Embracing the Wild in Your Dog {Book Review}

Embracing the Wild in Your Dog {Book Review}

Do you have a dog as a pet? I think most people do, especially in the US. Most people tend to treat their dogs like people, even calling them a four legged or furry child! But when’s the last time you thought about your beloved pet is actually an animal? That’s what the book, Embracing the Wild in Your Dog, by Bryan Bailey, wants to remind readers about.

Some time ago, dogs became as interwoven in the American culture as baseball, apple pie and the Fourth of July. In fact, in most households, the dogs have even trumped evolution itself and jumped straight to being four legged humans where they are adorned with human names, designer outfits and fed diets that would confound even the best nutritionist. In most cases, we’ve granted them our human intelligence and our sacred human emotions as well. They are no longer dogs to us, they’re family! Yet, for all that man has done to carve the wolf from the wild to create a surrogate human, today’s dog is still a wolf at heart and the accompanying instincts borne from such ancestry defines how the dog approaches its world.

The ontogeny of anthropomorphism, where we attach our human traits to our pets, is the most damaging and paralytic problem associated with dog ownership today. Believing in a fairy tale world where dogs possess the same moral consciousness and sense of altruism as attributed to humans has led to a drastic increase in leash laws, dogs being outlawed in a rising number of city and national parks, some breeds being banned in several states, an alarming escalation of aggression to humans, a rising cost in homeowner and business insurance, and a record number of clinically maladaptive dogs.

This book is not a training book. It does not cover obedience topics such as heel, sit, down, stay, and come. Instead, it’s about righting the ship of American dog ownership by changing our perception of our dogs. It is about the author growing up in the Alaskan wild under the tutelage and guardianship of a Special Forces survival instructor who introduced him to the ways of wolves and the similarities they shared with dogs. It is about the wisdom and splendor of nature and the many life lessons she provides. Mostly, it about developing a deep understanding of the authors of your dog’s behavior; nature and the wolf. In doing so, you will truly learn who and what your dog really is and the whys and hows of its behavior. You will learn the tools that nature gave them to survive and coexist in both the mountains and in our homes. You will learn how activating and deactivating natural impulses and mechanisms in your dog will lead to the harmonious existence and the control you always dreamed of.

Most of all, you will come to embrace the wild in your dog and the grace and the peace that is breathed into its acceptance.

This is not another training book. I’ve read those, and some have helped, especially when you own a larger dog or have children to consider in the same home.

The book is more about reminding us, humans, that it wasn’t long ago in the grand scheme of things, that dogs were not pets; at least, not in the way we see them today. They were kept outside, they were used for working and hunting. They ran in packs and took care of their own, for good and for bad.

The author reminds us as owners that dogs don’t feel like we do, and they don’t reason like we do, no matter how much we want to believe they understand exactly what’s going on around them. And with that understanding, we can start viewing our dogs/pets around us.

Now, the author does discuss how to use a form of pack behavior/control in the way we interact with our dog. Such as a light tug on the leash or a command. It’s not all inclusive, you still need a good obedience class for that; but again, it’s a good mindset.

Amazon is currently offering Embracing the Wild in Your Dog by Bryan Bailey if you’re interested in more information.

Do you treat your pets as another member of the family?

Disclosure: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned in this article in exchange for my honest opinion.  Some of the links in the article may be “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I may receive a small compensation. Regardless, I will only recommend products or services I use personally or believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”