Natural Dog Training: The Canine Arts Kennel Program: Teach Your Dog Using His Natural Instincts

Canis familiaris enters the New Age as Behan, owner and head trainer of a Connecticut kennel, proposes a new theory to explain man's best friend's behavior--to wit, that ``making prey is the entire scope of the learning process in canines and is responsible for the species' advanced form of social living.'' He expands on this intriguing hypothesis in several lengthy chapters, but with a lot of sloganistic phrases about ``harmonic pathways'' and ``flow of drive'' instead of scientific or logical argument--and his overview of canine domestication is surely ahistorical. The prey instinct, Behan argues, can be directed toward toys or even moving vehicles as well as other animals, and can be used to motivate a dog in training. His actual methods are not wholly original, but they are useful. Lessons offer a host of incentives to make and keep training a positive experience for dog and handler--at least, those handlers willing to entertain suggestions about ``waking the puppy within.'' Illustrations not seen by PW. (July)