Book Review-- Games Pets Play

Games Pets Play by Dr Bruce Fogle

I started out reading this book and taking notes on each of the games. Before I got half way through, I forgot to take notes and just enjoyed the book. Dr Fogle is a great story teller. He is a vet in London, England and tells stories about some of the relationships between some standout clients and their pets. I have seen many of the games and relationships myself with dogs I have worked with. One of the stories had me laughing so hard I cried....(A little yorkie leg lifting in the waiting room, barking and challenging the other dogs to guard his territory challenged a Pyrenese who peed on him). 

Dr Fogle talks about games our pets play with us and games we play with them. Theses aren't fun training games, but they do train the participants and set the rules of the relationship. The game rules can be changed if the human wants to (or the pet wants to and the human lets it happen) and Dr Fogle does give some advice on changing the games. The book is mostly to make the us aware of how our pets are able to train us and how we use our pets to meet our needs. 

Attachment games start when the pet is 6 to 12 weeks old. This time period sets the tone of the pets future relationships. This is when the dog  or cat and presumably other pets learn to form relationships with humans, pets of its own species, and other animals. This is one of the core developmental times in life. Humans also play attachment games. We love the "he needs me" game because humans really need to form attachments. Pets are safe to form attachments with. These attachment games are how separation anxiety bed wars start. To reduce both attachment games and territory games, a dog needs sensory stimulation and activity to make the brain grow and function properly and so tension doesn't build up. So be active and get out and explore with your pet. 

A dog has training goals for it's family that may be great for the dog but are not always best for the dog. These goals are to get the people to come when the dog calls them and to make sure the humans anticipate the dog's needs, understand his desires, and choose only the best for him. This is why the dog plays most of his games and he is very good at it. 

Once I got to the section on "I can't eat that" where the dog is allowed to dictate what it eats and the human in the relationship caters to the dogs desires I stopped taking notes. His stories were just too good.  He does give some good training advice to counter some of the dogs games, but his stories were what made the book so good to read. I will go back and finish my notes before I send the book to friends in Florida who will enjoy it as much as I did.