangs in there 'til the bitterly cold end, when she spends 6 days covering part of the Yukon Quest trail in -44 degree weather. Brrrrrr.

The book contains mini-lessons on history and geography, which, while interesting, are somewhat distracting. The tone is different in these sections and feel wedged into the main narrative. And, speaking of the main narrative, I was surprised that there wasn't more about the dogs! Now, of course, that's coming from someone who is writing a dog blog and who set out to read books about dogs. Still the title contains the word "Dogs" twice so I expected a lot of canine confidential. I was also surprised that as an urban-dwelling Brit, Evans doesn't note a reaction to the dogs' living conditions or the controversy over sled racing. Evans has an extensive photo gallery online from her time in the Yukon, and I'm glad I checked that out. The many photos of Muktuk's dogs add a dimension to her story that I was looking for.

That said, if you approach this book as a travel narrative that takes place in the Yukon, I think you will walk away as a happy camper. Evans is an engaging writer and she is not above laughing at herself. She is awestruck by the beauty of our far north and she inspires a similar awe in her readers. And I certainly admire her spirit in tackling such an adventure.

Rain, Rain, Go Away ....

Gabe: "I am so b.o.r.e.d. Will this rain ever stop, Mom?"


Archie: "Really, Mom? You have new toys stashed away in special hiding spot? Whoo-hoo!"

Archie: "This octopus is a cutie! And it makes a cool crinkly noise too!"

Gabe: "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is more handsome, me or the octopus? (me, me, me, me, me)"

Archie: "I don't know how my octopus got under the couch mom, honest!"

Gabe: "Thanks for the new toys mom. Now for nap time!"