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How to Talk to Your Dog: An Illustrated Guide to Understanding Your Pet for Children
Jean Craighead George, Newbery Medal -- winning author of over 80 books about nature and animals, demonstrates in words and photos how to communicate with your best friend.
26 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1986
5 people are currently reading
149 people want to read
About the author
Jean Craighead George
184 books1,524 followersJean Craighead George wrote over eighty popular books for young adults, including the Newbery Medal-winning Julie of the Wolves and the Newbery Honor book My Side of the Mountain. Most of her books deal with topics related to the environment and the natural world. While she mostly wrote children's fiction, she also wrote at least two guides to cooking with wild foods, and an autobiography, Journey Inward.
The mother of three children, (Twig C. George, Craig, and T. Luke George) Jean George was a grandmother who joyfully read to her grandchildren since the time they were born. Over the years Jean George kept one hundred and seventy-three pets, not including dogs and cats, in her home in Chappaqua, New York. "Most of these wild animals depart in autumn when the sun changes their behaviour and they feel the urge to migrate or go off alone. While they are with us, however, they become characters in my books, articles, and stories."
The mother of three children, (Twig C. George, Craig, and T. Luke George) Jean George was a grandmother who joyfully read to her grandchildren since the time they were born. Over the years Jean George kept one hundred and seventy-three pets, not including dogs and cats, in her home in Chappaqua, New York. "Most of these wild animals depart in autumn when the sun changes their behaviour and they feel the urge to migrate or go off alone. While they are with us, however, they become characters in my books, articles, and stories."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews
June 11, 2018
I thought this was a story and it turned out to be an interesting non-fiction take on dogs. It was interesting and sensical. It is about paying attention to more than sound, but body cues, tail cues, sound cues and smell cues. I was able to recognize things my dog does from what she says. Like when I get down on all fours the dog does think I want to play.
My niece was interested in this book. It is a little long and the illustrations aren't the best in it.
Less a bedtime story and more something fun to work with kids about ways to handle their dog.
My niece was interested in this book. It is a little long and the illustrations aren't the best in it.
Less a bedtime story and more something fun to work with kids about ways to handle their dog.
April 18, 2013
I am a veterinary nurse who specializes in pet behavior. Our practice owner ordered this book for our kid's room. When I read it, I was mildly horrified and will be advising her to return the book. I love the idea of the book, the pictures, and the writing. What I have a problem with is some of the things the author advises children to do with their dog.
I would never advise a dog owner to let their child grab the muzzle of any dog, get in their face, or sniff them to show who is boss. In my opinion, this advice is actually dangerous. On p.15, she states, "Sniff his nose to tell him not to be angry or confused." If a dog is "angry" or confused about how to feel, a child should not approach it, and he/she should certainly NOT put their face in the dog's face.
Thousands of children are bitten every year because people do not understand how to interact with pets. I'm not saying that every dog would bite a child who gets in their face. In fact, many family dogs let their human brothers and sisters crawl on them, stand on them, even hit them without any problems. Unfortunately, this sometimes gives owners the idea that their dog would never hurt anyone.
Many dogs put up with unwanted behavior from people, but do not necessarily like the behavior. If you watch a dog's face, ears, and body language, you might notice ears to the rear, a worried, wrinkled brow, large eyes, and/or hunched body posture. All these can be signs a pet is uncomfortable, frightened, or becoming distressed. Any of these emotions can lead to a bite. The only way a dog can communicate these emotions is through body language. Many pets, cats included, will give subtle signs of anxiety, fear, or distress that often go unnoticed. Their last form of communication is to bite. Some will even learn that biting is the quickest and easiest way to get a human to back off when they are uncomfortable. Obviously, you would never want a dog to learn that dangerous lesson.
A dog trainer once wrote about a golden retriever who was put down because he bit a child in the household. The owner left the child alone with the dog (who had not shown any sign of aggression before this incident). After the dog was gone, the veterinary staff discovered 8 staples in the dog's ear. What this means is that this child's dog let him staple his ear 7 times before he made the move to stop the pain that was being caused to him.
A better resource for how to behave around dogs would be drsophiayin.com. She is a DVM and behavior specialist in California. She has many resources on how children should SAFELY interact with dogs. Again, I love the idea of this book, but I would never recommend it because of safety reasons, only a few having been mentioned in this review.
I would never advise a dog owner to let their child grab the muzzle of any dog, get in their face, or sniff them to show who is boss. In my opinion, this advice is actually dangerous. On p.15, she states, "Sniff his nose to tell him not to be angry or confused." If a dog is "angry" or confused about how to feel, a child should not approach it, and he/she should certainly NOT put their face in the dog's face.
Thousands of children are bitten every year because people do not understand how to interact with pets. I'm not saying that every dog would bite a child who gets in their face. In fact, many family dogs let their human brothers and sisters crawl on them, stand on them, even hit them without any problems. Unfortunately, this sometimes gives owners the idea that their dog would never hurt anyone.
Many dogs put up with unwanted behavior from people, but do not necessarily like the behavior. If you watch a dog's face, ears, and body language, you might notice ears to the rear, a worried, wrinkled brow, large eyes, and/or hunched body posture. All these can be signs a pet is uncomfortable, frightened, or becoming distressed. Any of these emotions can lead to a bite. The only way a dog can communicate these emotions is through body language. Many pets, cats included, will give subtle signs of anxiety, fear, or distress that often go unnoticed. Their last form of communication is to bite. Some will even learn that biting is the quickest and easiest way to get a human to back off when they are uncomfortable. Obviously, you would never want a dog to learn that dangerous lesson.
A dog trainer once wrote about a golden retriever who was put down because he bit a child in the household. The owner left the child alone with the dog (who had not shown any sign of aggression before this incident). After the dog was gone, the veterinary staff discovered 8 staples in the dog's ear. What this means is that this child's dog let him staple his ear 7 times before he made the move to stop the pain that was being caused to him.
A better resource for how to behave around dogs would be drsophiayin.com. She is a DVM and behavior specialist in California. She has many resources on how children should SAFELY interact with dogs. Again, I love the idea of this book, but I would never recommend it because of safety reasons, only a few having been mentioned in this review.
March 1, 2009
Dogs don't just talk with barks and growls - they whimper, sniff, wag their tail, twist their ears, and touch noses. The author advices, "Speak to your dog in his language. He will reward you by being an even more devoted friend." This humorous and informative book will let kids look into the world of dogs by helping them understand their canine friends' feelings. The author does a wonderful job of describing different ways dogs show their feelings. And the illustrations combine expressive cartoons of dogs with photographs of the author interacting and talking with the dogs. There are lots of illustrations, so younger kids will be engaged by the book while their parents read it aloud. Clearly, both of these women have been around dogs their whole lives.
April 2, 2011
This would be the perfect book to give to a student who just got a pet dog or is just really interested in dogs. This might just be that book that grabs that student and makes them a lover of books, or a lover of nonfiction. There are little bits that you could tie into social skills we all should know, like how to use body language to say “I am a leader.” This book might be a tool to use with learning social skills, how your voice conveys a message in tone, how your posture speaks volumes, how to be kind to a friend (or pet). Since the book is about a fun, friendly animal it will be interesting for a class to read or listen to.
July 20, 2010
Wonderful explanations of how dogs communicate with other dogs with tips for using dog language to communicate with your pet. I tried it and it works! I especially love the tip about not barking back at your dog. "He doesn't understand your bad accent and ...may look at you in confusion." It's true!
June 3, 2012
When you say your dogs name he will pull his ears back close to his head. A.R.
January 10, 2023
Fun and earnest. A dog person that even a cat person can learn from! Tons of information on how to care for your pet and communicate with your pet.
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November 18, 2015Title: How to Talk to Your Dog
Author: Jean Craighead George
Illustrator: Sue Truesdell
Genre: How-to-Book
Theme(s): Pets, Animals, Dogs
Opening line/sentence:
No one
Will ever love you
As much as your dog does.
Brief Book Summary: This book explains how dogs use their body language, behavior, and sounds to communicate with people. It goes further into detail by explaining how you, too, can communicate back with your dog using your body language and behavior. The tips in this book can be used on real dogs.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: CLCD
CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 2001)
Jean Craighead George's considerable expertise on wolf behavior comes into play in this wry, informative guide to the wolf's domesticated descendant. From relatively simple interpretations of the ways dogs hold their tails and ears to more complicated understandings of how they read human body language, the text offers insight for anyone who comes into contact with canines. Sue Truesdell's engaging line drawings of dogs are cleverly combined with photographs of Jean George interacting with the fictional animals.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: CLCD
Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children s Books, April 2000 (Vol. 53, No. 8))
In this companion volume to the above title, George turns her lens on the canine world. Those familiar with the animal-behavior aspect of George s Julie of the Wolves won t be surprised to see her detailed examination as the author explains vocalizations, tail positions, scent and sniffing, facial expressions, and various other aspects of doggy socializing. In this book too, some of the statements are a bit misleading (not all dogs strive for dominance, for instance), but the author is clear about the hierarchical nature of dogs and the impact of human leadership (Telling your dog he is good is his reward for living). The mixed photography (of George, representing the humans) and illustration (an endearingly scruffy yellow mutt is the main canine representative) is again effective. Truesdell’s got a gift for casually cockeyed canines: there s a Feifferesque touch to her scrawled lines, and her panoply of pooches are expressive in the extreme with their motion lines and flying ears (the collection on the endpapers will send dogophiles into sighs of yearning). As with George’s cat volume, this will be an accessible and perhaps paradigm-shifting introduction for young readers.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Both of these reviews explain that this book is realistic and useful when coming into actual contact with a dog. The second review points out that this book may be oversimplifying things (such as that “all dogs strive for dominance”), but is still an informative book. I thought the language towards the end of the second review was unnecessary, but it does get the point across that the book has a lot of information in it.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: It was interesting that the person throughout this book looked to be from a photograph, while the dogs in the book looked to be like they were drawn. I liked how she used mainly one pictured dog throughout the book. Some of the pages I felt had too many words on them, but the book does have a lot of information. Although there are a lot of words, the language used is not too advanced. The book is easy to follow along with.
Consideration of Instructional Application: I would use this book to explain to children how body language works. I would take it a step further to say that not only do humans use this, but animals use this as well. I would ask the kids to come up with a list of body language and all of their meaning. This could be useful because kids would get a lesson how to understand others and themselves as well.
Author: Jean Craighead George
Illustrator: Sue Truesdell
Genre: How-to-Book
Theme(s): Pets, Animals, Dogs
Opening line/sentence:
No one
Will ever love you
As much as your dog does.
Brief Book Summary: This book explains how dogs use their body language, behavior, and sounds to communicate with people. It goes further into detail by explaining how you, too, can communicate back with your dog using your body language and behavior. The tips in this book can be used on real dogs.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1: CLCD
CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices, 2001)
Jean Craighead George's considerable expertise on wolf behavior comes into play in this wry, informative guide to the wolf's domesticated descendant. From relatively simple interpretations of the ways dogs hold their tails and ears to more complicated understandings of how they read human body language, the text offers insight for anyone who comes into contact with canines. Sue Truesdell's engaging line drawings of dogs are cleverly combined with photographs of Jean George interacting with the fictional animals.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: CLCD
Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children s Books, April 2000 (Vol. 53, No. 8))
In this companion volume to the above title, George turns her lens on the canine world. Those familiar with the animal-behavior aspect of George s Julie of the Wolves won t be surprised to see her detailed examination as the author explains vocalizations, tail positions, scent and sniffing, facial expressions, and various other aspects of doggy socializing. In this book too, some of the statements are a bit misleading (not all dogs strive for dominance, for instance), but the author is clear about the hierarchical nature of dogs and the impact of human leadership (Telling your dog he is good is his reward for living). The mixed photography (of George, representing the humans) and illustration (an endearingly scruffy yellow mutt is the main canine representative) is again effective. Truesdell’s got a gift for casually cockeyed canines: there s a Feifferesque touch to her scrawled lines, and her panoply of pooches are expressive in the extreme with their motion lines and flying ears (the collection on the endpapers will send dogophiles into sighs of yearning). As with George’s cat volume, this will be an accessible and perhaps paradigm-shifting introduction for young readers.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Both of these reviews explain that this book is realistic and useful when coming into actual contact with a dog. The second review points out that this book may be oversimplifying things (such as that “all dogs strive for dominance”), but is still an informative book. I thought the language towards the end of the second review was unnecessary, but it does get the point across that the book has a lot of information in it.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: It was interesting that the person throughout this book looked to be from a photograph, while the dogs in the book looked to be like they were drawn. I liked how she used mainly one pictured dog throughout the book. Some of the pages I felt had too many words on them, but the book does have a lot of information. Although there are a lot of words, the language used is not too advanced. The book is easy to follow along with.
Consideration of Instructional Application: I would use this book to explain to children how body language works. I would take it a step further to say that not only do humans use this, but animals use this as well. I would ask the kids to come up with a list of body language and all of their meaning. This could be useful because kids would get a lesson how to understand others and themselves as well.
July 1, 2011
This is a wonderful book that describes why a dog does the things a dog does and how, as an owner, we should respond. We recently adopted a German Shephard. She's not quite a puppy, but she is still very young and we are patiently teaching her commands. Now we understand why she wants to lick us and show us her belly and (sometimes) jump up on us.
The level of the narrative is perfect for our girls and they just loved this book. I liked the mixed media of the photographs of the author with the drawings of the doggie. I think this is a great book to help children understand how to better communicate with their ever-faithful dog. We've read this book a couple of times.
The level of the narrative is perfect for our girls and they just loved this book. I liked the mixed media of the photographs of the author with the drawings of the doggie. I think this is a great book to help children understand how to better communicate with their ever-faithful dog. We've read this book a couple of times.
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March 22, 2016For a child who just got a new dog, or is very interested in dogs, this book would be perfect! There is a lot of descriptions on how to approach a dog, how to interact with them, and what to do to communicate with them.
Although there are some statements that might need to be explained or addressed by parents, such as putting one's face in front of a dog to sniff them, the book is very interesting material. This book would also be interesting in teaching students about behavior with other humans, such as what it means when someone crosses their arms or has their burrows furrowed.
Grade: 2nd Grade to 4th Grade
Topic: Animals, Dogs, Behavior, Good/Bad Behavior, Language, Conversation
Although there are some statements that might need to be explained or addressed by parents, such as putting one's face in front of a dog to sniff them, the book is very interesting material. This book would also be interesting in teaching students about behavior with other humans, such as what it means when someone crosses their arms or has their burrows furrowed.
Grade: 2nd Grade to 4th Grade
Topic: Animals, Dogs, Behavior, Good/Bad Behavior, Language, Conversation
July 15, 2013
What an odd book. On one hand, I think the idea is great and there are several good ideas within. On the other hand, there are many things that the author suggests that I would never do, such as sniff right in my dog's face. huh? My dogs don't like us getting near their faces at all, much less to sniff at them. Also, trying to make your dog look you in the eye is an entirely pointless venture. I've also heard conflicting reports on whether "hugging" your dog is a good idea or not.
June 11, 2015
This is a great book to teach young children about dogs, having a dog and communicating with a dog. There are many aspects to a meaningful relationship. Learning to "listen" to more than words, and then how to talk without words is no doubt a life long skill. And the illustrations are a lot of fun.
I have reread this book and will continue to because I work with dogs and this will help us work together where ever we run into each other.
I have reread this book and will continue to because I work with dogs and this will help us work together where ever we run into each other.
March 12, 2013
This book teaches young readers how to communicate with their pet through the sound, chemical, and physical contact that is dog language. The artwork is a combination of photographs of the author with cartoon-style dogs. The artwork functions to demonstrate the instructions and the language of the text.
December 3, 2015
This is very cute book that teaches children "how to talk to their dog." I don't like how it suggests that a child get in the dogs face though. You never know what a dog is going to do. You learn a lot about dogs in the book. You learn what their tail and facial expressions mean. Overall it is a good read for a child who just got a dog.
July 3, 2007
This was cute. I suggest buying it for any child you know that is completely infatuated with their dog or dogs in general. I was 8 and absolutely obsessed with my dog when I bought and read it. I liked it. I think it would make a good gift.
June 17, 2008
This was a book that i had to read to my niece. She wasn't able to read it on her own she's (5). It's more of a young reader book it's a how to book for children. The book answer's many questions that children have about dogs.
November 21, 2013
whimper...whine...bark...howl...
Everything means something - even different scents will tell a story. A good book to read to learn how to figure out your dog's moods - and to communicate better with your dog. Fun book!
Everything means something - even different scents will tell a story. A good book to read to learn how to figure out your dog's moods - and to communicate better with your dog. Fun book!
November 5, 2017
This book contains outdated information that is often not only wrong, but also flat-out dangerous. I will be discussing this with the school librarian. If children follow the advice in this book, they will be much more likely to be bitten by dogs.
January 31, 2008
Wonderful whimsical book that actually has good information about how dogs communicate with each other and with people. Fun to read and good for teaching children about dealing with dogs.
January 13, 2010
I like this book its really cool it actually teaches you how to talk to your dog i tried one of the suggestions and i think my dog responded
February 11, 2010
This is a great how to book for kids about training your dog. The students in my 1st grade class loved it as a read a loud.
July 26, 2010
How to read a dog's body language, how to communicate with them. Pretty informative for a kid's book.
August 9, 2010
Adorable, funny, yet truly informative!
September 20, 2010
Non-fiction. A favorite children's author combines common sense with facts. Love the illustrations! They are a combination of artistry combined with pictures of the author.
September 25, 2010
Jean Craighead George writes this book about communication between humans and canines. I am not sure any of us liked it that well.
February 25, 2011
This book is adorable. It was actually had really good information that I was able to learn from.
May 17, 2011
I loved it, the perfect dog book for children or adults with new pets, you will know what the dog is saying and you will tell him who is boss
January 2, 2012
I didn't think this would be book number 1 of 2012... But it was a really good book. This would be a good one to own to reference later.
January 17, 2012
Have a dog? Getting a dog? Read this book. You'll learn and smile. Jean Craighead George, you're a gem!
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February 16, 2016Super cute book
Displaying 1 - 30 of 38 reviews