Chapter 10 Summary and Analysis

The worst experiences the author has as an applied animal behaviorist is telling a family that their dog should be rehomed, and that no amount of training can cure their particular dog. To these owners, who often love their dogs and get their hearts broken, the author has the following comfort: rehoming a dog into a situation where it will be safe and happy is not a betrayal. In fact, wolf packs can be quite fluid, with individual wolves entering and leaving depending on the season or situation. Even in the humans' case, a child will grow up and then leave the family unit.

Most commonly, dogs are wrong for a home when they are underemployed; that is, they are a working breed of dog that has little or nothing to do. A Border Collie, for example, is a smart, active...