Book Review of: Bad Dog

(A Love Story)

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Reviewer: Mark Lamendola, author of over 6,000 articles.

Pleasantly surprising and highly entertaining.

This isn't your traditional dog story. The basic theme is that, in his quest to master his "bad dog," Marty learns to master himself. Initially, Marty views the dog as the problem. But slowly, he comes to realize Marty is the problem. In working with the dog, Hola, Marty gains insight into his own failings and what to do about them.

While the book has some grammar gaffes, the writing is clear and lively. The book is also full of information about dog training, including a sort of sampler of the various dog training systems, methods, and philosophies.

I think others may see this as a book about recovery, and I guess that's not far off the mark. But I tend to avoid that genre. What piqued my interest in this particular story was the dog angle. The jacket blurb says "a less than scrupulous breeder" sticks him with a dog that he probably should not have taken home. And that's how the story begins, with the wife (Gloria) going away and probably leaving them (Marty and Hola) forever. All because the dog is out of control.

Through Marty's eyes, this is what we see. The dog is the problem. I find this a good allegory for life in general. Something isn't right, and we see events through a lens that (mostly) excuses our own culpability while focusing on facts that lead to the (false) conclusion someone or something else is to blame.

Marty was astounded when a trainer told him that Hola was not a problem dog and was easy to train. Then she backed that up with some demonstrations. This, and other revelations, moved Marty away from the failed approach he'd been using to one that actually worked. And I don't mean just with the dog. But would he wake up in time to save his marriage? We find out in the last chapter.

While this book would make a good addition to any animal lover's collection or to the collection of someone who likes recovery stories, I'm going to recommend it as a self-improvement book. Or maybe a business book. I don't drink alcohol or hang out with folks who do, so the recovering alcoholic part didn't register with me. What did register was Marty's ability to see past his own constructions and find reality. I think all of us could benefit from doing that, every so often. For example, if your career is stalled out, going through this same process that Marty did should allow you to rev the engine again.

• Learn dog training basics. You don't need to be able to train your dog to do fancy tricks. But you do need to train your dog on the basics such as heeling while walking, sit, stay, and leave it.
• Learn people training basics. Here's where the dog-human relationship often goes awry. You need to be consistent with your rules, lavish with your praise, and restrained in your negative communication.
• Learn your dog's language. Your dog will communicate with you, using a variety of sounds, gestures, and facial expressions. Pay attention!
• Teach your dog your language. Be consistent and deliberate in your words, gestures, facial expressions, and commands. You will have to be very conscious about what you might say or do that could confuse the dog, and then make an effort to avoid those things.

Dog Resources

• Dog prints, photos, and posters.
• Dog Training DVDs.
• Dog Training Books.
• Dog Books.
• Dog DVDs.
• Dog Video Games.

Dog Posters

• The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue.
  -Anonymous
• Don't accept your dog's admiration as conclusive evidence that you are wonderful.
  -Ann Landers
• If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.
  -Will Rogers
• There is no psychiatrist in the world like a puppy licking your face.
  -Ben Williams
• A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.
  -Josh Billings
• The average dog is a nicer person than the average person.
  -Andy Rooney
• We give dogs time we can spare, space we can spare and love we can spare. And in return, dogs give us their all. It's the best deal man has ever made.
  -M. Acklam
• Dogs love their friends and bite their enemies, quite unlike people, who are incapable of pure love and always have to mix love and hate.
  -Sigmund Freud
• I wonder if other dogs think poodles are members of a weird religious cult.
  -Rita Rudner
• A dog teaches a boy fidelity, perseverance, and to turn around three times before lying down.
  -Robert Benchley
• Anybody who doesn't know what soap tastes like never washed a dog.
  -Franklin P. Jones
• If I have any beliefs about immortality, it is that certain dogs I have known will go to heaven, and very, very few persons.
  -James Thurber
• If your dog is fat, you aren't getting enough exercise.
  -Unknown
• My dog is worried about the economy because Alpo is up to $3.00 a can. That's almost $21.00 in dog money.
  -Joe Weinstein
• Ever consider what our dogs must think of us? I mean, here we come back from a grocery store with the most amazing haul -- chicken, pork, half a cow. They must think we're the greatest hunters on earth!
  -Anne Tyler
• Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
  -Robert A. Heinlein
• If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you; that is the principal difference between a dog and a man.
  -Mark Twain
• You can say any foolish thing to a dog, and the dog will give you a look that says, 'Wow, you're right! I never would've thought of that!'
  - Dave Barry
• Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.
  -Roger Caras
• If you think dogs can't count, try putting three dog biscuits in your pocket and then give him only two of them.
  -Phil Pastoret
• My goal in life is to be as good a person as my dog already thinks I am.
  --Anonymous

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