This is, by far, one of the best books I've read on dog behavior and training. Bradshaw walks the reader through the previous held theories of wolf behavior and how dog training - based on captive wolf behavior (not wild wolves) can lead humans to train dogs in a manner that is not fair to the true nature of dogs. This book justified many of my gut reactions on my experiences training dogs. I've never been comfortable employing punishment or negative techniques preferring instead to observe the dog and work with the personality that each dog has. Many other trainers, such at Patricia McConnell and Pat Miller, practice positive dog training techniques and I'm a huge fan of their work. Bradshaw, however, adds more context - based on research - around the nature of dogs and their connectivity to humans. The research covers not only the "lupomorph" model but also tackles the breeding of dogs and how breeding for looks and not behavior has created dogs with far greater health and behavior problems than ever before. This book is a must read for anyone remotely interested in animal behavior. I'd even say that anyone who has a dog or is thinking of getting a dog should read this as the insight is invaluable as one works with (and even choses) a dog.

Bradshaw ends the book with this line: "Addressing the twin pressures of misguided breeding and poor understanding of canine psychology is crucial to ensuring that dogs remain as significant a part of human life as they have ben for the past ten millennia. My hope is that this book will make some contribution toward that goal."

I believe it has.