I was looking forward to reading Jon Katz's "The New Work of Dogs"
after hearing his interview on PBS. What a disappointment! He does
point out well some of the unreasonable emotional burdens people can
put onto their relationships with pets, but that's the only strong
point I found in the whole book. He goes for cheap humor too often in
describing some rather pathetic people. Worse, he gets a whole lot of
stuff just plain wrong. He's got a large section on a "rescue" person
in N.J. who is a perfect example of a Collector/Humaniac - and he
makes her out to be a hero.

Sue Sternberg's "Successful Dog Adoptions" is a more serious book, and
one that's going to be making waves for some time to come. I'm no
Sternberg fan, but there is some valuable stuff in here, mixed with a
whole lot of maddening stuff. It's intended as a detailed instruction
book for people who want to adopt a dog and has helpful photos of dogs
greeting people behind kennel gates to help people understand what
they're looking at. She repackages her standard evaluation procedure
for the general public, and unfortunately includes her opinions on pit
bulls and rotties in urban shelters. There's lots of material in this
book to make just about anyone angry, but also material that people
will agree with that I've never seen stated openly before. It's one
that anyone who cares about rescue needs to read.

Lynn K.

I'm no
Sternberg fan, but there is some valuable stuff in here, mixed with a
whole lot of maddening stuff.

I'm only up to chapter 2 and haven't found anything maddening yet....I look
forward to the rest.

I'm no
Sternberg fan, but there is some valuable stuff in here, mixed with a
whole lot of maddening stuff.

I'm only up to chapter 2 and haven't found anything maddening yet....I look
forward to the rest.

I'm no
Sternberg fan, but there is some valuable stuff in here, mixed with a
whole lot of maddening stuff.

I'm only up to chapter 2 and haven't found anything maddening yet....I look
forward to the rest.

I'm no
Sternberg fan, but there is some valuable stuff in here, mixed with a
whole lot of maddening stuff.

I'm only up to chapter 2 and haven't found anything maddening yet....I look
forward to the rest.

(Tricia9999) wrote in message ...

I'm only up to chapter 2 and haven't found anything maddening yet....I look
forward to the rest.

I don't think I was offended by much until she got into deconstructing
web bios on dogs and interpreted just about everything as a euphamism
for aggression. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, ya know, and
"alert" and "intelligent" can sometimes be accurate descriptions of
perfectly safe and friendly dogs.

As a general criticism, however, I think she consistently advises
people on the basis of her particular shelter, without acknowledging
that shelters can work very differently. She does a good job of
talking about the differences, but doesn't carry it into her specific
advice. For example, in Chap. 2 she tells potential adopters to start
their search by calling shelters and asking them to describe the
temperaments of dogs currently there, also asking for advice on
whether a puppy or older dog is right for them. The phone clerks in
my county's shelters field 600+ calls a day on everything from
roadkilled deer to license renewals, so that's really not appropriate
advice. My fear is that she is setting up unrealistic expectations of
how the process should always work. It would have been simple enough
to write "Ask the shelter worker if the dog has been kenneled with
other dogs or if you can see the dog's reaction to another dog"
instead of "Have the shelter worker take the dog out of the run to an
exercise yard with another dog. Observe the 2 dogs meeting nose to
nose on loose lead, then for several minutes of play interaction"
(another example). I'd hate to have her readers think that a shelter
is simply being uncooperative if they can't allow all of the
temperament tests recommended in the book.

Lynn K.

(Tricia9999) wrote in message ...

I'm only up to chapter 2 and haven't found anything maddening yet....I look
forward to the rest.

I don't think I was offended by much until she got into deconstructing
web bios on dogs and interpreted just about everything as a euphamism
for aggression. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, ya know, and
"alert" and "intelligent" can sometimes be accurate descriptions of
perfectly safe and friendly dogs.

As a general criticism, however, I think she consistently advises
people on the basis of her particular shelter, without acknowledging
that shelters can work very differently. She does a good job of
talking about the differences, but doesn't carry it into her specific
advice. For example, in Chap. 2 she tells potential adopters to start
their search by calling shelters and asking them to describe the
temperaments of dogs currently there, also asking for advice on
whether a puppy or older dog is right for them. The phone clerks in
my county's shelters field 600+ calls a day on everything from
roadkilled deer to license renewals, so that's really not appropriate
advice. My fear is that she is setting up unrealistic expectations of
how the process should always work. It would have been simple enough
to write "Ask the shelter worker if the dog has been kenneled with
other dogs or if you can see the dog's reaction to another dog"
instead of "Have the shelter worker take the dog out of the run to an
exercise yard with another dog. Observe the 2 dogs meeting nose to
nose on loose lead, then for several minutes of play interaction"
(another example). I'd hate to have her readers think that a shelter
is simply being uncooperative if they can't allow all of the
temperament tests recommended in the book.

Lynn K.

(Tricia9999) wrote in message ...

I'm only up to chapter 2 and haven't found anything maddening yet....I look
forward to the rest.

I don't think I was offended by much until she got into deconstructing
web bios on dogs and interpreted just about everything as a euphamism
for aggression. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, ya know, and
"alert" and "intelligent" can sometimes be accurate descriptions of
perfectly safe and friendly dogs.

As a general criticism, however, I think she consistently advises
people on the basis of her particular shelter, without acknowledging
that shelters can work very differently. She does a good job of
talking about the differences, but doesn't carry it into her specific
advice. For example, in Chap. 2 she tells potential adopters to start
their search by calling shelters and asking them to describe the
temperaments of dogs currently there, also asking for advice on
whether a puppy or older dog is right for them. The phone clerks in
my county's shelters field 600+ calls a day on everything from
roadkilled deer to license renewals, so that's really not appropriate
advice. My fear is that she is setting up unrealistic expectations of
how the process should always work. It would have been simple enough
to write "Ask the shelter worker if the dog has been kenneled with
other dogs or if you can see the dog's reaction to another dog"
instead of "Have the shelter worker take the dog out of the run to an
exercise yard with another dog. Observe the 2 dogs meeting nose to
nose on loose lead, then for several minutes of play interaction"
(another example). I'd hate to have her readers think that a shelter
is simply being uncooperative if they can't allow all of the
temperament tests recommended in the book.

Lynn K.

(Tricia9999) wrote in message ...

I'm only up to chapter 2 and haven't found anything maddening yet....I look
forward to the rest.

I don't think I was offended by much until she got into deconstructing
web bios on dogs and interpreted just about everything as a euphamism
for aggression. Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, ya know, and
"alert" and "intelligent" can sometimes be accurate descriptions of
perfectly safe and friendly dogs.

As a general criticism, however, I think she consistently advises
people on the basis of her particular shelter, without acknowledging
that shelters can work very differently. She does a good job of
talking about the differences, but doesn't carry it into her specific
advice. For example, in Chap. 2 she tells potential adopters to start
their search by calling shelters and asking them to describe the
temperaments of dogs currently there, also asking for advice on
whether a puppy or older dog is right for them. The phone clerks in
my county's shelters field 600+ calls a day on everything from
roadkilled deer to license renewals, so that's really not appropriate
advice. My fear is that she is setting up unrealistic expectations of
how the process should always work. It would have been simple enough
to write "Ask the shelter worker if the dog has been kenneled with
other dogs or if you can see the dog's reaction to another dog"
instead of "Have the shelter worker take the dog out of the run to an
exercise yard with another dog. Observe the 2 dogs meeting nose to
nose on loose lead, then for several minutes of play interaction"
(another example). I'd hate to have her readers think that a shelter
is simply being uncooperative if they can't allow all of the
temperament tests recommended in the book.

Lynn K.

Does anyone know anything about this woman and her SAFER program?
Wondering if she might be an alternative to Sternberg.
=A0
http://www.monadpets.org/Emily_Weiss.html
=A0
I'd like more information regarding her Safety Assessment for
Evaluation and Rehoming (SAFER) test and her Matchmaker program,=A0
described as=A0 "...=A0a creative adoption program that showcases each
dog's personality and encourages adoption based on personality and
disposition rather than physical appearance. This program will be
distributed nationally by the ASPCA. "