Chapter 1 Summary and Analysis

Author Patricia B. McConnell is an applied animal behaviorist and well-known dog trainer. She relates an event in which she was training an aggressive mastiff dog before an audience. She mistakenly got very close to the dog while fielding a questioning, and made the further mistake of looking the dog right in the eye for a second. The dog lunged at her and she retreated.

This episode shows the importance of a trainer or owner controlling his or her physical movements when with a dog. Small movements impart big meanings to dogs. This is unsurprising, considering how humans are in tune with tiny movements (of the face) as well. Both species are highly visual and social.

An owner must train the body much like an athlete trains the body. The tendency is to think that our voice is the biggest influence...