When I am talking dog – which seriously is like all the time – I often refer to this book. So I thought I would throw out some highlights about it and encourage everyone interested in dog behavior to give it a read. It is not only informative it is fascinating.

Yes, I am a dog nerd.

Without further adieu ~

For the Love of a Dog: Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend by Patricia B. McConnell (Ballantine 2006, hardcover, $24.95

McConnell is a certified applied animal behaviorist and is also trained as an ethologist who studies how behavior is affected by genetics and environment.

Brief Review ~

Heart and Science: Reading Your Dog’s Emotions

True or false:

Growling is the surest sign that a dog is going to bite.

Pups chew up their owners’ stuff out of spite.

Hugging is good way to tell your dog you love him.

These common assumptions are debunked in For the Love of a Dog: Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend.

Learning to read our animal companions offers psychic and practical benefits, from avoiding bites to resolving problems that stress the human-canine bond. Weaving personal stories with the latest brain science, Dr. McConnell intriguingly reveals how psychology, biology, genetics, socialization and environment shape emotion.

So many dog-lovers are “virtually illiterate” in reading their pets’ facial expressions and body language. Compounding that problem, humans send mixed signals. Among the certified applied animal behaviorist’s insights:

* Why teaching the “down” cue can protect your dog from being attacked by another.

* Similarities and differences in facial expressions between humans and canines: the form, and the mood-shaping potential, of smiles and body posture; the function of yawns as calming signals; tongue-flicking to show stress level or deference to another dog or person.

* How misbehaviors commonly but mistakenly blamed on a dog’s willfulness are actually taught and reinforced by their owners. She suggests alternatives for communicating desired behaviors.

* Thin-slicing: How to detect early-warning micro-expressions, such as closed mouth; wagging tail but stiffened body; and most ominous, the cold, hard stare.

* Learning proper, safe introductions from canines: “Dogs approach one another from the side, curving their line of approach and avoiding eye contact, while keeping their bodies loose and fluid. We do the opposite: we keep our bodies upright and relatively still, and make direct eye contact while reaching out with our paws before we’ve even so much as exchanged scents.”

* Why dogs cock their heads … what’s “whale eye” and how to respond to it … the canine wisdom of looking away … and how dogs express disgust (Turned off by those doggie french kisses? That’s how canines feel about being patted on the forehead.)

* Why touch and environmental stimulation are critical to the development of the brain.

* How the amazing mammalian brain mediates emotion … the function of oxytocin (the warm, fuzzy hormone) and dopamine (the neurotransmitter responsible for eager anticipation) … and other insights that can improve relations with humans and dogs.

Also addressed: how dogs read emotions in other animals and people. A tip: Be careful what your face says to a dog. And take off those sunglasses. Like humans, canines rely on facial expressions to gather information in social interactions.

Wearing her heart on the sleeve of her lab jacket in no way softens the content; Dr. McConnell tells us in plain English what our dogs can’t. The book’s rewards are more than psychic; they’re practical. Learning to detect and diffuse anxiety will avoid bites; understanding brain circuitry hold keys to reinforcing good behavior.

When someone laments that their dog chews shoes to exact revenge, or “bit without warning,” offer this book instead of sympathy.

Filed under: Random Thoughts