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Inspiring Resilience in Fearful and Reactive Dogs

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#1 UK Amazon Bestseller Does your dog bark at everyone he sees? Are you trying hard to settle your dog on frantic, noisy walks? Do you live with canine reactivity and wish you could turn things around? Are you looking for a solution and guidance to properly help your worried best friend? Here it is. Written by a long-term dog behaviour specialist and founder of Canine Principles, canine education provider, this book will provide all the understanding you need. You will your dog is trying to tell you. How to communicate in a way that you both understand.How to ensure you are fully meeting your dog’s needs. Why your dog acts up and why he can’t help it. Why walking your dog might not be the best choice. How your dog sees the world.Why your dog barks at things.Which things scare your dog.Brain work to relax your dog. How to assess your dog’s personality. How your dog’s brain stores information.Why your dog makes bad choices and how to change those choices for better ones. How dogs experience stress and what we can do to help them. Whether your dog is an introvert or extrovert and how that affects his behaviour.How to change a negative bias to a positive one. Simple solutions to make your dog feel secure. How to teach self-belief and confidence. And much, much more. Whether you are a desperate dog guardian or a professional canine coach looking to expand your training toolkit, this book is an invaluable addition to your bookshelf.

200 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 14, 2018

277 people are currently reading
170 people want to read

About the author

Sally Gutteridge

33 books11 followers

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5 stars
121 (47%)
4 stars
94 (36%)
3 stars
30 (11%)
2 stars
7 (2%)
1 star
3 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
Profile Image for Sophie  Rose .
328 reviews8 followers
March 11, 2025
Informative and inspiring. Love learning for my boy.
Profile Image for Diana.
1,965 reviews308 followers
Read
December 18, 2024
Not a bad book, has some good insight, but sometimes it felt like a chore reading it as it wasn't quite enganging and there was a lot of repetition, specially towards the ending.

Something tbat bugs me personally is that the author didn't include any bibliography (although she mentions some other books/authors in her book in passing)
Profile Image for Julie.
112 reviews
March 30, 2020
Ok if you've not read and dog behaviour books before
Profile Image for Book Gannet.
1,572 reviews17 followers
January 6, 2019
There's some really good advice here that encourages owners as much as it inspires dogs to build a better partnership and calm down in this busy world. I can't wait to get started with my dog and I know I'll be dipping back into it often to keep things on track.
Profile Image for Freya Violet Locke.
Author 2 books2 followers
December 25, 2018
Clear and practical advice

Very much enjoyed reading this, and it is packed full of advice on how to make your reactive dog feel better.
Profile Image for penkeri.
30 reviews22 followers
July 4, 2020
Lots of same info as in the book ‘Unleash your dog’ (read recently), but... Repetition is the mother of knowledge! 1 star less, as there could be more practical tips about games, for example.
Profile Image for Nadia.
96 reviews43 followers
August 12, 2022
Like a lot of the Mission Possible Canine Principles books, this one does suffer for some lack of proof-reading which I personally find quite jarring. However, the information is generally good and very helpful, with the take away points listed at the end of each chapter providing an excellent tool for revision that I wish more books would employ. This is, I think, the third or fourth I've read from this series and I will keep reading them.

Bear in mind, this is more of a care and behaviour book than a training book. You won't find a detailed guide to how to shape a behaviour with a clicker here. There are many other books that can teach that though.

I'm a professional dog trainer so a lot of the information is already known to me but I find myself learning something new from each book anyway.
Profile Image for Lisa Evans.
41 reviews2 followers
May 14, 2021
I enjoyed reading all about the theory and felt that there was plenty of theory for me to be able to put some of it into practice. It was very informative and just what I needed.

I do have to agree with some other reviews and say that I would have liked more practical ideas and step-by-step things to try. Especially when it is communicated in the book that training a dog for resilience can be very touch and go and is incredibly hard to time perfectly.

Also, the grammar was a bit off putting. If I am reading a book, self-published or not, I expect it to be edited thoroughly and well. I was pretty shocked to see an editor named in the front of the book.
1 review
April 14, 2020
Informative and useful

The book contains some really helpful ideas and information and helps the guardian of the fearful dog understand the causes of reactive behaviour and provides a solid strategy to overcome the problem. I've started some of the exercises in the book with my Romanian rescue girl, and can already see a difference... perseverance is key. Thanks Sally, I'm sure this book will help many fearful dogs and their guardians to understand one another and to improve life for both!
1 review
March 16, 2025
Probably the only book you'll ever need to help fearful and reactive dogs

This book is great for dog owners and dog professionals alike. I am familiar with the key concepts in the book with regard to changing fearful/reactive dog's behaviour, but there was enough I didn't know to keep me interested. As someone who works with and owns dogs who have displayed reactive behaviour, Sally's book gives clear, sound advice and will help you change the lives of your dogs for the better.
6 reviews1 follower
January 24, 2021
Lots to learn

I started reading this for a dog group book club and I found it really enjoyable. Not only was it easy to read and understand, I learnt so much about my behaviour as well as the reasons behind my dogs behaviours. I've learnt how to implement change in a way that empowers my dog at his own pace. I plan on reading some more of Sally's books to further help me with reactivity and enrichment.
1 review
May 26, 2024
Great advice

I loved tgis book. My cockapoo has become aggressive towards other dogs, and Sally's advice has helped me see we've been placing too many expectations on him and causing him stress. Already calming him down and protecting him from stressors has made a great difference to his demeanor. I'm excited about working with him to gradually and safely make him more comfortable as he goes back out into social life.
Profile Image for M Perry.
70 reviews2 followers
March 3, 2020
Amazing resource

As a dog trainer (& the owner of a reactive dog) I can fully appreciate the time and effort that went into the writing of this book The methods Ms Gutteridge outlines are easy to follow and--if implemented correctly--will make a major difference in the life of the reactive dog and owner
Profile Image for Vikki Herrett.
100 reviews
March 5, 2020
loved this book, i foster and have rescued two of my own boys and this year i have started my own home boarding service , this book is amazing full of facts to help with one of my boys and so many of the fosters that come threw our doors . easy to follow guidance that any dog owner should know. a highly recommended ready , off to look for some more xxx
1 review
July 19, 2019
Wonderful

As a guardian for 3 rescued Balkan Working Setters who have all suffered varying degrees of abuse, I can’t recommend this highly enough as an excellent reference as we guide them through life with kindness and positivity.
7 reviews
May 28, 2020
Great Book of you have a reactive dog!

Very good well written book, easy to break down and follow. Having a Romanian rescue dog has been challenging and also very rewarding to. Very helpful!
5 reviews
February 16, 2024
a must read if you have a reactive dog

This book is so easy to read but so insightful at the same time. Loved it, this is the second time I read it and my dog and most importantly myself have improved loads!
Profile Image for Polleah Cole.
33 reviews
August 4, 2019
Everything written in this book is correct and great for beginners, just incredibly frustrating to read due to all the spelling and grammatical errors.
59 reviews
November 16, 2019
Able to understand

Easy reading and well written. Very I informative. As a retired nurse and learned to understand body language this book is good in explaining dog behavior.
Profile Image for Susan.
268 reviews3 followers
March 7, 2020
It's a book in need of a good editor, there were too many incomplete sentences.
No real training plan, nothing really new here for someone trying to help a reactive dog
1 review
April 6, 2020
Inspiring

Very informative and a positive way of understanding and training your dog. Will try to incorporate the ideas in my training.
378 reviews7 followers
December 27, 2020
Great positive advice and training methods, Big help for our rescue, will read more from this author, really hope insightful and interesting book.
Profile Image for Nikki Balzer.
344 reviews2 followers
August 15, 2021
This book helped me with my own reactive dog plus gave me many ideas for those I work with. Easy to read and follow.
Profile Image for Sarah Vincent.
2 reviews
August 9, 2024
compassionate and practical

In some ways I learned more from this than training, although using a similar approach. Gutteridge emphasises the underlying emotions and the relationship between human and dog. A very helpful book.
Profile Image for Anna.
10 reviews
August 19, 2024
Except a couple of strange points about epigenetics and an anti vaxer comment, ok in general, but tends to be quite abstract
1 review
September 26, 2024
love love this book

Love is book in fact I left all your books. I have learned so much from reading your books. Thank you so much for taking your time to write them.
Profile Image for Jilly.
765 reviews5 followers
July 27, 2019
Book 48. Inspiring Resilience in Fearful and Reactive Dogs by Sally Gutteridge.

This is a reference book so not my normal read. I saw it on Amazon and as I do volunteer work at a rescue kennel I thought it woud be worth a read.

Much of it was stuff I already know but there were some interesting new ideas too.

Does your dog bark at everyone he sees? Are you trying hard to settle your dog on frantic, noisy walks? Do you live with canine reactivity and wish you could turn things around? Are you looking for a solution and guidance to properly help your worried best friend?

Here it is.
Profile Image for Vanessa.
3,121 reviews26 followers
January 8, 2020
Just what I needed - for my Westie.
Excellent book with lots of information throughout
1 review2 followers
May 20, 2024
seems like a really helpful book

I have not yet read book in full but sought the parts particularly helpful to me right now which is great
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews

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