Off-Leash Dog Play: A Complete Guide to Safety and Fun - Softcover

Robin Bennett, CPDT, is a professional dog trainer and dog daycare consultant. She is the author of All About Dog Daycare . . . A Blueprint for Success and co-owns one of the largest dog-training facilities in Virginia.Susan Briggs, CKO, is co-owner of Urban Tails, a dog daycare & pet services facility in Houston, TX. She served as ABKA Dog Daycare Section Chair and led efforts to create the first standards for dog daycare facilities.

A Book That Can Help With Introductions The observations and analyses of canine body language that are second nature to dog behavior professionals are sometimes a mystery to the owner trying to interpret the meaning of her own dogs body signals. This just-published book joins a growing list of excellent resources to help the dedicated owner learn more about what her dogs are communicating. The information in Off-Leash is comprehensible yet attainable, and the cost is within the budget of most dog owners. The book is liberally illustrated with excellent well-annotated photographs that clearly show and explain the rich variation of expressions that our dogs use as they meet, greet, and interact with each other. The text is science-based but very readable, with a clear bias toward positive training and management techniques in dog-human interactions. Although the intended audience for this book is comprised of professionals who work with canine playgroups, most of the information is hugely useful to anyone who has the opportunity to live in a multi-dog environment, including those who are looking to introduce a new canine family member to the home-pack. --Whole Dog Journal, January 2008

I am so glad. I'm really happy. My whole body is wiggling with delight. Well, if I was a dog, that's what I'd be doing. For two reasons: That's how dogs communicate, primarily with a large vocabulary of dog language (and no, they don't automatically know what the English words no and come mean). Second, because here's a book to teach humans what dogs are really saying. If we don't know, then we can't be our dogs' champions; we won't hear if they're trying to tell us something like I'm scared or That dog is being rude, and I might have to teach him a lesson. This little primer (though short, it doesn't miss anything important) on off-leash dog play--really, on any interaction two or more dogs might have together--is intended for people who run doggy daycares and puppy parks. But most of it will also benefit plain ol' dog owners ... because most dog owners (admit it!) don't really know that much about dog language. There's always the ignoramus who says, Oh, my dog just wants to play; as the beast stands erect and staring over your extremely worried pet, who's trying her best to say, Please, someone, help me. This book is an excellent intro to what dogs are saying when they seem to be saying nothing, with lots of clear, explanatory photos and charts of stop and and go behaviors, so you can intervene when necessary. Ears, tail carriage, vocalizations--if you know what these mean, you will be your dog's best friend in return. And you can feel more assured you're not going to end your fun session at the dog run with a trip to the vet. So here's the operating manual that should come with every dog. And it's the key that opens our companions' greatest experiences: running and playing with the pack. Educate yourself, for your dog's sake. And think of reading this book as taking a Berlitz course in a whole new way of talking. --Fetch Dog, Book Hound Dogs in Black and White, Dec 2008

I am so glad. I'm really happy. My whole body is wiggling with delight. Well, if I was a dog, that's what I'd be doing. For two reasons: That's how dogs communicate, primarily with a large vocabulary of dog language (and no, they don't automatically know what the English words no and come mean). Second, because here's a book to teach humans what dogs are really saying. If we don't know, then we can't be our dogs' champions; we won't hear if they're trying to tell us something like I'm scared or That dog is being rude, and I might have to teach him a lesson. This little primer (though short, it doesn't miss anything important) on off-leash dog play--really, on any interaction two or more dogs might have together--is intended for people who run doggy daycar --F --Fetch Dog, Book Hound Dogs in Black and White, Dec 2008

I am so glad. I'm really happy. My whole body is wiggling with delight. Well, if I was a dog, that's what I'd be doing. For two reasons: That's how dogs communicate, primarily with a large vocabulary of dog language (and no, they don't automatically know what the English words no and come mean). Second, because here's a book to teach humans what dogs are really saying. If we don't know, then we can't be our dogs' champions; we won't hear if they're trying to tell us something like I'm scared or That dog is being rude, and I might have to teach him a lesson. This little primer (though short, it doesn't miss anything important) on off-leash dog play--really, on any interaction two or more dogs might have together--is intended for people who run doggy daycares and puppy parks. But most of it will also benefit plain ol' dog owners ... because most dog owners (admit it!) don't really know that much about dog language. There's always the ignoramus who says, Oh, my dog just wants to play; as the beast stands erect and staring over your extremely worried pet, who's trying her best to say, Please, someone, help me. This book is an excellent intro to what dogs are saying when they seem to be saying nothing, with lots of clear, explanatory photos and charts of stop and and go behaviors, so you can intervene when necessary. Ears, tail carriage, vocalizations--if you know what these mean, you will be your dog's best friend in return. And you can feel more assured you're not going to end your fun session at the dog run with a trip to the vet. So here's the operating manual that should come with every dog. And it's the key that opens our companions' greatest experiences: running and playing with the pack. Educate yourself, for your dog's sake. And think of reading this book as taking a Berlitz course in a whole new way of talking. --Fetch Dog, Book Hound Dogs in Black and White, Dec 2008