Brian Kilcommons

This is a short collection of cute stories about dogs that Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson have worked with over the years. For those hoping for insights into training and caring for their own dogs, there's really not much here.

The most significant bits for me was Kilcommons' story about his childhood dog, Irish, and his relationship with his father, and then story about working with another famous dog trainer, Barbara Woodhouse. I met Kilcommons several years ago, when I attended one of show more his seminars with my dog, Addy. I found him to be incredibly good with the dogs, but his people skills were not so much awful as simply non-existent. It turns out he knows this about himself. His father was so routinely physically and verbally abusive, with son Brian as his favored target, that as an adult, if he wasn't using mean words, he didn't think he was being mean no matter what his tone and body language was. One of the things that helped him realize there was a problem was working as an assistant to Woodhouse--another trainer famous for great dog skills and lousy people skills--when she was touring the US, acting as the buffer for her. Those two sections are well worth reading, or listening to.

Overall, it's pleasant light read, the literary equivalent of empty calories.

I borrowed this book from a friend. show less

I recently decided to adopt two kittens from the local Humane Society. I grew up with cats, but have never had any since I've been on my own. When setting off on a new venture, I generally enjoy tracking down a few good books on the subject. (I find this background research--the research behind the research--an extraordinary amount of fun.) After asking around for recommendations and reading reviews, I settled on Good Owners, Great Cats. Happily, I discovered that it was right on the top of show more the list of recommended readings in the adoption packet I received from the Humane Society when I brought the kittens home. I figured that I must have made a good choice. And after reading it discovered that indeed I had.

The book is divided into four main parts: "Required Reading," "Kittenhood," "Adulthood," and "Solving Feline Behavior Problems." It focuses on general cat care and behavior, but also touches on some common health concerns. Good Owners, Great Cats covers everything from cat-proofing a home, to choosing and raising a cat, to how to say goodbye when the time comes. The information is presented in a very accessible way, and it is obvious that the authors care deeply for cats.

The detailed table of contents, formatting of the book and text, and the index make navigation and information discovery easy and painless. (Of course, I just read the whole book straight through, and it well suited for that, as well. It's not very long, but it's very informative). Also included is an annotated bibliography and resource guide that helps direct the reader to good sources for further information and subjects not fully covered in Good Owners, Great Cats.

In addition to the no-nonsense approach to basic cat care and needs, a significant portion of the book devoted to cat behavior. Especially important are the sections dealing with unwanted behaviors, how to correct (or refocus) those behaviors, and even how to prevent them from occurring in the first place. While I do have experience taking care of cats, cat behavior is something I am less familiar with. However, after reading through Good Owners, Great Cats, I can honestly say I have a better understanding of why the kittens act the way they do and my interactions with them have been better informed for it.

After finishing Good Owners, Great Cats, I came across a virtually brand new copy of Cat Owner's Home Veterinary Handbook for a few dollars. Except for a few chapters, it's more of a reference book. It primarily focuses on cat health and medical issues, making it a wonderful compliment to Good Owners, Great Cats. With these two books, my previous experience, and my vet clinic, I feel more than adequately prepared to raise the kittens.

Piper and Lysander certainly seem to be pretty happy with me so far.

Experiments in Reading show less

This book has tons of training information, from the basics to little "tips and tricks" that you can use with your dog. However, the organization of the material seemed a bit haphazard to me. To read everything about one major topic (like housebreaking or stay), you need to jump around to several places in the book. Otherwise, though, a great go-to book for learning how to deal with just about every aspect of basic dog training.

This is a fair introductory puppy training book. The information on puppy life stages, socialization and house breaking are very good and provide a ton of information that a lot of first time dog owners would not be aware of. However, the training exercises fall flat in many ways. The author's pervious books all taught physical methods of getting your dog to perform. As the industry has moved more and more towards positive dog training, it looks like the author's are trying to incorporate show more these methods with theirs, but instead they come up with strange half-measures. There's no reason you need to touch your dog to make them sit or apply pressure to a leash to get them to lie down. As animals are programmed to resist pressure on their necks, pulling your dog down is only going to make them move in the opposite direction. So recommended for the information, but go with The Power of Positive Dog Training by Pat Miller for the best training exercises. show less