worst book I've ever read...

[Minnieski]

Hi!

So I've been reading a lot lately, and since my budget doesn't allow me to purchase every GSD book I come across, I've been going to the library. So yesterday I picked up this book:

The German Shepherd Dog, by Helmut Antesberger, C. 1985, originally published in West Germany.

Seeing immediately that it was dated, I decided to take it all in with a grain of salt, but some of this stuff was just AWEFUL. I'm so glad that thinking has changed since then! Here are some quotes from the book that scare the heck out of me, and I hope no one follows anymore:

"Buying a German shepherd pup from a well-run pet store is also good"

"Shipping a puppy is irresponsible and cruel to animals, to boot. The little creature is torn out of its familiar surroundings, stuffed into a dark box, and then loaded into a truck or railroad car like a piece of freight. The shock of such treatment has inflicted permanent psychic damage on many a young dog."

"If you have no prior experience with dogs, you should not consider getting an adult dog. Granted, if an adult dog has been well trained, you will be spared early rearing and training. That sounds good, but there is a catch. The very fact that an adults dog's physical and psychic devlopment is complete and cannot be significantly influenced once the imprinting phase is over makes it doubtful that the dog can forget its former master and give its allegiance to you."

and the kicker -

"If all your precautions fail to prevent a mating with a dog of the wrong breed, let her have the puppies. You can have them put to sleep painlessly by the veterinarian right after birth, or if you cannot bring ourself to do that, raise them and later give them to people who will let them have a good life."

Holy cow have we come a long way in understanding dogs since 1985!!!!

[shilohsmom]

thats awful!

[flyinghayden]

I actually read this a long time ago, along with some other really bad books, made me actually almost reconsider getting into GSDs. Almost. I don't remember if it was in this book, or some of the others, but there were some other idiotic lines in there, like, pick your puppy up only when you are inspecting him, after that don't pick him up again, lest you spoil him...blah, blah blah. And then another good one was, " male dogs like their chest rubbed because it reminds them of mating". What!?! And many others, I don't remember, or blocked out is more like it.

[CookieTN]

Originally Posted By: MinnieskiHoly cow have we come a long way in understanding dogs since 1985!!!!

No kidding.
I've got several such older books with false info in them too. I just swallow the meat and spit out the bones. I can still learn a lot from the book even if I don't agree with everything in it.

[Catu]

Worst book I've ever read...

"The Hidden Life of Dogs"

Based in the experience of the author with nordic breeds her "scientific approach" is that dogs are happier if leaved alone to play with other dogs and do not need humans at all.

[Castlemaid]

Originally Posted By: LicanAntaiWorst book I've ever read...

"The Hidden Life of Dogs"

Based in the experience of the author with nordic breeds her "scientific approach" is that dogs are happier if leaved alone to play with other dogs and do not need humans at all.

I've read it, and I aggree, very disturbing! What was the author, an Anthropologist? So she drew scientific conclusions by letting her pack of dogs intermingle and roam at will, and observing them. It was very disturbing to see that level of irresponsibility rationalized as "a natural approach".

For Example, one of her dogs disappeared every night. One night she followed him to see what he did, across roads and highways, roaming to see other dogs, and to chase other dogs - she concluded that this is what dogs WANT to do, and allowed it.

She allowed the higher ranking dogs in her pack to terrorize the lower ranking dogs, so that the lower ranking dogs were always trying to hide and avoid the alpha dogs.

She did not neuter the dogs, and allowed them to breed among themselves.

She allowed her dogs to annoy and harrass workers that came to her house, and of course, when one of the workers accidently ran over one of her dogs because it was chasing the worker's car, it was the worker's fault, not hers for allowing her dogs to chase cars, and so on, and on, and on.

[Minnieski]

Yikes. I mean, I knew some books were better than others, but I guess some are just terrible!

[JerzeyGSD]

You know, I started to agree with this one:

"If you have no prior experience with dogs, you should not consider getting an adult dog. Granted, if an adult dog has been well trained, you will be spared early rearing and training. That sounds good, but there is a catch. The very fact that an adults dog's physical and psychic development is complete and cannot be significantly influenced once the imprinting phase is over makes it doubtful that the dog can forget its former master and give its allegiance to you."

At least about the part with its mental development having been finished and thus preferring a puppy because you can help to shape that development. Then I got to the last sentence and realized that this is WAY off base.

[Minnieski]

That's how a felt about the whole book, like the statements would start out ok, but then warp into something screwy.

[Barb E]

Originally Posted By: flyinghayden pick your puppy up only when you are inspecting him, after that don't pick him up again, lest you spoil him...blah, blah blah.

When my mare was pregnant many many moons ago I had old cowboy after old cowboy tell me that if I handled the foal at birth my mare would reject it The advice was: get in there and get the iodine on the umbillical cord and get out.

Luckily for all of us I ignored them and listened to my gut and a few "youngsters who didn't know " who thought imprinting with an animal as large as a horse was very important!!