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Book Review: What Color is Your Dog?

Posted on 14. Nov, 2009 by admin in Dog Books, Top Stories

Silverman’s colorful approach defies one-size-fits-all training

STAFF REPORT
© 2009 www.NoDogNo.com

Many dog books and trainers advocate a single approach to dog training. Although most trainers understand and admit that all dogs are different, many trainers cling to a single signature training style as tightly as inexperienced dog owners cling to the leashes of lunging dogs. For example, most clicker trainers would never consider using a different tool, such as a slip chain.

Hollywood dog trainer Joel Silverman is different, and that difference will likely land him some criticism in the dog-training world. Afterall, they say the only thing two dog trainers can agree upon is that the third trainer is doing everything wrong.

All that should matter to the average dog owner is that Silverman’s methods, when used correctly, actually work. As the trainer of the year for the 2008 Showdogs of the Year® Awards, he has received recent professional recognition for his results in training dogs of all demeanors. That’s a good quality for an author for two reasons: Presumably, it shows he can train a variety of dogs, and it means he’s using techniques that meet the approval of current trainers.

So how is Silverman’s approach different? First, he uses a simple color scheme to categorize dog’s based on their personalities: Red for off-the-wall crazy canines, orange for high-strung dogs, yellow for mellow and easy-going mutts, green for timid ones and blue for overly fearful pets. He explains how clicker training and food rewards for red or orange dogs will often create an even more excited state of mind in your dog, derailing your training sessions. And using harsher leash-based training methods on green or blue dogs will likely cause them to freeze or become more fearful.

What about yellow dogs? They’re the color personality most adaptable to various training approaches, and it’s the goal of the book to teach dog owners how to change their dogs colors toward yellow through appropriate and effective training.

The color codes break from over-simplified tradition, in which people only think of dogs as either trained or untrained. The book shows clearly that even trained dogs are different because of personality.

And Silverman explains throughout the book how our own actions are often sending our dogs to greater extremes of unwanted behavior, rather than creating a centered, mellow friend.

But the first step isn’t starting the training session, Silverman advises his readers. He recommends a schedule for bonding, so you can evaluate your dog–especially if your pooch is a new acquisition. It’s a step that a savvy dog trainer or owner will not skip out of impatience.

After introductory chapters, the book is organized by personality colors and training advice targeted for each color. This is convenient for dog owners looking for help with a single personality, but anyone reading through the book from front to back will find some repetition of content. Silverman can be forgiven this repetition because it’s easy to skip and would be difficult to check back with the book later as a reference if the material were not repeated when necessary in each section.

In all, the hardest advice to accept from Silverman is the use of slip chains, known as choke collars. He seems to understand this because he spends some time explain the perils and pitfalls common to most dog handlers who have failed to use this tool safely and effectively. But his advice to use slip chains will be far more limited than many might expect, and he places an emphasis on the humane and proper use of the chains.

At the end of the book, even if you disagree with points, you will find a new way of approaching dog training–one that ensures that if you consider each of your dog’s training needs individually, all of your dogs will be better behaved dogs.