Booklife Review

Sunshine uses the parenting techniques outlined in her earlier book, The Connected Child, to help readers master loving, effective relationships with their dogs in this down-to-earth, encouraging guide. She details her frustration and even dislike of her own unruly puppy, an exasperating creature Sunshine describes as “an animal that behaves like a downed electrical wire,” before sharing her eureka moment, when she opted to treat her pet more like a challenging child than a dog: “In that split second,” she writes, “I understood she wasn’t the devil’s spawn...she was a young, unformed creature who didn’t understand what was expected of her. Hazel wanted to connect with me. She just didn’t know how.”

Sharing the compassion, drive, and research from her earlier book, Sunshine outlines the methods she used that worked wonders with Hazel, notably her HEARTS principles: Heal the body, Enrich and optimize the brain, Appropriate environments with felt safety, Respectful and secure relationships, Teach sensitively and positively, and Support the individual. That fundamental framework can be individualized to meet any dog’s needs, Sunshine declares, and she offers pointers in each area for owners to tailor the information to their own pet—from the importance of emotional and physical safety in a dog’s environment to their need for sensory stimulation for healthy brain development.

Sunshine’s ability to break down complex canine psychology into layman’s terms is particularly helpful, and she provides hands-on graphics and tools—checklists, diagrams, and graphs—as well as vivid descriptions of her animal interactions: “We were welcomed by a pair of drooling basset hounds with plate-sized paws and yards of ears, eager to greet us,” she writes of her trip to a breeder. Mindful of her status as a neophyte dog owner, she also consults with over a dozen animal behaviorists, making this a well-rounded, valuable resource for beleaguered dog owners.

Takeaway: Entertaining guide to dog training, based on parenting principles.

Comparable Titles: Ian Dunbar’s Barking up the Right Tree, Kerry Nichols’s Puppy Brain.

Production grades
Cover: A-
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: B
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-