Bringing Light to Shadow: A Dog Trainer's Diary

by Pamela S. Dennison

Can this dog be saved?
-A fearful, human-aggressive dog.
-A trainer who wouldn't give up.
-Positive, no-force training methods.
-Will this be enough to save Shadow from death row?

The gods that protect fools, optimists, and little children must have known what they were doing when they brought together THIS dog and THIS owner. Shadow was a handsome, fearful, aggressive, one-year-old, second-hand Border Collie. He lashed out at people without warning and avoided human touch. Pam Dennison was a professional dog trainer with 12 years experience and a half dozen successful dog adoptions behind her when she met Shadow.

When Pam found Shadow at a Border Collie rescue site on the Internet she was just looking to round out her canine family. Like a match.com date she decided to meet Shadow “just to see” and, because she couldn't think of any reason not to take him home, he became hers. He also became her problem!Follow their 18-month journey from the early, dark days of fear and frustration to the daylight of confidence and trust. Learn how difficult it is, even for a professional dog trainer, to handle a dog with a past—and a temper too.

Did she regret her decision to adopt Shadow? Yes. Sometimes.
Did she make mistakes along the way? Of course.
Did she resort to punishment? Never once.

Reviews from other canine professionals
Outstanding stuff! Very impressive! I have yet to run into someone with your determination and commitment. It's great to see an animal this far in the hole is now climbing Everest.
Ted Turner, Animal Behaviorist, former director of training at Sea World

Pam reveals what to do and (occasionally) what not to do when working with an aggressive dog.
Ali Brown, Author of Scaredy Dog

Genres: Dogs, Nonfiction

238 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to dnf it about 60% through but I did read the epilogue and I'm glad Shadow made progress and is mostly functioning now.

The 60% of the book that I did read made me want to pull my hair out. I did not like it at all. The author was constantly setting her dog up to fail and then patting herself on the back and telling herself what a good job she was doing. They had multiple bites on people with blood drawn and constant dog fights between her other resident dogs. The author kept blaming the other dogs and sometimes would even just shut a door and let them fight and then tried to call that normal dog language. A dog aggressing at another dog and blowing it up into a fight with blood is not normal dog language. Multi-dog households have an occasional spat, an older dog might correct a younger one for whatever reason but a full blown fight!? Seriously. No. ...and to sit in your office while it happens? No way.

They had management fails, who the hell let's their aggressive dog out while a stranger is in their house working and then doesn't watch him!? I could excuse some mistakes as we are all human but the mistakes in this book were constant and putting the dog way over threshold in this book was too much for me.

There was never a mention of using any safety percautions, such as muzzle or seeing a veterinary behaviorist. Instead the author kept emailing some random trainer who used to work at SeaWorld. That trainer often gave confusing and conflicting advice. She did take him to a lot of training classes and venues and apparently he's 99% better now. Throughout this book, I kept thinking to myself, boy does this dog need some prozac and a smaller world with better management. Poor dog. Eventually I had to DNF because I couldn't stand it anymore.

I do like that the training methods in this book are based in positive reinforcement but the author's constant obsession with reducing food ruined that aspect for me as well. She would often forget her treats and when Shadow would get upset (OVER-THRESHOLD AGAIN) try to t-touch a dog that doesn't like to be touched.

Overall I can't recommend this.

[Benji · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was super frustrating. Dennison adopts an aggressive border collie named Shadow and chronicles his behavior modification journey. She routinely sets him up for failure such that people and her other dogs get attacked numerous times. When Shadow attacks her other dogs, she just walks out of the room and refuses to protect her other dogs. That’s a good way to earn a vet bill and destroy the trust your dogs have that you can handle a situation and keep them safe. She holds a flooding party where Shadow is flooded with his trigger stimulus (people) and a woman is predictably bitten. Occasionally she’d talk about something interesting like building up his tug drive (something I struggle with with my own dog) but then of course the next page she’s walking out of the room as Shadow again attacks another of her dogs. I think the only reason I didn’t DNF was because this book was living in my head rent-free and I needed closure before it could be properly exorcised.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have a dog that has any aggression issues, this book will give you hope. My adopted German Shepherd would not tolerate other dogs. This book helped me to know it was possible to use positive methods to teach a dog to not be aggressive. Since I was new to dogs, what I learned from this book, combined with more traditional training methods, helped me get my my dog through the AKC Canine Good Citizen Test. She was also able to participate in group classes, though she always had her limits of enduring other dogs. It also has a great reference list of other helpful training books in the back.

[Meaghan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing recount of how positive reinforcement can turn a human-aggressive dog around, mistakes all included. The diary format is repetitive but I think it is the most effective way to show exactly how much work went into this dog. Rehabilitating an aggressive dog is no walk in the park!
Pam has done a wonderful thing, good work.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pamela Dennison is a fantastic trainer who is willing to share her knowledge and experience (failures included) with other dog trainers. This book is easy for serious dog lovers, or dog owners who have dealt with aggression issues, to relate to.

[Dixie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Lots of good information but the diary format makes it very difficult to follow especially with all of the side comments. In my opinion information would have been better layer out in a novel format. I actually only got half way through before discarding the book.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wonderful account of what patience, perseverance and positive dog training can do.