The Latchkey Dog - How the Way You Live Shapes the Behavior of the Dog You Love (Hardcover, 1st ed)

Does your dog's schedule need more arranging than your own? Does the mere prospect of leaving your dog make your spine stiffen? While you are at work earning the money to buy dog food, is your dog having your dining room chairs for lunch? Are you searching for the line on your tax form that says "co-dependent?" If the answer to even one of these questions is "yes," the odds are that you are living with a Latchkey Dog.

With more men and women on career paths that require extended office hours leaving "nine to five" in the dust, the dog, which was for centuries a worker, has now become a waiter. The dog's day no longer revolves around "what can I do?" but instead "where is everybody?"

Anyone who has ever owned a dog knows well the depth of love and attachment that instantly develops, rearranging your heart-and your life-so that nothing will ever be the same again. Add to this love a good dose of daily guilt at leaving your beloved canine behind, and the result is a dog whose behavior resembles that of El Nino It seems that somewhere between Donna Reed and surfing the Net, we've created the Latchkey Dog.

As significant trends emerge in dog behavior, dog trainers, canine behaviorists, and veterinarians are being called upon to address such sensitive issues as separation anxiety, aggression, and obsessive-compulsive disorders. Jodi Andersen takes a closer look at what prompts such behavior. In a world in which indulgence is often mistaken for love, and in which dog training has become synonymous with discipline, many dog lovers are struggling to find a balance between the kind of love that makes us feel good and the kind of love that is good for our dogs. Andersen believes that a balance can be found.

The Latchkey Dog offers a remarkably insightful and unprecedented view of the modern dog and owner. Using as examples the dogs and owners she's come to know through many years of canine training, Anderson offers extremely clear and manageable, step-by-step instructions that will permit you to get your house back in order, while teaching your dog to be useful, working member of your family. The result will be a return to a harmonious and healthy household -- for you and your dog.