The Great Gatsby Project: The Resources

It surprises some people who see me out with Gatsby, or others' dogs, that I've never had a dog of my own. You guys know better! One of the reasons I appreciate my blogfriends' visits so much is because you can advise from experience. 

All I can do right now is read everything I can get my hands on, and work with Gatsby as much as possible. I've got Mine!: A Practical Guide to Resource Guarding in Dogs by Jean Donaldson, The Cautious Canine by Patricia McConnell and Plenty in Life is Free by Kathy Sdao on order already. 

I've picked these particular books because I think they'll be relevant to Gatsby. My friend spoils Gatsby to death so while I know most people would suggest the Nothing In Life Is Free (NILIF) program, I don't think my friend can manage that - she's still struggling with the difference between showing affection (hugs, kisses) and spoiling her dog (no boundaries). In other words, she doesn't know how to be a hard-arse with her baby like I can! So I thought maybe the Plenty-ILIF book, which advocates that hey, plenty in life is free for your dog, you just learn to reinforce skilfully, might help instead. Does anyone have any experience with this?

Lastly, if anyone can point me to any resources or contacts for Japanese Spitz, that would be really helpful. They aren't that common, are they? I don't see them around much, and I'm not finding anything breed-specific either in bookstores or on the Internet. I'd love to know whether Gatsby displays typical breed traits. Is there anyone in Blogville with Japanese Spitz?

So, what do you think? You guys are the experts, not me - I suspect having an actual live dog helps!