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Canine Body Language, a Photographic Guide


Tranquilis
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I'm looking for reviews on "Canine Body Language, a Photographic Guide." It looks interesting, but is it accurate? Is it worth the price? Are there better alternative works?

 

I haven't read it, though I can name an alternative (not sure if its better or not). Stanley Coren's "How to Speak Dog" give nice descriptions and drawings that I've found helpful. For $7 at the used book store, it was well worth the price.

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Thanks for that - At that price, I'd happily purchase on speculation alone. But US$40, for the other, is a bit much to buy on speculation.

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The Photographic Guide is decent, but at least in the version I have, the pictures are not as high quality as I'd expect for the price. If you're looking for much in the way of pics of dogs that are "reactive" then it is very lacking, but it does cover the basics well despite the picture quality imo.

 

I do like "How to Speak Dog" for the descriptions, but the sketches really don't give as much as I wanted, hence my purchase of the Photographic Guide.

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I did notice that the photos shown in the sample pages were black & white, and relatively low-res. I wasn't sure if that was the book, or the website.

 

I found "How to Speak Dog" online for under US$5, so I went ahead and grabbed a cpoy - should be here in a week. At that price, I don't mind if the images aren't particularly great.

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I think Canine Body Language is a great book. The photos are not high resolution but you can still see what you need to and the commentary is great. $40 is steep so I guess only you can say whether it would be worth it to you. Do I constantly refer to it or is it my favorite dog book? No, but I've enjoyed reading it and will no doubt return to it in the future and am happy to have it in my collection.

 

Did you check ABE to see if there are any used books out there at a better price?

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Thanks for the review - I'm probably going to get it, or maybe ask for it for Xmas.

 

I'm sure there are other locations at reduced prices - I'll be checking the partner deals with my Rescue, and see if I can't get both a break, and roll some back to my Rescue. Or, maybe I'll just go to ABE, and donate the difference to the Farm directly. :rolleyes:

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I own and adore Canine Body Language, a Photographic Guide, and definitely think it's worth picking up (especially at those low prices I see on Abe Books), but I've heard a lot of good things about Barbara Handelman's new Canine Behavior - A Photo Illustrated Handbook. Might be worth checking out!

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Coincidentally I picked up a second hand copy of How to Speak Dog and I'm reading it at the moment. It's good, though some of it is fairly obvious stuff - it's aimed at a broad market, and is none the worse for that. More photos/illustrations would help so I might look into Canine Body Language, too.

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This probably won't be much help as I am very lacking in details, but in our instructor classes, we have viewed video (DVD) filmed at a seminar concerning visual appraisal of dogs to recognize their mental status (for example, fearful) and predict their ensuing actions (for example, aggression). I know I'm not saying this right but what it was all about was canine body language.

 

While the videos were fairly long, they really showed a number of dogs experiencing different situations and reactions, and I think was very worthwhile time invested. What amazed me was how much I had been missing in reading dogs prior to viewing the video, and how much more I could observe and pick up on after watching.

 

If anyone is interested, I could try and find out what the video was and how to order it. I don't expect it's cheap, it's fairly long, and I think it is the best thing I have ever seen to really clearly show the body language "in action".

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Sue, please do try to run down the infoon that video - sounds like it might be a very helpful addition to volunteer training at our humane society (in snippets of course). :rolleyes:

 

I've heard good things about Handelman's book and I may buy it along with "Control Unleashed" when I have some spare $$.

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You can find the video at www.bluedogtraining.com and the video we liked particularly is "The Language of Dogs" which is about dog body language. "Am I Safe" is a good video about assessing dogs.

 

I just checked with someone more familiar with it and she confirmed that that is the site and those are the videos.

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Another recommendation for Sarah Kalnajs "The Language of Dogs" DVD. It's excellent. I was fortunate enough to attend the seminar and purchased the DVD after-- the seminar was better (awesome!), but the DVD is definitely worth checking out!! The video clips are invaluable and each is representative of which specific behavior it is intended to be an example of.

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More and more good stuff!

 

Thanks folks - I've got a good basic understanding of dog 'language', but as I do volunteer work, I'm constantly seeing postures and behviors I'd never seen previously, and in combinations I don't think I could have ever predicted. Every bit helps me be a better volunteer.

 

As a BTW: I've been hit twice by rescue dogs that I could've read better - In neither case did I make any overt mistakes, but I'd have served the dogs better if I'd been better able to anticipate them. Fortunately, neither dog suffered for their mistake, as the Boss knew how to turn them around, and it was basic lack of training and manners that were at the core of things; that can be, and was, corrected. But, all the same, I'd have prefered to have not gotten hit at all.

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But, all the same, I'd have prefered to have not gotten hit at all.

 

Yikes! No kidding. If you get Canine Body Language, let us know how you like it. You have a more compelling use for it than my simple curiosity. I found it very interesting, especially in dog/dog interactions which is more of a concern for me than my getting bit. The two meathead boys I live with don't get along especially well, so I need to stay alert and do what I can to keep tensions to a minimum and intervene as early as possible otherwise.

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Given that I'm doing some volunteer transporting these days, I am going to buy one of these recommended DVDs. I think I can 'read' my own dogs correctly most of the time - but the rescue poopies are often quite traumatised in various ways, and knowing how to anticipate and read their body language better would be very sensible. I guess I'm at the dangerous stage of 'known unknowns' so now is the time to get learning.

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