Good insight, unnecessarily slow

This book was a slog to get through and not because it had poor ideas. On the contrary Clothier has excellent insight into relationships with dogs and has true and helpful wisdom to share here, but she makes a point, then makes it again, then gives an example, then shoehorns in a few quotations, then adds some philosophy, then makes the point again until I was forced to switch to text and do some skimming . Add to this a slow speaking, long pausing, overly dramatic (for my taste) narrator and you have the aforementioned slog.

9 people found this helpful

Great info but to long

There was some really really good information in this book unfortunately I just kind a got lost in the prose at times....

5 people found this helpful

Philosophy, and a small amount about dogs

I had read the reviews, and had my brain inclined toward a specific, familiar type of book. WRONG!! Every few pages there is something of use relating toward the care and/ or training of canines.Other than that, it’s philosophy, ethics, t

3 people found this helpful

Best Philosophy of Dog Training Book!

Suzanne Clothier describes as no other author has, what training is like from the dog's perspective. If you have ever hated doing to your dog what dog trainers have told you that you HAD TO DO, this book is for you. Suzanne has seen the world from the dog's perspective since she was a small child. This is not a HOW TO BOOK, but rather a philosophy of training and behavior modification book. Once you read this, you will only seek out force-free, aversive-free, professional trainers such as those who belong to PPG, APDT, CCPDT, KPA, etc.

3 people found this helpful

Dogs of Enlightenment

I want to say that this wasn't a bad book—the author clearly knows what she's talking about and is sometimes very funny, and the reader did an excellent job. I'm trying to stave myself off from getting a dog by consuming as much dog related content as I can, and this is the one that i found myself struggling to get through. "It's just a few more hours," I'd tell myself. "Just a few more hours, you spent a whole credit on this." It's not a bad book, and the author is personal and vulnerable in a way I appreciate—she talks about how she loses her patients with dogs sometimes, and what she learns from dogs, and the process of grieving, and these are all very raw and very good, but there's something...preachy about it almost? I know that word is loaded, but it doesn't sound like she's trying to sell you any beliefs, but like she's ascribing a certain...spiritual and ethical quality to dogs that I didn't appreciate much. It's entirely possible somebody else would! If you believe that dogs are deeply spiritual and ethical creatures from which we can achieve a certain soul enlightenment, and I mean this with all genuine enthusiasm, this book may be for you! I, staving off the desire to get a dog, wanted more personal stories of her life with dogs and what she personally learned, or about observations she made about dogs, rather than philosophy. But, that was my purpose, and may not be yours.

1 person found this helpful

goes on way too long

I had high hopes for this title, but now that I just finished this tedious audio book, I am super disappointed. She has some really nice observations, but I found the author went on WAY too long without any really good solutions or advice. If you want to know how to train a german shepherd in a kind way, check out any of the excellent videos by Michael Ellis, of Santa Rosa. Suzanne's book has many sad, sad stories, and some very frustrating ones-all of these stories just bummed me out and got me angry. A dog that Suzanne had bred and sold to some crappy excuse of a woman ended up being euthanized. The woman called Suzanne first to tell her what she intended to do-why Suzanne did not offer to take the dog back I just don't understand. She tells the story but never mentions that she could have offered to take it back. Lots of her dogs die of cancer-she mentions she gives the dogs water from her hose-I also think she mentions that she lives somewhere in New Jersey. If that is where she lives, NJ has some of the most polluted water in the country(super high levels of PFAs and PFOAs) because of all the years of industrial capitalism and dumping/polluting of the rivers and ground water, so why this person is giving unfiltered water to her dogs, I just don't understand. I was expecting it to be more organized and full of useful insights but I ended up tuning out because she just kept going on and on. Not the best dog book, sadly..... Save your money and watch the Michael Ellis videos that are available on Leerburg.com

Awesome. Everyone should read.

I found this book touching my heart and mind so deeply and not just how we should communicate and treat dogs and other animals. But more so with people. It has changed how I think, speak, and act.

Every Animal Lover Will Relish This Book

This is not a dog training book in the practical sense. This is a beautiful collection of stories and thoughts of someone who dedicated her entire life to understanding and respecting animals. Delightful content coupled with excellent narration. This is a perfect gift to animal lovers who enjoy a well written book. I will never interpret “dog aggression” the same way... the author shines a light on this issue.

Great book

If you want to understand dogs better, this is a great book. I struggled with emotions at the end when she talks about losing her dogs. The hard part of loving dogs is that we usually outlive them.

For anyone who shares their life with dogs.

This beautiful eloquent book is not just a training book, but a celebration about sharing our lives with dogs. Yes, there is some good advice for training dogs. Also sound advice on understanding our dogs and our relationships with them. More importantly there is profound incites on understanding our relationships with dogs and the humans in our world.