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This book has been sitting on my shelf for a couple months now and I'm actually super eager to find some time to sit down and give it a read finally. It took me about a year after getting @lumi@flaki.social that a lot of her odd behaviors can be explained by "oh, she is a true herding dog". Collies are a "herding breed", sure, but that does not necessarily mean they have a strong herding instinct. I saw this first hand few months ago when we were trying out herding at a kennel event where even Lumi's two brothers were also present, and while they did not display much herding instinct or inclination at all, Lumi was eager and quite adept for a first timer, even got the compliments of the shepherd.

#pupdate

With my first puppy, it didn't take long to switch from "getting seething mad because the puppy peed on the carpet again" to "Oh, a couple hours passed already. She just woke up. Also she was trying to tell me she needs to go". One will realize how most "mishaps" are one's own making, and were preventable (which leaves the remaining few a truly fascinating mystery to try to solve).

#planetDog

I posted about this already on my personal account¹ but I find the notion of "just imagine your puppy/dog is an intelligent, sentient being from another planet" such a wonderful way to put canine behavior in context. Kathy is a great author, the book is a joy to read while really hammering in that dog ownership should start with empathy. She avoids being too judgemental or dogmatic, but whatever recommendations she makes she always backs up with a good amount of (scientific) evidence. This is a book I'm gonna be recommending for first-time-puppy-guardians for a long time.

¹ flaki.social/@flaki/112304498301214385

A recent conversation¹ has reminded me of this book, one of my all-time favorites going into excruciating detail how the very brains that perplex us with their complexity and capability are built on a bunch of evolutionary kludges, leading to some truly wacky behaviors. Yet, as the classic meme goes, "the light inside might be broken, but they still work" astonishingly well (and break in doozy ways when the curtain falls).

¹ flaki.social/@flaki/112743970569705266

I definitely remember hearing a couple times about this book so now it finally goes on the reading list. fediscience.org/@ct_bergstrom/111038791557329930

I now have a Bookwyrm account at @flaki@bookwyrm.social — only follow if you want to hear about me chewing through* inordinate amounts of doggy book material.

Note: literal chewing courtesy of pupper @lumi #pupdate

Reasonably free of dogma (no pun intended hehe), but with the scientific underpinnings of multiple behaviorists' combined experience. It is a bit more "solution-oriented" than I need, but still quite a useful read so far!