Fight!: A Practical Guide to the Treatment of Dog-dog Aggression Paperback – Illustrated, 1 Jan. 2002

I bought this book in order to try to understand and modify the aggressive behaviour of our dog towards certain other dogs. This book explains what is normal behaviour for dogs, and what the various causes of various types of behaviour can be. It does not attempt to explain what is going on inside a dog's head, but instead looks at observable behaviour and ways of modifying any undesirable behaviour. It uses evidence based positive reinforecement techniques, and avoids fads and pop psychology. Be aware that this book is written for audiences assumed to have at least an outline familiarity with the ideas of operant and classical conditioning. If you do not, then I recommend getting informed about these ideas from a good dog training book first ('It's Me or the Dog' for example, or any book dealing in positive reinforcement training. Not Cesar Milan or other 'dominance' based books.). These ideas are not complicated, and once broadly understood mean that the full benefit can be obtained from this book. Highly recommended.

This was sooooo helpful. We have a reactive rescue pup. Great as this explains all the different kinds of reactive dogs. Now know he’s trying to scare off other dogs that get too close cos he’s scared. Also says how to fix it. Spent £200 odd on consultation with a behaviourist and all they said was get an e collar. Glad I got this book instead - wish I’d done that in the first place! People whose dogs have no problems can be so inconsiderate letting their dog just run up to yours that is clearly on a lead for a reason! Hopefully we’ll make progress now thanks to this book!

I am a Donaldson fan and like her writing style, This book is a good basis for treating dog - dog aggression. However as one reviewer pointed out you need to have a trainer with you (as you should with any training of this nature) to be able to implement the solutions with stooge dogs, and not as another reviewer said hoping you meet the right dogs in the park. This is the only reason I have not given this book 5 stars.

This is a very well written book and the author obviously has a wealth of experience and knowledge. I particularly like her positive approach to training which I wholeheartedly advocate. The book was fascinating and gives a good insight of dog behaviour and I would recommend this book to both professionals as well as all dog owners.

This book is mainly, though this isn't necessarily made clear, aimed at trainers. It's written in her usual clunky, hard-to-follow style which you have to read several times to make sense of. How practical? - well it involves the use of other dogs and (for aggressive tendencies which is the problem my dog has) these dogs have to be 'bomb-proof'. For some conditioning schedules, different (new) dogs are needed so it relies on a potential supply of these. This may be possible for a trainer who has access to a pool of dogs but not very practical for someone trying to desensitize/counter-condition their dog on their own or with just a friend's dog. There is good stuff in here and it's worth getting for the price - just don't expect an easy ride or a miracle solution.

A well-written book easy to understand even if you haven't studied behaviour theory before however it does help to have some basic knowledge of the main theories.Full of helpful suggestions and scenarios to set up to help you with controlling your dog's agression if you are willing to put in the time and effort!

Great book for trainers, may be difficult to follow in parts for non dog trainers.

This book is written in Jean's very readable style but those hoping it holds a quick fix for dog aggression will be disappointed. It contains very detailed explanations of how to rehabilitate different aggressive dogs, and does not pretend it will be an easy process. A must for anyone hoping to work with these cases.

Very helpful. At first a little complicated to get into with the new jargon and style it was written in, but it’s been more than eye opening for us! Our pup started a severe resource-guarding issue at 4 months old, and he’s 7 months old now and doing SO much better now that we know how to manage him so he doesn’t react the way he did.

We met a behavioral specialist for our adopted abused dog a few times as the dog started to go after our very sweet, but playful pitbull (the aggressive dog is the chihuahua mix). The vet specialist costs $200/visit, but it's worth it. However, this book tackles a lot of the ideas he discussed and more, and we can reference it at any time. It's not an "advice" book--it's a researched guide to aggressive dogs. None of the other books I've seen and read are supported with evidence other than the author's "years" of being on TV. Yes, the authors uses psychological terms and abbreviates the terms thereafter, so that can be confusing (I'm in a Phd program, so I'm used to it). But I honestly think anyone can read this if they take a minute, jot notes, whatever. There's examples, a good chart of steps to take, and I kept yelling "This is our dog!!" throughout the entire thing. I won't buy another book because I don't need to. We saw immediate improvement following the book's advice. It'll be a long process, but seeing any change (and change in 1 day!) is so relieving.

Most of this book sounds like a thesisThe language used is not aimed at the average dog owner, more like the average dog trainerLimited practical suggestions for owners, more like a how-to for trainersThe average person is not able to access other dogs to practice with

Very good book! i took few tools to work my dog and i advice you to buy it if you need.

It's very similar to Mine! in terms of organization (which is very intuitive), and descriptive in the same way. I found the biggest benefit to me reading this book was in how I proceed with dog-dog interactions-what we've been doing is great, but the book helped me notice Koda's CER further and it's time to start some greetings. I found some of the different types confusing at first-what's the difference between a dog that bullies and a dog that has a play skill deficit? The book explains well the distinction and why it is made, as well as what slightly different steps can be taken to ensure success.It also has a section on dog-dog resource guarding (which is not explicitly included in Mine!) which I enjoyed, as well as a section on fence guarding (which was less relevant to my situation).One of my favorite sections was regarding bites, damages, management, and analysis of a dog to see how easily the problem can be managed/fixed/ It also gave an EXCELLENT description of how to confidently break up dog fights even when you lack items like break sticks-I feel a lot better about my chances of being successful even though I have limited experience, which will likely help me feel calmer if the situation were to arise. One thing I noticed based on the way the book is set up is that although management and avoidance of a problem can be great, socializing again is still very much so going to require as many 'bulletproof' dogs as possible-ie dogs that will not become fearful or upset when confronted. The author uses the analogy to Tarzan-after time away from being social even if management is required, the dog can become overstimulated in wanting to greet (resonates with Koda, who has seen fewer dogs in the past year due to multiple reasons, and who has explosive introductions but does settle down). She also goes over bullying, which is why I would recommend the book to ANYONE with a dog-bullying isn't always easily recognized and although it doesn't go into detail on recognizing it I think that a lot of the steps towards explaining what it is would help the average owner (plus, the book is so short anyways).I would recommend it toward any owner who has a dog with a fearful or aggressive history in any context, as well as any owner who wishes to better understand bullying (at dog parks or otherwise) and how to resolve it.