Greystone Books Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy

I was expecting a scholarly but accessible read, similar to John Bradshaw's work on dogs. I was sorely disappointed. It's as if Dr Todd has just skimmed through hundreds of dubious studies on dogs, picked a load at random, sketched out some perfunctory summaries, chucked them all into a few chapters and written down her own ideas at the end which often bear no relation to what precedes. There is questionable methodology here, and little evidence of critical thinking. In each chapter, Dr Todd will summarise one or two studies on dogs without setting out their credentials. The studies often do not sound robust and/or have very small sample sizes, but we don't always get a lot of information. Dr Todd's summaries are frequently confusing or self-contradictory and either lack skim over important points or give a lot of irrelevant, repetitive or obvious information. Dr Todd then states a conclusion or two but frequently there is no discernible logical link between the study cited and the 'real world' conclusion. The discursive passages lack argumentative development. Sometimes the conclusions just sound like truisms and/or the subjective beliefs of the author which, altogether, gives the chosen studies a whiff of having been cherry-picked. Maybe this book is OK for someone who knows very little about dogs or whose knowledge is very out of date, but I found it failed to be either sufficiently academically rigorous or sufficiently well-written to be of interest or use. I gave it to a charity shop as soon as I'd finished it. Much better are "In Defence of Dogs" by the afore-mentioned John Bradshaw and 'The Culture Clash" by Jean Donaldson (although now a very old book it is still one of the best out there). Sadly there is a real dearth of well-researched, well-written dog psychology books. This certainly isn't one of them.

This is a well-informed, well-written book, full of anecdotes about the behaviour of dogs and how to treat them positively and get a good supportive response. Dog-lovers should bring themselves up-to-date with the psychology of dogs and dog-ownership in this very readable scientific book.

Clear, easy to read and uses evidence based methods. A must read for any responsible dog owner.

This is not a reflection on the content of the book but rather the state I received it in.I couldn't give it as a gift as I had intended and I was under the impression that I was purchasing a new book but what I got was a rather battered copy.Really disappointed

A wonderful first book by one of my favourite bloggers, Zazie Todd, on one of my favourite topics: the human-animal (dog) bond and how to make it the best that it can be. It’s a well researched, well written, easy to read, comprehensive book on how we can strive to make the world a happier place for our dogs. From the benefits of “sniffaris”, to how dogs learn, to training methods and techniques, the importance of canine enrichment, how to spot a happy dog (and a not so happy dog), common behaviorial issues, special needs dogs and to end of life planning (something we never want to think about but need to). Interspersed with the research are personal anecdotes from Todd’s own experiences with her dogs (and who, like a lot of us from that era, fell in love with Diefenbaker from the show “Due South.”) At the end of each chapter is a wonderfully practical synopsis on how to apply the science at home. A must read for dog owners, RVTs/Veterinary Nurses, Animal Care Attendants, Veterinarians, Dog Groomers, Dog Trainers…. basically everyone who works with, knows and loves a dog. As Todd states in her book “The impact dogs have on our lives is tremendous. We owe it to them to do what we can to make them happy.”