The Book Your Dog Wishes You Would Read

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I can now see that we should have bought the book prior to getting the doggie although if we'd read it first I don't think we would have ever got the dog! I bet everyone does this,” I say, sheepishly. She nods: they do. Like any therapist, she’s had to get better at setting boundaries. Spending time under the skin of a dog-person relationship can be intense, whether it’s young offenders or A-listers. “You’re getting so involved in people’s lives… you’re invited into people’s homes. I love it, I’m quite nosy and always have been, and that’s a massive privilege, but equally it is a massive responsibility. And it comes with that feeling of offloading.”

I loved reading this book. It made me laugh and cry. It also made,me feel all warm and fuzzy thinking about my close relationship with my dog. After you have chosen your canine companion, she discusses a variety of topics from supplies you will need to toilet training and on through life to older dogs. I absolutely loved this book by Louise Glazebrook! If you are already a dog owner or you are a dog lover, about to add a dog to your life, this book is a must>. The first section talks about Your Dog especially dealing with the different ways a dog learns about the world, and Understanding Breeds and Behaviour. Some behaviors are bred into certain types of dogs (e.g., barking, digging, temperament, activity). One of the major things she points out is that I liked everything about this book. I love the title. I feel that my dog would want want me to read it.

I get it, I’ve seen it. In addition to her private clients (from families to celebrities), puppy classes and online courses with her Darling Dog Company, Glazebrook is a BBC regular, troubleshooting all manner of canine conundrums. Most recently she appeared on 12 Puppies and Us, which followed the ups and downs of a dozen families and their pandemic pups. You see the stressed owners’ shoulders drop in relief as she takes charge. A confident, kind, never-judgmental presence, she is passionately dog-centred, but realistic about what stretched families can manage. Her solutions can be as simple as giving a dog a quiet space away from the overload of family life or making sure a puppy is getting enough sleep. There's many mentions of specific experiences with dogs as a behaviorist and an 'owner'. Possibly could be less, but some might enjoy reading these. Glazebrook’s professional experiences have been complemented by a long line of beloved fostered and adopted dogs, from Henry, a mysterious Great Dane-Boxer mash -up found during the Dalston riots who eventually found a home in the country (“He took a bit of my heart with him”), to deaf bulldog Cookie. Cookie was the first dog Glazebrook and her husband got together, “our angel dog” who over 10 years saw them through the birth of their two children. The unbearably sad, but necessary, last chapter of the book on end of life, touches on the heart-rending decision to have Cookie put to sleep. “The loss is so huge. I think honestly it took about two years for me to be able to process.” After Cookie there was Fred, a 65kg rescue Great Dane, and Barnie, her parents’ “hilarious” bulldog, who was rehomed after being provoked into snapping at children in his previous home.

Could be shorter. Or else some things exchanges for more detail and depth. But likely too much of the later might be a bit much for a total 'newbie' on average anyway. My husband loves dogs, too. He’d be absolutely screwed if he didn’t’: Louise Glazebrook with Rebel, Bowie and Pip. Photograph: Dan Burn-Forti/The Observer Some useful tips here to arm me - I was very purposeful in my dog management immediately after reading the book but as ever my determination is waning. Louise Glazebrook is a dog behaviourist, trainer and television presenter who specialises in teaching people how to understand and connect with their dogs.

The Book Your Dog Wishes You Would Read

You’re getting so involved in people’s lives… you’re invited into people’s homes. I love it, I’m quite nosy’: Louise Glazebrook. Photograph: Dan Burn-Forti/The Observer

I think this book is probably strongest as a pre-req read for a new dog owner before actually acquiring a dog whether from a breeder/rescue. A lot of the focus is on choosing the right dog for you - considering the breed characteristics and energy level etc. Walking to meet Louise Glazebrook, I see dogs everywhere, even in central London, even on a rainy weekday lunchtime. A Shiba Inu in a neatly belted mac trots past; a shaggy sphere on its owner’s lap in a café peers through a dense fringe at her pastry; a sleek sausage shimmies, belly grazing puddles. It’s a whole sequence of love, learning and loss that has helped shape her philosophy: if we’re unique, strange individuals, so are dogs. “With every dog you learn something new,” she says. Her husband must like dogs, I hazard? They have been together since they were 17 and his childhood spaniels also formed part of Glazebrook’s doggy education. “He loves them. He’d be absolutely screwed if he didn’t.”Hopefully the book will help, but in our dog-obsessed, dog-confused age, I doubt Glazebrook will get a breather any time soon. Thankfully, I don’t think she minds much. “I just think there’s a wonder about them. The love they give you is incredible.”