Yesterday I was pulling into the mall parking lot, and I saw a huge trailer parked there, with pictures of dogs on the sides.

Naturally that caught my attention. Then I realized that the trailer was advertising a new book, What Color is Your Dog. (Kennel Club Books, (c) 2009)

My first question was: what is going on in that trailer? And then–being a writer–I wondered what was so amazing about this book that warranted an entire vehicle traveling (assumedly) across country promoting the book? It must be really good for the publishers to go to such expense, right?

Since the van was situated way in the back of the parking lot, I figured nothing was happening there. Whatever promotion must be set up in the bookstore. So I wandered into Borders to see if there was a presentation. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything, not even a sign. I couldn’t even find an obvious display of the book. So, I had to conduct my own research.

What Color is Your Dog: Train your Dog Based on his Personality “color.”

The book is a helpful guide to training your dog. The first step is to find your dog’s “color.”

Red is “off the wall”
Orange is “high strung”
Yellow is “mellow yellow”
Green is “apprehensive”
Blue is “skittish and very afraid”

You can find your dog’s color here.

I discovered that Kelly is Green. Actually, I think she’s more of a greenish-yellow. But okay, we probably already know this basic personality about our dogs. How will this color thing help us?

According to the website, by identifying your dog’s color, you can then read the appropriate section of the book to learn the appropriate training techniques for that “color” dog.

(The color technique to explain an idea is not a new concept. Some other examples of books that have used it successfully are What Color is Your Personality and The 8 Colors of Fitness. )

By way of explanation, the website states: “You would never train a Blue dog like a Red dog.” Makes sense to me.

The book is filled with sound, practical and easy to follow training advice. It’s applicable to every owner and dog who want to learn better behavior and work better together. It looks like a winner.

I also found out why the book warrants such a large promotional vehicle. The author, Joel Silverman, is a professional animal trainer for televisions and movies. He was host of Good Dog U on Animal Planet. He’s also trained whales at Sea World, dolphins at Knotts Berry Farm and Magic Mountain, and birds, dogs and cats at Universal Studios. Some resume!

I don’t yet own my own copy of What Color Is Your Dog, but I’m planning to get one. Kelly and I could use a few pointers.