Dogology: What Your Relationship with Your Dog Reveals about You by Vicki Croke and Sarah Wilson

Posted on Jun 8, 2009
By Tanya Turgeon

REVIEW by Tanya Turgeon

Rodale, 2008

$17.95

244 pages

For centuries we have defined ourselves through the ancient craft of astrology. Well, it's time to move over moon and make way for the newest personality type movement, Dogology. I can't define it any better than the creators, so take it away Vicki Croke and Sarah Wilson; "What we've done in Dogology is to organize and clarify all those gut feelings most of us have when observing the interaction of different personality types with their dogs." Nine types later, these co-authors have essentially produced a dog-iac (my word, pronounced with a long "o") consisting of the Soul Mate, Expert, Dynamo, Angel, Idealist, Master, Free Spirit, Observer, and Buddy.

Like all good self-exploration exercises, Dogology is not much fun or relevant unless you know what type you are. So I started by taking the included quizzes. After struggling to answer many questions where more than one choice was clearly applicable (example: "I'd rather spend a day at home: A) Napping with a good book B) Talking to friends or C) Doing outside chores" - How about all or none depending on weather, mood, and what I was up to the night before?) it turns out that I'm something of a Soul Mate with a bit of Dynamo thrown in.

By Croke and Wilson analysis, that means I "love to love...have an admirable ability to complete tasks"...and tend towards sentimental dog names, specifically those coming from favorite children's books. Most of this is accurate, except that last part if you go by my current dog. Coincidentally enough, I did go through a cartoon show name phase as a kid when I christened my rabbit Dino (Flinstones), my hamster Furball (Tiny Toons), and my turtle Grimmy (Mother Goose and Grim).

Once you determine your type, Dogology gives you loads of information on what you're like and what kind of relationship you'll have with each of the other types. At least this compatibility comes from a trusted source as Sarah Wilson is not only successfully married but one of the featured experts in the film "Nature: Why We Love Cats and Dogs", which aired on PBS back around Valentine's Day. They also tell you what kind of dog you tend towards and what kind you should actually get. For the sake of First Lady Obama, I hope she's not a Dynamo, since they are drawn to Portuguese Water Dogs for their non-shedding quality but should avoid them as their energy may not be appreciated. Hopefully someone passed along a copy of Dogology to the White House before they acquired little Bo.

Thankfully, Croke and Wilson don't take themselves too seriously as they move in to Part II, which continues the typecasting and matchmaking according to breed. They make us feel less self-conscious by justifying such things as baby-talking to our dogs and greeting our dog before our family. "When's the last time your significant other ran panting to the door wearing only a collar?" At the same time, you may feel more self-conscious when you discover they've even defined behavior at the dog park. At least now you know exactly what to call that guy who seems to have hypochondria for his dog - Mr. "Mutthausen by Proxy", which should make the dog-park gossip a lot more fun.

So as the moon moves in to square Mercury on June 13, this aquarian finds she knows herself a little better thanks to Dogology. And to any single Buddies or Idealists out there, this Soul Mate/Dynamo is available.

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