Your Dog Is Your Mirror

Written by Kevin Behan

Purchase on Amazon
Purchase from our publisher, New World Library

A Window into the Animal Mind

In Your Dog Is Your Mirror, dog trainer Kevin Behan proposes a radical new model for under- standing canine behavior: a dog’s behavior and emotion, indeed its very cognition, are driven by our emotion. The dog doesn’t respond to its owner based on what the owner thinks, says, or does; it responds to what the owner feels. And in this way, dogs can actually put people back in touch with their own emotions.

Kevin grew up training dogs alongside his father, John Behan , one of the Nation’s first professional, family dog trainers. Kevin developed the Natural Dog Training theory after noticing the similarities between how well behaved and orchestrated wolves hunt in a group and the cooperation required in high drive police dog work. Kevin has worked with thousands of dogs throughout his long career, operating his own boarding and training kennel in Connecticut as well as advanced training for security, protection training and police dog work for K9 units and hospital security.

 

Purchase on Amazon * Plus the Audiobook is now available
Purchase from our publisher, New World Library

Praise for Your Dog Is Your Mirror

“Beautifully written and deeply engrossing, Your Dog Is Your Mirror is
destined to change the way we think about dogs.”

— Lee Charles Kelley, dog trainer and bestselling mystery novelist

“Your Dog Is Your Mirror is a very thought-provoking book that will force you to reconsider who we are and who dogs are and why we are so attracted to one another. Kevin Behan calls upon his extensive experience with our best friends and makes the important point that in the emotional interactions between dogs and humans, it’s not the human reading the human in the animal but the animal reading the animal in the human. Whether you agree with Kevin’s provocative theories or not, the age-old adage that no one knows you like your dog clearly rings true. I learned a lot from this wide-ranging and unique book.”

— Marc Beckoff, University of Colorado, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals and The Animal Manifesto

“There are scores of books on how to change the outward behavior of a dog. But Kevin Behan challenges us to look deeper, to examine the dog’s behavior as an emotional reflection of its owner, revealing our own unresolved issues. Your Dog Is Your Mirror is beautifully written, with entertaining and insightful examples from throughout Kevin Behan’s remarkable career. This book will forever change your relationship with your dog, and you will never look at your dog in the same way again. It is a must-read for every committed dog owner.”

— Kyra Sundance, internationally bestselling author of 101 Dog Tricks and 101 Ways to Do More with Your Dog!



Also by Kevin Behan is the original Natural Dog Training Book
available for purchase on Amazon, or join the Official Natural Dog Training Study Group to get access to all Natural Dog Training chapters in the group.

Books about Natural Dog Training by Kevin Behan

In Your Dog Is Your Mirror, dog trainer Kevin Behan proposes a radical new model for understanding canine behavior: a dog’s behavior and emotion, indeed its very cognition, are driven by our emotion. The dog doesn’t respond to what the owner thinks, says, or does; it responds to what the owner feels. And in this way, dogs can actually put people back in touch with their own emotions. Behan demonstrates that dogs and humans are connected more profoundly than has ever been imagined — by heart — and that this approach to dog cognition can help us understand many of dogs’ most inscrutable behaviors. This groundbreaking, provocative book opens the door to a whole new understanding between species, and perhaps a whole new understanding of ourselves.
  Natural Dog Training is about how dogs see the world and what this means in regards to training. The first part of this book presents a new theory for the social behavior of canines, featuring the drive to hunt, not the pack instincts, as seminal to canine behavior. The second part reinterprets how dogs actually learn. The third section presents exercises and handling techniques to put this theory into practice with a puppy. The final section sets forth a training program with a special emphasis on coming when called.