I absolutely loved Don’t Dump the Dog: Outrageous Stories and Simple Solutions to Your Worst Dog Behavior Problems by Randy Grim , founder of Stray Rescue in St. Louis. Grim doesn’t hold back in this book about his work with strays and some of the people he interacts with on a daily basis. He recounts many of the reasons he’s heard for “returning” dogs. You’ll recognize the excuses – the people are moving, the dog barks too much, the dog’s not housebroken, the dog gets old…you know the kind. After he vents a little bit about the people and their problems, Randy gives pretty detailed tips on how to work through the dog’s problem. Part of it, as he describes, is learning how to think like a dog and then using that to make changes. Sure, everything he suggests takes some time and energy, but anyone who adopts a dog should expect to spend time with that dog anyway.
I literally laughed out loud at some of this comments, and then laughed again when I imagined him actually saying some of these things to people. (I love a little snarkiness!) Underneath all the snark and humor though, the point is that dogs don’t come pre-programmed to be perfect. Sometimes dogs have behaviors that need to be worked on. Adopting a dog with that in mind, and the willingness to do a little work, may be a little time consuming but it’s so worth it.
I literally laughed out loud at some of this comments, and then laughed again when I imagined him actually saying some of these things to people. (I love a little snarkiness!) Underneath all the snark and humor though, the point is that dogs don’t come pre-programmed to be perfect. Sometimes dogs have behaviors that need to be worked on. Adopting a dog with that in mind, and the willingness to do a little work, may be a little time consuming but it’s so worth it.
I loved this book and I think you will too!
Randy Grim is also the author of Miracle Dog: How Quentin Survived the Gas Chamber to Speak for Animals on Death Row
. This one has been on my reading list for quite some time, but I think it just got bumped up a bit higher! I’ll be reading it soon.
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