So this is a post of a slightly more personal nature, I thought I’d share a couple of photos of my book collection. I have only just organised the books in a meaningful way, so I am a little proud of my day’s efforts.

Why the reorganisation? Firstly, I felt the need to get organised because I almost bought a book that I already had a copy of. Not casually seen and bought it in a book shop, but as in almost placed an order on BookDepository. After this near-costly mistake, I felt the need to organise a little better. Secondly, the catalyst to my organisation was that the house is being rearranged at the moment and, as I have to move the books anyway, I may as well put a conscious effort into organising them.

And this is the result!:

Okay, so it’s not that impressive to look at, but perhaps the more interesting and time consuming effort of the day is that I have used a library database to categorise my books.

I had thought about this for a while, and decided that I may as well use File Maker Pro to maintain a library database for my books. This is useful as it will allow me to search for my books in the future (by title, author, description, or whatever other fields I designate). As I now have three bookcases, I have also introduced a field that tells me where that book is stored (i.e. which bookcase).

Perhaps in the future I will introduce a field into my database in such a way that I can actually search for individual topics. It would not be inconceivable that I would actually introduce a field that includes the contents of the book, for easier searching.

What?! Is that some Koehler books?

You may notice in my shelves that I have many ancient books that embrace traditional, positive punishment methods. I am a not an advocate of these methods, but these books are valuable in their own way.  Perhaps some of them are only valuable on a historical basis, but many provide ideas for training which shouldn’t be cast aside. “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.”

Upcoming Book Reviews

Tragically, despite having many (94 in fact!) dog books, I have not read all that many of them. I do plan to provide detailed reviews of books that I do read, however, and post them on this blog as I go. This will also mean that I can ‘get the most’ out of my books by actively note taking.

For your interest, I am currently reading Scott & Fuller’s Genetics and the Social Behavior of the Dog and hope to have a review up in the upcoming months. This is one of the most interesting books I have ever read on the dog, and I highly recommend it for anyone with an interest in dog behaviour.

My Favourite Dog Books

Alongside the Scott & Fuller book written above, there are a number of dog books that I have really enjoyed.  Despite not owning it, I have read and loved Emma Parsons’ Click to Calm. And, in a similar vein, Leslie McDevitt’s Control Unleashed.

Of a more historical sort, I found Clarence Pfaffenberger’s New Knowledge of Dog Behavior absolutely fascinating and though we have learnt a lot since then, we can still learn a lot from Clarence’s book.

Throughout my childhood, I read Joan Palmer’s Dog Breeds and dreamed about all the dog breeds that I might own in the future. This is really an influential book for me, and one of the most well worn (through personal use) in the collection. Though it’s not an outstanding book in itself, I am sure it is at least partly responsible for sparking the passion I feel for dogs today.

What’s to come?

Undoubtedly, this collection will continue to grow. I feel that I need to invest in anything by Dr Michael W Fox, as I’ve read academic papers by him and really want to know what else he has to say.  Recently, I attended a seminar with Paul McGreevy, that centred around his book A Modern Dog’s Life - which I am now interested in purchasing.

Recently, I have had many people suggest I read Reaching the Animal Mind by Karen Pryor – so this is very high on my list. Also recently, Inside of a Dog by Alex Horowitz has been suggested many a time.

A friend of mine was kind enough to lend me Dogs by Raymond Coppinger, but I wasn’t able to finish it before I gave it back. So I’m enthused about purchasing this book and finishing it!

On a less general note, I have felt a bit silly that I am so unversed in tracking training, as I actually do this sport with my dogs. I know what works for my dogs, but not so much what other people thinks work.  The book Tracking by Glen Johnson has been suggested as a good starter, so it may be making my way into my collection soon enough.

How about you?

I would love to know: What is your favourite dog book? And what books do you intend to purchase in the near future?