My Books

Printed book, soft cover, color, 128 pages

“The Tail That Wagged the Dog” is a collection of 16 compelling narratives set across four continents about life and death, love and despair among humans and animals.

“Finding herself surrounded by water and unable to go back, she had carried on doing what she best knew: swimming. Perhaps she intended to swim across to the islet. We’ll never know. In any case, she had kept paddling all night until her rescuers found her.”—from “Lost in the Ocean.”

“Still in hostile territory, surrounded by overwhelming enemy forces, Zak only needed to run half a kilometer longer and survive crossing the road into the park to end his ordeal. His home was only a few blocks away. Terrified, he gave it everything he had”—from “Behind Enemy Lines.”

“We were both tense and worried, not knowing what to expect. I feared him, but he also feared me. For my part, I’d never worked with such an imposing animal before, and as to him, I suppose, he was puzzled that I didn’t act like any other human he had encountered: I did nothing, nothing at all”—from “A Horse of a Different Color.”

“He looked at me with his deep eyes, and for a time, we stood still, barely daring to breathe and break the magic—as if time had ended, and we were but memories of an era bygone”—from “The Bell Tolls for Thee.”

Printed book, soft cover, color, 128 pages

The author explains in this book his particular way of training animals, a combination of the best Ethology and Behaviorism offer us.

This book is much more than a training manual—it is a guide for creating harmonious, stable, and balanced relationships.

“This book is about making simple things simpler but not simpler than necessary. It’s about knowing what you want and what you need to get it. It’s about training animals, changing their behavior and creating harmonious relationships, but it’s foremost about training ourselves and changing our attitude and behavior. If you asked me to tell you in one sentence what this little book is about, I’d say: it’s about realizing the need to control ourselves rather than others.” ~ Roger Abrantes

The author reviews the most crucial elements when communicating, interacting with, and training animals—seemlesslingly merging ethology and behaviorism. He applies to each behavioristic principle his particular “ethology touch” in which it is the relationship between handler and animal that is the most significant motivator and reinforcer. Abrantes uses very few words (sounds) when training animals. He communicates with the animals using very clear and exact body language, and calculated, rhythmic movements. In his words, “We need not control the animal or the environment, we only need to control ourselves—the results will then show.

Printed book, soft cover, color, 265 pages

“Dog Language” tells us why dogs do what they do and how: we can express ourselves sothat our dogs can understand us better.. It: is., a systematic: book, swdered alphabetically with 293 entrijas and] 94 beautiful drawings illustrating over 150 different dog expressions.

First published in Scandinavia in 1986: as “Hundesprog,” this book became a great success and has since then helped many thousands of dog owners, instructors, behavior students, and veterinarians to understand dogs. Now available in English, the present edition of Dog language is an updated, highly revised and enlarged version of the original 1-lundesprog’.
Following the traditions of the school of ethology founded by Konrad Lorenz, Dog Language is based on many hours of research, observation, and study. Dog Lan-guage.is no-nonsense book, written in a modern, uncomplicated style—a book for all readers with interest in dogs, wolves and other canids.

“Dog Language is a book that-will benefit anyone interested in what makes our dogs tick. It is a must for the professional dog handler or behaviorist, as well as any pet owner. Dog Lan-guage is well organized and written in a clear, easily understood manner. The beautiful illustrations’help to explain what our canine companions are trying to communicate to us and each other. This is a rare opportunity to tap into the talent anct expertise of a well known canine ethologist.” ~ Sandy Myers (President of Narnia Pet Behavior, member of the APDT and NADOI)

‘If we are to understand the domestic dog’s natural behavior, we must appreciate his social heritage and the adaptive significance of his many complex behavior patterns. Roger Abrantes’ book Dog Language provides this knowledge, and presents it in an easy to use and under-stand format. This encyclopedia of canine behavior is absolutely a must for all serious stu-dents of canine behavior and training!’ ~Linda P Case (Lecturer in Companion Animal Science, University of Illinois, Dept. of Animal. Science) 

Printed book, color, soft cover, 96 pages

This book is a detailed study of the evolution of canine social behavior. The author leads the reader,step by step, through the various aspects involved in the development of single social behavior patterns.This is also a comparative study, where the reader is lead from one argument to the next with mathematical precision.

A surprising book, dismissing common belief and assumptions, and leaving the reader with simple, sound explanations. A book for all students of animal behavior, as well as for all readers fascinated by animal behavior wishing to uncover the whys and hows of canine social behavior.

From the book… “The idea of dominance-aggression is biased. It is possible to be aggressive and dominant, but the term suggests the dog attacks because it is dominant. No dog attacks another because of dominance. Dominance aims at controlling the other by means of ritualized behavior, without harming or injuring it. The final attack, if there is one, is motivated by aggressiveness alone.”

“Saying that a dog is a fear-biter, is equivalent to saying that the dog does not behave purposefully. By saying that the dog shows submissive-aggression we simultaneously answer the question of how to solve the problem. The dog is submissive, which means reacting to a threat by another, giving in, and surrendering. It only becomes aggressive because its behavior does not have the desired effect. The dog is then under threat and ready to react by flight or immobility. If flight is not possible, it may freeze. Some do and die. Others resort to their last defense, they attack, and then the drive of aggressiveness takes over. We can easily avoid this situation by accepting the dog’s submission or allowing it to flee.”