DOGS ON THE COUCH; Behavior Therapy for Training and Caring for Your Dog

An animal behavior expert offers his new concepts in pet management, showing his landmark methods for keeping dogs from misbehaving by using positive encouragement, skewering outmoded myths, and getting the whole family involved in his revolutionary process. 15,000 first printing.

Orange County Register Book Review of "Dogs on the Couch"
New book on training dogs takes into account the family

March 25, 1999

Got a dog?

Then do yourself — and your dog — a favor and get a copy of Larry Lachman's new book, "Dogs on the Couch." (The Overlook Press)

Lachman, like other trainers who have either left behind or never used the choke-'em, hit-'em, hang-'em-high methods of dog training, focuses on rewards as the means of teaching dogs. The theory is that a behavior that causes something pleasant to happen is likely to be repeated, while one that leads to something unpleasant is less likely to happen again. So when a dog gets food (or playtime, a ball to chase or anything else that makes him happy) after doing something, he's likely to repeat the action to get the food (playtime, ball) again.

But Lachman adds a component many training books ignore: the family. Lachman has been involved in counseling people for years (he holds several psychology degrees). He's brought his experience with family systems therapy, which treats the entire family, not just the offending (or untrained) member, into the dog-training world.

"The emphasis is, when there's a child or adult with a problem, it affects the whole family. It's like sending ripples through a pond: Everything is going to be affected," Lachman said in an interview about the book. "To pretend that the patient's behavior isn't affecting others in the family is ridiculous and naive."

Lachman seems to see dog training as one part of a whole — the process that brings a dog into a home and keeps it there. He and co-writer Frank Mickadeit, an editor at The Orange County Register, outline four goals at the beginning of the book:

1. Give families the tools they need to select the dog that's right for them, then help them enjoy training and caring for their dog to the fullest extent possible. 2. Stop unnecessary mistreatment of dogs who are misbehaving or who are being abused in obedience classes. 3. Lower the absurdly high number of dogs euthanized in the United States each year, estimated at 3 million-6 million, according to Veterinary Medicine magazine, often solely because of minor and easily correctable behavior problems. 4. Reduce the high number of dog bites.

Lachman states a key part of his case for responsible dog ownership: "We all know that there are far too many children bitten by dogs and far too many pets abandoned and destroyed because they were mismatched to a particular family situation, barked too much, were too destructive or just couldn't be housebroken.

"The shame is, we are punishing and destroying these pets for exhibiting their normal, natural behavior patterns rather than educating ourselves and other pet owners."

Bravo. There's nothing abnormal about a dog that chews, digs, jumps or isn't housebroken. Those behaviors are perfectly normal and acceptable to dogs. But many humans don't want dogs that chew, dig, jump or go potty indoors. Unfortunately, instead of trying to understand what motivates those behaviors, we label them unfixable and dump the dog at a shelter or, worse, in the woods.

Dogs aren't living stuffed animals. They aren't little people in fur suits. Lachman understands this, and his book imparts this to readers in a fun way that's easy to understand and follow.

One of the things I love about this book is that Lachman doesn't expect it to be the be-all and end-all of readers' experiences with their dogs. He encourages seeing a professional behaviorist or trainer if you have a problem. But he also encourages what I think is one of the most important steps of owning a dog (or any pet, for that matter): Think before you get one.

Another thing I love is Lachman's inclusion of a chapter on dealing with grief after the loss of a pet. He's been there, and he writes openly about his devastation at the loss of his beloved dog Tozai. This is the first dog-behavior book I've read that includes this most important aspect of owning — and loving — a dog. --Maryanne Dell, Register Columnist