A Dog’s Best Friend: The Secrets that Make Good Dog Owners Great
Through touching and emotive anecdotes, internationally-acclaimed author and dog trainer Jan Fennell shares with us the successes, set-backs and secrets that will strike a chord with dog lovers everywhere. In an age of selfishness and misunderstanding, the virtues of duty, loyalty and sacrifice have become symbols of a bygone age. Perhaps this is one of the more subtle reasons why we are drawn to our dogs – creatures for whom all these positive attributes are purely instinctive. In this series of inspirational stories, drawn from her vast wealth of experience with both dogs and their owners, Jan Fennell recounts some of the greatest acts of kindness, heroism, loyalty and compassion that she has ever witnessed. And in recounting these inspirational tales, Jan demonstrates, with heart-rending sensitivity, the qualities that distinguish a good owner from a truly great one. This touching, poignant book complements Jan's practical series of best-selling titles with inspirational tales of set-backs, successes and occasional heart-ache. It is the perfect read for dog lovers everywhere.
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A
DOG’S
BEST FRIEND
The secrets that make gooddog owners great
JAN FENNELL
Harper
An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsEntertainment 2004
Copyright © Jan Fennell and Fantasma Partnership 2004
The Author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
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Source ISBN 9780007153725
Ebook Edition © APRIL 2019 ISBN: 9780008363437
Version: 2019-05-13
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CONTENTS
Why great owners put themselves in their dog’s place
Why great owners understand man’s special relationship with dogs
Why great owners work with, not against, their dogs
Why respect is the key to a great relationship with dogs
The importance of drawing on the lessons of others
Why great owners know their limits
Why great owners lead by example
Why great owners always put their dogs first
Why great owners keep an open mind
Why it pays to show courage under fire
Why patience really is a virtue
Why great owners understand the meaning of responsibility
Why great owners always shoulder the blame
Why great owners are fun owners
Why great owners rise to the occasion
The Best Dog Comes Home with Us
The importance of owning dogs for the right reasons
Why great owners understand the real value of dogs
Why great owners don’t pigeonhole their dogs
Why great owners are positive owners
Why great owners never underestimate their dogs’ instincts
Why great owners accept that dogs are different
The importance of knowing when to say goodbye
When their dogs grow weak, great owners grow strong
How great owners show strength for their dog’s sake
Why you only get out what you put in
The benefits of letting a dog be itself
I can’t remember a time in my life when there wasn’t a dog around and somebody trying to train him to do something. For 65 years or so, I have seen professional dog trainers work, watched amateur dog trainers work and observed as Western rancher-type people as they dealt with their canine assistants. I have seen dogs treated with profound brutality and have witnessed partnerships between dog and human that were as close as one could imagine.
In the early 1950’s, I became acquainted with a man who produced contract dog acts as a part of professional rodeos that were conducted throughout the United States. His name was Jay Sisler and he usually had a gang of border collies with one or two retired racing greyhounds thrown in. I recall that he had a few Australian Shepherds and sometimes an Aussie crossed with a border collie.
Jay Sisler loved his dogs and, probably more importantly, his dogs loved him. I recall times when he would work with a half a dozen dogs or so in one session. I would watch as each dog sat with eyes sparkling and feet prancing in place begging for the opportunity to be the next actor on his stage. Jay specialized in offbeat acts where dogs did things that people just didn’t expect to see.
I remember one night in 1955 when Mr. Sisler turned up at a popular old pub-style restaurant near my university. The proprietor knew about Jay and so allowed him to bring two dogs into the saloon portion of the building. I sat and watched as this man sipped a drink at the bar and then would simply say things in a normal tone of voice that he wanted the dogs to do, and, boy, did they do it!
