The APDT Chronicle of the Dog Summer 2020 | Page 55

EDITOR'S CHOICE | BOOKS, DVDs AND MORE
Editor’s Choice
WAG: THE SCIENCE OF
MAKING YOUR DOG HAPPY
Written by Zazie Todd, Ph.D.
Published by Greystone Books, 343 Railway St., Suite 302, Vancouver, British
Columbia, Canada V6A 1A4; published March 10, 2020; 304 pages. Where to
purchase: Dogwise $19.95; Amazon $14.99 paperback, $9.18 Kindle; Target.
com $19.99 paperback, Walmart.com $9.89 ebook; Barnes and Noble, $19.95
paperback, $10.99 Nook.
As what happens in most cases once you become a dog owner, you have a desire
to figure out what makes the dog happy. For author Zazie Todd, that came
when she adopted a Siberian Husky/Alaskan Malamute cross named Ghost. In
short order, Zazie adopted a companion dog for Ghost, an Australian Shepherd
named Bodger, and two rescue cats. “Life was suddenly about keeping both
dogs happy, which was not as easy as you might think,” Zazie wrote in her introduction. And that goal to making her own dogs
happy resulted in a deeper dive into the world of canine cognition, two popular blogs, and ultimately, this book: “Wag: The Science
of Making Your Dog Happy.”
Zazie’s credentials in writing a science-based book on making your
dog happy has plenty of foundation. She earned her doctorate in
social psychology from the University of Nottingham and has
taught students in basic psychology, including topics on how
animals learn. She used as examples of positive reinforcement how
she would shake a bag of treats to entice her ginger-and-white
cat Snap to come in for the night. But within a year of adopting
Ghost, Zazie was intrigued enough about animal learning that she
started her blog Companion Animal Psychology. From there, she
found “a rich vein of canine and feline science to write about, and
many people eager to learn more.” The book is science-based and
peppered with the answers of veterinarians and animal behavior
experts to one question: What’s the one thing that would make
the world better for dogs?
Marty Beck, DVM, a renowned veterinarian, author and founder
of the Fear-Free initiative, wrote the foreword to Zazie’s book.
It is clear Dr. Beck is a fan: “Todd is not only an engaging and
encouraging science writer who is passionate about good animal
welfare, she works with dogs, too. As a result, Wag is filled with
lots of relatable personal anecdotes about Todd’s own dogs,
Bodger the Australian Shepherd and Ghost, her Siberian Husky/
Alaskan Malamute cross. We learn how they came into her life,
challenges during their training sessions, and their doggy quirks.
Todd’s love of dogs shines through in these charming stories. If,
like me, you care about dogs’ emotional welfare, you will want
to read this book. Wag is scientifically accurate and beautifully
written, a rare blend of science and soul.”
The book breaks down all of this information in 16 chapters across
the 304 pages that touches on the topics of picking the right dog
for your family, dogs and children, exercise, nutrition (buying
food for the breed), activities and enrichment, dealing with fears
and other phobias, senior dogs and their needs, and the inevitable
end of life experience. Each chapter offers a bullet-point list of
how to apply the science of animal behavior at home. The end of
the book also features a handy checklist for a happy dog.
Her chapter on How Dogs Learn explains in easy-to-understand
terminology the types of non-associative learning (i.e.,
habituation, sensitization, social) and associative learning (i.e,
classical conditioning, operant conditioning, extinction) and the
different categories of both positive and negative reinforcement
and punishment, including survey information that shows using
electronic collars to keep a dog inside an “invisible” fence shows
more dogs escape from those fences compared to those who
escape from an actual fence. “A review of the scientific research
on electronic collars finds there is no justification to use them
and suggests they should be banned; reward-based methods
are encouraged instead,” she points out, one of her many gentle
reminders that aversive training will impede on the dog’s ability
to learn or stop a certain behavior.
The APDT Chronicle of the Dog | Summer 2020 53