That title up there started its existence as part of a conversation with a friend about the fundamentals of dog training and the methods that we use, and evolved into that final phrase in a handwritten message in a signed copy of a book. (The fact that people want signed copies of things I have written is still prone to causing massive grins and occasional disbelieving chuckles. 😂)
One truth that becomes readily apparent once anything you have written is out and available to anybody in the wider world is that people will often have opinions on what you have created. They will then share those opinions if the mood takes them, and nothing the writer can do may stop that. It can be intimidating, but it is not something an aspiring writer should let hold them back. Bad reviews can be hard to swallow early on, but there is no reason to become obsessed with them, and certainly not to let them restrict any future writing plans.
As many of you reading this may know, I have released a few books – 4 currently available* at the time of writing, and book 5 in the early stages). Two on my particular area of canine interest: reactive behaviours in dogs. ‘Fight or Fright? A Reactive Dog Guardian’s Handbook’ aims to support the dog guardian just discovering their dog struggles with the world. Later, following a comedy memoir of life with the notable dogs of my past and facing down my raging impostor syndrome, I wrote ‘Understanding Reactive Dogs’**. This book helps in understanding what causes and drives reactive behaviours. It is more technical than Fight, but (now my second passion) explains that technical language in an accessible way. Both are exactly what they set out to be and well received by the vast majority of readers. They both also have a small number of one or two star ratings or reviews.
There are, I suspect, two reasons for this. No writer – on any topic – ever manages to please every reader. It is impossible. Those who do not like the book may put it down without bothering to leave any feedback or express any thoughts. With the ease of giving ratings via e-readers and not needing to type an actual review, however, this is now less likely. The other cause of less than deserved poor reviews is, in my opinion, a reader anticipating something from a book that is not actually contained within.
A poor review for one of my books illustrates this point. I wrote Fight primarily as a source of support, to guide the worried guardian towards help, to inform on what is occurring inside the dog, and describe available behaviour modification techniques. What it does not contain (and neither does Understanding Reactive Dogs) are any magic quick tips and tricks to stop reactivity fast; leading one reviewer to claim it contains no help at all.
I think some readers honestly believe that those of us who write dog books have some secrets that we do not share but hoard all to ourselves so we can sell more books. Over three years into working with my own anxious dog, I can honestly say there are days when I really wish this were true. Sadly, there are no magic tricks, no quick fixes. Behaviour modification is a massively effective way to improve an anxious or fearful dog’s relationship with the world, but it is not fast.
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| All training and behaviour modification takes time and patience! |
TV training shows are a real bugbear to many canine professionals – very few involve ethical trainers and behaviourists (although there has been a recent one in the UK, Cats and Dogs at War, involving the brilliant Chirag Patel). Most involve ‘celebrity’ trainers, reasonably photogenic, with smooth manners and excellent marketing teams. Their shows will start out with clips of ‘nightmare’ dogs, making the guardians look totally hapless until the celeb ‘trainer’ arrives like a white knight and effortlessly sorts the dogs out in under an hour. Ok, we all know that’s not really how it goes, but editing tries very hard to make it look like that’s the case. Those of us who understand canine communication and body language can tell just how upset and scared the dogs are through the ‘training’ experience, which utilises aversive methods and risks severe damage to the human-canine bond when the guardians follow the awful advice they are left with to follow without question. Here is an article I have linked to on my Facebook pages a few times, written around the time of the first series of a (sadly very popular) show here in the UK that explains the issues with this type of TV show very well.
The truth is that transformation will never be as quick as these TV trainers make it seem. At best, the only thing that can happen fast is behaviour suppression, and that way lies a whole heap more trouble that can have catastrophic consequences, as the emotional consequences of that suppression WILL come out at some point. True behaviour modification is never fast, but it is effective. What we are doing when we use techniques like counter-conditioning is changing and creating new neural pathways, new routes for the electrical signals, the nerve impulses that feed information from various parts of the body in to the brain and then back out to put appropriate responses into action. Changing the neural pathways enables us to move the dog from reacting (without any conscious thought but as an instinctive thing) to responding (a much more considered process not ruled by the fear response). Altering these routes in the brain and ensuring that they are working as responses rather than reactions is not a fast process. It takes time, patience, and consistence, working at the dog’s pace.
In short – the reason that good dog books never promise quick results or trouble free processes of changing things is that there are no quick fixes. There are no shortcuts. Anyone telling you otherwise is just out to make money and may well leave you in a far worse situation than before they arrived.
Dog training and behaviour modification. It's really not magic; it is all about the science.
* Ebooks available via a range of stores at the link. Paperbacks available via Amazon (also can be accessed via the links in the article).
** Audiobook version of Understanding Reactive Dogs should be available for purchase soon.
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