One of the world’s leading experts on dog behaviour uses groundbreaking research to show us where dogs came from, their world of emotions and the science behind dog training and this month we’ve teamed up to offer 10 lucky readers the chance to win their very own copy.
Debunking a range of myths and popular dog advice, John Bradshaw reveals how dogs experience and interpret the world around them. Our lack of understanding of dog’s nature compromises their well-being, and our relationships with them, whilst the current emphasis on their looks has created serious health issues and a wide range of inherited defects.
Bradshaw explains that, far from being domesticated wolves driven by a need for dominance, dogs are unique creatures that have evolved to socialize and live in harmony with us. Punishment, for instance, can have a detrimental and undesired effect. Rather than teaching a dog to curtail bad behaviour, it can lead to anxiety and a damaged relationship between pet and owner. Dogs do not feel guilt in the way humans do because their sense of time is much less sophisticated. Trapped in the moment, they are unable to project the consequences of their actions backwards or forwards in time. Unable to associate their bad behaviour with punishment, instead they begin to link their owner with a general cause of anxiety, rather than accept punishment as a result of their own actions. Is this the way to treat man’s best friend?
Ultimately, Bradshaw shows that dogs are there for us to love – not as a wolf in canine clothes, not as a small furry child, not as a cute trophy-winner – but as mankind’s closest friend.