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Overview
According to a recent report in the Journal of the American Medical Association, dog bites cause 4.5 million injuries every year - that's one bite every 40 seconds! Finally, recognized dog experts & the authors of this book, offer owners advice on how to prevent & train aggressive dogs. Drawing upon years of experience, the authors provide concerned dog owners with important tips on how to prevent everything from bites to excessive barking. GRRRRRR! defines each type of aggressive canine behavior & examines its causes & potential for danger. Those looking for a puppy will find useful instructions on how to choose a new best friend for its temperament, as well as methods for training both puppies & older dogs. The authors also include invaluable information on confronting aggressive dogs. Written in the authors entertaining & accessible style, this new book from America's premier dog experts is perfect for everyone with a dog in their life.
Synopsis
More than 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year. Canine aggressive behavior--from growling and nipping to outright biting--is frightening, dangerous, and a source of major concern and worry to dog owners and victims alike. If your dog is sometimes a frightening menace, you finally have a valuable resource: Matthew "Uncle Matty" Margolis and Mordecai Siegal's GRRR!: The Complete Guide to Understanding and Preventing Aggressive Behavior in Dogs. GRRR! enables responsible dog owners to identify and control aggressive behavior and to put into practice dog expert Matthew Margolis's maxim, "Get rid of the problem, not the dog." Embodying Margolis's training philosophy of "Love, Praise, and Affection," GRRR! offers comprehensive and proven advice on how to cope with aggressive dog behavior. The authors identify ten distinct categories of aggressive behavior, describing each one and explaining why it occurs, and also include a unique puppy personality test as well as tests for aggression used atMargolis's National Institute of Dog Training. With this knowledge, dog owners can identify and correct specific aggressive behavior. A special section focuses on children and aggressive dogs, with an emphasis on how to prevent being bitten. Throughout, Margolis and Siegal exhibit their true concern about aggression in dogs and demonstrate their deep understanding of both dogs and dog owners. Highly informative, GRRR! Helps ensure that dogs remain our best friends.
Mordecai Siegal is the award-winning author of twenty-five books about dogs and other animals. He is president of the Dog Writers Association of America and is often consulted as an expert in the pet industry. He is a frequent after-dinner speaker, has appeared on many TV shows, and has had his own radio talk show in New York. He lives in New York City. Matthew "Uncle Matty" Margolis is host of the popular public television series Woof! It's a Dog's Life with Matthew Margolis. He is founder and president of the National Institute of Dog Training in Los Angeles, where he has trained more than thirty thousand dogs. He has appeared on Good Morning America, 20/20, and Oprah and has been featured in U.S.A.Today and People. He has collaborated with co-author Mordecai Siegal on many books, including Good Dog, Bad Dog; When Good Dogs Do Bad Things; and Uncle Matty's Ultimate Guide to Dog Training, which together have sold more than 1.2 million copies.
Library Journal
In their previous dog-training books (e.g., When Good Dogs Do Bad Things), coauthors Siegal and Margolis helped owners test puppies for a variety of temperaments. Here focusing specifically on aggressive behavior, they present tests to determine whether a dog is aggressive and which of ten types of aggression the dog might display, e.g., dominant, fear, and territorial. They also explain the factors, both genetic and environmental, that can contribute to a dog's tendencies. In clear language and with illustrations intended for the novice trainer, the authors teach obedience commands to control dangerous behavior and describe techniques to use to overcome problem situations. Although they have covered some of this in their previous books, Siegal and Margolis take a unique approach by concentrating on the identification and in-depth treatment of aggressive behavior. The popularity of the authors and the importance of the topic make this a recommended purchase for public libraries.--Florence Scarinci, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, NY Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\
Editorials
From Barnes & Noble
The Barnes & Noble ReviewMarch 2000 Dog bites are big news in communities across the United States — in fact, a recent report in the Journal of the American Medical Association cites 4.5 million injuries every year. So a guide to preventing aggressive behavior in dogs is very timely.
Mordecai Siegal and Matthew Margolis, dog experts and authors of a very practical and useful book called Grrr! The Complete Guide To Understanding and Preventing Aggressive Behavior In Dogs, say dog owners need to take responsibility for the training of their animals to get rid of aggressive behavior. If not, they warn, even beloved pets may have to be given away or put down.
The title Grrr! refers, of course, to the frightening and unfriendly sound that dogs make when they feel threatened or challenged — even if they are normally very sweet and loving. Siegal and Margolis don't mince words when it comes to aggressive dogs: "The 'best friend' concept goes out the window when your dog's behavior makes you want to change his name from Honeybun to Satan." Growling, nipping, and excessive barking, let alone biting, are simply inappropriate behaviors for dogs in this society, they explain. In addition, those behaviors certainly don't make living with a dog any fun.
So what is a well-intentioned dog owner to do? The first thing, say Siegal and Margolis, is to get past the denial stage — as in, "My dog would never bite or scare anyone!" Some dogs are born or bred to behave this way, but even the sweetest dog can, under certain circumstances, become aggressive iftheconditions are right. Unfortunately, say the authors, many people respond to aggressiveness by isolating their dog and locking him away. This only worsens the dog's behavior. Only through proper identification of the behavior and training can a dog be changed from aggressive to friendly, they explain.
In the first chapter of Grrr! the authors help readers identify different types of aggressive behavior, whether in a puppy, a juvenile, or a mature dog, so the owner can take appropriate action to nip it in the bud (no pun intended). The authors detail ten different types of aggressive canine behavior, including dominant (wanting to be in control, often an inherited trait), fear (responding to people that scare them), pain (occurring when the dog is touched on a pain-sensitive area of body), and maternal (seen in females nursing or rearing a litter of puppies).
After accepting the fact that your dog is or could become aggressive, it's natural to ask, "How on earth did my dog get this way?" In the second chapter, the authors tread over familiar territory — anyone who has read a book on dog behavior will probably know that dogs are descended from wolves and that related issues such as the pack and territorial behavior apply. But since the authors are talking specifically about aggressive dogs, this information is understandably necessary and is worth going over. They also address other reasons dogs become aggressive, including a lack of early socialization with humans and other dogs, as well as misguided owner behavior — including hitting, hollering, and threatening.
Chapters 3 and 4 get to the nuts and bolts of what to do about your dog's aggressive behavior. In chapter 3, you'll find personality tests will help you decide what type of aggressive behavior your dog exhibits and what action to take. These aren't written tests, though: Dog owners will have to be willing to participate in things like the "Dominant Stare Test," whereby you'll find out if your dog likes to be a "top dog" — which could signal aggressive tendencies — or whether he prefers to be a subordinate member of the pack. All you have to do is stare straight into your dog's eyes, using an authoritative posture: If the dog is dominant, he won't break the stare and may even growl. If he's subordinate, he'll look away. Other tests include "The Rollover Test" — also to test dominant tendencies — and "The Food Test," to find out if your dog is food-aggressive.
In the fourth chapter, the authors offer training methods and suggestions based on the completed personality tests. Here, too, you may be going over familiar ground, especially if you've been to obedience school with your dog. Praise and correction, choke-chain training, and more are covered here. In subsequent chapters, Grrr! deals with how to solve your dog's aggressive behavior problems beyond training, including socialization and desensitization.
This chapter also offers some of the most useful information in the book, by addressing very specific problems. Does your dog growl at the front door? Does Fido snap at you when you try to take his food away? Does your dog growl if you try to get him off the furniture? Siegal and Margolis offer direct and easy-to-understand solutions to your problems.
Finally, the last chapter deals with the very sensitive issue of children and dogs — sadly, the majority of dog bite victims are children. You'll find solutions to problems related to dogs and children as well as a child's guide to bite prevention.
With a no-nonsense and accessible style, Siegal and Margolis have contributed an important book for anyone's animal care library. With plenty of information and tips, Grrr! is an invaluable resource for any dog owner.