Two Dogs, a Donkey, and a Frenchwoman

Foreward

by Victoria Stilwell

Victoria Stilwell is the author of It’s Me or the Dog: How to Have a Perfect Pet, and host of the hit TV series running in the UK and many other countries.

Dogs enrich our lives in so many ways. They are loyal, trustworthy companions that have successfully adapted over thousands of years to live with humans. In return they need people to provide them with a safe, supportive and loving environment. They need us to teach them how to cope in our weird domestic world and most of all they need to have our valued attention and time.

This is a story about one man who fulfills this need for all the dogs in his life. Mike Sanger from the famous Sanger circus family performs regularly with his dogs. Circus people traditionally lead notoriously tough and nomadic lives, traveling from city to city and performing to audiences of all nationalities. Shouldn’t it seem cruel that dogs would be made to endure the same hardship? Not in this case.

Most dogs’ behavior problems stem from the fact that our domestic dogs lead boring, unstimulating lives. In the past, dogs were bred for a specific purpose, helping their owners in their particular areas of expertise -- hunting, tracking, guarding, herding, etc. Since those activities have largely faded away, today’s dog owners have had to accommodate the domestic dog with various activities such as agility, fly ball and heel to music. These and many other skill sets have been developed to harness dogs’ special abilities and provide outlets for their boundless energy. Even those who would normally question whether it is healthy for dogs to perform in a circus would have to agree that introducing such exciting activities would enrich any dog’s life. It is wrong to make some animals perform – indeed, it might even be wrong for some dogs, but for Mike Sanger’s dogs, it is one big game -- a time to have fun and do what all dogs are very good at doing-playing!

Most of the Sanger’s dogs are from rescue situations, some from appalling conditions. These dogs go from being a human’s last thought to becoming the most important living creatures in Mike Sanger’s life. His dogs are equal members of his family. His training is positive, constructive and simple – he interacts with the dogs in an ‘atmosphere of play.’ Keeping his dogs “happy and mentally balanced,” he proves in this book that you don’t have to adopt cruel methods when training dogs and shows that dogs respond far better if they actually want to do something.

In my work as a dog trainer and as host of my own dog training TV program, “It’s Me or the Dog,” I’ve found that most troubled dogs lack the attention, physical and mental stimulation, and all-important playtime that Mike Sanger so entertainingly describes giving his dogs in this book. Affection, attention, praise and security is the formula for raising a happy, confident dog. He proves it time and time again.