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A Dog in a Million
A Dog in a Million
Dec 6, 2024 2:48 AM

Author:Hazel Carter

A Dog in a Million

Hazel Carter's home-help tidies the house, does the washing and helps with the cooking, and the only payment she requires is a nice big bowl of dog food at dinner time ...

When Hazel was debilitated with crippling back problems, she found herself unable to look after the house so she used her skills as an animal behaviourist to teach Connie, her seven-month-old Newfoundland, how to do the work instead. Connie picks out items of dirty clothing from the laundry basket and places them inside the washing machine. When the washing cycle is over, Connie transfers the clean clothes to the tumble dryer. Hazel could leave Connie to complete the entire task unsupervised - if only Connie understood that dark colours must not be washed with whites. Connie also works in the garden, brings in the shopping and is happy to do anything from carefully carrying a basket of eggs to pulling Hazel along in a boat. 'At one stage all I could do was lie in bed and Connie would bring me a toy from her toy box for me to throw as I lay there. She quickly learnt that to have a game she must first bring her toy to me, a very valuable lesson. My idea was to keep her occupied and mentally stimulated while helping me at the same time.'

Underlying the story of this remarkable dog is a remarkable relationship with a remarkable woman: Hazel Carter. For almost thirty years she has been helping owners to understand and cure their dogs' behavioural problems with patience, gentleness and kindness.

Reviews

A-how-to-live-in-harmony-with-a-dog guide and I'm sure it's a brilliant one

—— Tanya Gold , Daily Mail

Terrific ... exceptionally good - has the clarity of Malcolm Gladwell

—— Evening Standard

Enlivening ... a fascinating insight into the peculiar and devastating nature of human fear

—— Sunday Telegraph

Stimulating ... where writers such as Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Francis Wheen have been content largely to enumerate the errors of less rational men and women, Dan Gardner has collated part of what we need to diagnose the problem

—— Independent on Sunday

Beautifully observed

—— Observer

Compelling ... Gardner aims to get us thinking more carefully about how we run our lives - and make it harder for politicians, the media and advertisers to lead us astray

—— New Scientist

A fascinating insight into the peculiar and devastating nature of human fear

—— Daily Telegraph

An excellent book

—— Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational

A terrific book, full of wonderful insights, and offering cutting-edge social science in a reader-friendly package. The life you save may be your own!

—— Cass Sunstein, Director of Harvard University's Program on Risk Regulation, and co-author of the best-selling 'Nudge'
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