Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 8
 Positive training CAN work for aggressive dogs! September 22, 2009
Crysania (Syracuse, NY)
"You can't rehabilitate an aggressive dog using positive training. You must show the dog who is the alpha in order to gain respect. And besides, positive-based trainers won't even take on aggressive dogs."
I cannot count the number of times I have heard a combination of these statements. Add to them the usual glorification of Cesar Millan, and you have the complete picture. According to these folks, he rehabilitates "red zone" dogs, the dogs others have given up on, the ones the positive trainers won't work with because they don't have the guts/know-how/calm assertive energy to rehabilitate them. According to these folks, positive, rewards-based trainers are handy for training tricks, but that's it.
Except...that's not quite true. Bringing Light to Shadow proves those statements wrong. Pamela Dennison, who already had a houseful of dogs (a border collie mix, a border collie, and a sheltie), decided in a moment of craziness to add a 4th dog to the mix: a rescued border collie named Shadow. She did not know, at the time she brought him home, that Shadow was human-aggressive. As with many aggressive dogs, most of his issues were based in fear. He was a dog who, under different circumstances would have been put down. He was a dog who, under the "rehabilitation" of someone like Millan, would have lashed out or shut down, leaving him living in a sort of hell.
Instead, Shadow ended up in the hands of positive trainer Pamela Dennison. At the time she had little experience working with aggressive dogs. She had been training dogs for agility, obedience, and herding work. But Shadow became a project of love and she stuck by him through thick and thin.
The book is written in journal format and are the actual entries Dennison made in her journal about Shadow's progression (and sometimes regression) toward becoming a "normal" dog. Included within the pages not only are her moments of looking back and pointing out what she did right and what Shadow did right, but also those moments where she made a wrong move and caused Shadow to regress a bit.
This book is truly insightful and should be on every dog trainer's bookshelf. If you have a dog with aggression issues, this book can make you feel hope. And mostly, it can make anyone realize that positive training can WORK with an aggressive dog. In 18 months she turns Shadow from a human-aggressive dog to one who passes his Canine Good Citizen test. 18 months may seem like a long time, but at the end of the book he was only 2 1/2, so there are many more years to come.
I really enjoyed this book and it's one I'll keep on my shelf and keep referring back to over and over again.
 interesting, but not very relavant, January 11, 2008
K. M Merrill (Forest Grove, OR, USA)
2 out of 7 found this review helpful
I read this is about an hour of skimming, an interesting project, but not I fear a good use of time and energy. This book feels like the mandatory "see what I can do" dog trainers book. Why keep a dog that fights /attacks your dogs and bites people? This dog has bitten several people, would you ever be able to trust a dog like this?
I am glad the writer wrote this, when people with aggressive dogs call me, I refer them to this book, so they can see how long, slow, and possible no results, the process is of attempting to rehab a biting dog.
 A document of patience and example January 16, 2007
Bluestem (Illinois, US)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book and the author's work were inspiring to me as a dog owner and trainer of my own dogs. It gave me perspectives and encouragement to use patience. In the descriptions and journals of her trials and progress with Shadow, Dennison outlined usable and applicable formats and plans for reaching troubled dogs and establishing and keeping their trust and loyalty. Most of all, I laud her faith in herself and in Shadow despite any measurable setbacks and lessons.
Review of "Bringing Light to Shadow" August 17, 2006
Jean Thorkildsen (Ballston Lake, NY USA)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
"Bringing Light to Shadow" is the daily journal of a skillful dog trainer's experiences as she gradually modified the behavior of a human-aggressive Border Collie. She succeeded with this difficult dog because of her understanding and perserverance, and with the help of a wise mentor and several patient and helpful friends. Shadow's story is an inspiration to anyone who has a similar dog and is wrestling with the difficult choice between behavior modification and euthanesia.
must read book for anyone with an interest in training, rescue, or shelter work April 13, 2006
E. bunten (illinois)
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
In my mind, this is the best, most comprehensive book on the market on the subject of rehabilitating a dog who has "baggage."
Why? Because it explains in heartfelt detail everything that can go wrong or right in the process of retraining and does so through personal experience of an expert trainer. As Yogi Berra said: "In theory, there's no difference between theory and practice. In practice, there is."
It also reveals how we humans we will ride the highs and lows of a journey that is at times filled with joy, hope, and exuberance, and at other times great disappointment and guilt.
In the end, it is also a "how-to" book for everyone who loves a scared dog, and who has the dedication and perseverence required to keep working.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 8
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