Your Dog Is Your Mirror, Kevin Behan
Your Dog Is Your Mirror, Kevin Behan
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Your Dog Is Your Mirror
The Emotional Capacity of Our Dogs and Ourselves

Author: Kevin Behan

Narrator: Patrick Lawlor

Unabridged: 12 hr 7 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 11/03/2020

Categories: Nonfiction, Pets

Synopsis

In Your Dog Is Your Mirror, dog trainer Kevin Behan proposes a radical new model for understanding canine behavior: a dog’s behavior and emotion, indeed its very cognition, are driven by our emotion. The dog doesn’t respond to its owner based on what the owner thinks, says, or does; it responds to what the owner feels. And in this way, dogs can actually put people back in touch with their own emotions.Behan was originally trained under the dominance theory by his father, John Behan, one of the first in America to make dog training a career. But he eventually came to believe that what made the modern dog trainable was not the dominance hierarchy but the dog’s ability to work as a cooperative group member in the hunt. This ability then evolved into an emotional capacity that perfectly complements human emotion.Behan demonstrates that dogs and humans are connected more profoundly than has ever been imagined — by heart — and that this approach to dog cognition can help us understand many of dogs’ most inscrutable behaviors. This groundbreaking, provocative book opens the door to a whole new understanding between species, and perhaps a whole new understanding of ourselves.

About Kevin Behan

The author of Natural Dog Training, Kevin Behan is a veteran dog trainer and one of the nation’s foremost experts on dog rehabilitation.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Leah on October 30, 2017

Although the way he explains the theory can be a little confusing, the underlying theme of this book totally rang true. I felt as if I finally understood what was really going on with my dogs (particularly my fearful, aggressive one). It helped me understand that the way to live in harmony with my d......more

Goodreads review by Lara on July 31, 2012

"Burying the Lead" Throughout most of this book I got a very vivid picture of Mr. Behan's childhood and his relationship with his father. I got a less vivid picture of his dog theory. I think this is because the book was poorly edited. There's good or at least thought-provoking content in here, but i......more

Goodreads review by Justin on October 25, 2013

This book is both an interesting philosophy and a moving autobiography of Kevin Behan. He describes his own journey as a dog trainer, studying under his father, and then moving away from his father's methods to his own 'natural dog training' model. In this book, Behan develops a new idea: that dogs......more

Goodreads review by Alex on December 17, 2012

This is a good book and really challenges you as a dog owner. It puts all of the emotional responsibility on the dog owner and makes the dog seem like an infallible saint. To make this claim Behan makes a lot of bold universal claims that make the dog-human relationship seem a lot like the relations......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer on August 03, 2011

Way too touchy/feely (almost New Agey) for me, I guess.........more

Quotes

“Beautifully written and deeply engrossing, Your Dog Is Your Mirror is destined to change the way we think about dogs.”
— Lee Charles Kelley, dog trainer and bestselling mystery novelist“Your Dog Is Your Mirror is a very thought-provoking book that will force you to reconsider who we are and who dogs are and why we are so attracted to one another. Kevin Behan calls upon his extensive experience with our best friends and makes the important point that in the emotional interactions between dogs and humans, it’s not the human reading the human in the animal but the animal reading the animal in the human. Whether you agree with Kevin’s provocative theories or not, the age-old adage that no one knows you like your dog clearly rings true. I learned a lot from this wide-ranging and unique book.”
— Marc Bekoff, University of Colorado, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals and The Animal Manifesto“There are scores of books on how to change the outward behavior of a dog. But Kevin Behan challenges us to look deeper, to examine the dog’s behavior as an emotional reflection of its owner, revealing our own unresolved issues. Your Dog Is Your Mirror is beautifully written, with entertaining and insightful examples from throughout Kevin Behan’s remarkable career. This book will forever change your relationship with your dog, and you will never look at your dog in the same way again. It is a must-read for every committed dog owner.”
— Kyra Sundance, internationally bestselling author of 101 Dog Tricks and 101 Ways to Do More with Your Dog!

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