March 29, 2014

Reading with Ruby: Hit By A Flying Wolf by Nicole Wilde


As a follower of Nicole Wilde's blog , I was excited to learn that she had a new book out, especially one that talked about her experience with her own challenging dogs. The book is divided into two segments. The first focuses on her current dogs, Sierra and Bodhi, who presented issues with separation anxiety, resource guarding, destructive behavior and resource guarding between the two of them. In the second part, Nicole describes her time working with the wolf-dogs of Villalobos Rescue Center which eventually resulted in her housing three of the wolf-dogs herself. I'm very interested in the differences between dogs, wolves and their various crosses after reading Ceiridwen Terrill's book, Part Wild. Nicole also emphasized the challenges that wolf-dogs face in the human world, and the complications of keeping them in the back yard. 

Hit by a Flying Wolf is written in a friendly, conversational tone, with humorous moments as well as the inevitable heartbreaking ones that come with any dog story. It also includes two groups of color photos of the dogs and wolf-dogs that have touched Nicole's life. I especially enjoyed the narrative about Sierra and Bodhi, who had moments of not getting along much like my girls Freya and Lasya. Nicole's honesty about her frustrations illustrates that difficult dogs are difficult dogs, even for professionals! In living with wolf-dogs in the California desert, Nicole also dealt with some unusual perils, such as wildfires and rattlesnakes. This was a fun book to read, written with obvious heart and a great deal of compassion for our canine and lupine brethren. 

Disclaimer: Nicole Wilde provided a copy of the book to me in exchange for my honest review. 

2 comments:

  1. I read that book. Loved it. I actually had the pleasure of attending a two day seminar of hers last year, one day which was entirely devoted to helping fearful dogs. It was excellent.

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  2. hot neat. i'm a huge van of the villalobos rescue center. and piri went through a stage of separation anxiety which was so hard to overcome but we were able to! those days though.. it was so tough. i look back and thank all of my supportive friends who helped and also piri for being such a champ :)

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