Teaching the Dog to Think: My Year of Dog Agility Training with My Collie, Willow

by Kimberly Davis

Overview

TEACHING THE DOG TO THINK is Kimberly Davis' engaging memoir about her crash introduction to the sport of dog agility-with its jumps, tunnels, balance beams and weave poles. An award-winning poet and blogger, Davis vividly describes her frustrations trying to get her dog to "mind." We then watch as her first steely-eyed agility coach shames her into giving up choke collars and scruff shakes in favor of the "positive" training methods used by agility instructors. Davis' breezy, often humorous account shows how these new techniques allow her to communicate with the "alien" mind of a dog. Also how they transform her unruly yearling collie, Willow, into a loyal, hardworking teammate. Davis ultimately carries the lessons she has mastered in dog training class into other areas of her life, particularly into parenting and teaching creative writing. In the end, this memoir becomes a soul-searching exploration of how to get others to do what we want without bullying or cruelty-by using our heads and forcing ourselves to be a little smarter. A subtly subversive book about dealing responsibly with those less powerful than ourselves, Teaching The Dog To Think speaks not only to dog lovers, but also to anyone who has ever felt helpless, angry, or frustrated as a parent, teacher or pet owner. "You MUST read this book if you have children or pets, and want to change their behavior without coercion!"--Richard McManus, Founder and President, The Fluency Factory "An interesting story of how switching to clicker training vastly improved one agility fan's dog and also changed her own approach to family life."--Karen Pryor, author of Don't Shoot the Dog and Reaching the Animal Mind "A wonderful entry point for anyone learning about these important new methods for teaching skills and enhancing creativity."--Catherine S. Mayes, Independent Autism Advocate and Autism Project Advocate, Massachusetts Advocates for Children

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780983449201
Publisher:	Climbing Ivy Press
Publication date:	12/20/2011
Pages:	242
Product dimensions:	5.24(w) x 7.99(h) x 0.55(d)

About the Author

Kimberly Davis is an award-winning poet and the author of Kim's Craft Blog, a blog about creative writing craft and the writing life. Her work has appeared in many fine literary journals. She is the author of the poetry chapbook Alchemies of Loss, and of the memoir Teaching the Dog to Think, about her crash introduction to dog agility. Davis was the winner of the 2009-2010 James Wright Poetry Award. For more information about author Kimberly Davis, visit her website at: http://kimberlysdavis.com/.

Editorial Reviews

If you want change, sometimes you must abandon your instincts, as Davis shows in her spirited, lighthearted foray into agility training with her dog, Willow. Agility training, unlike obedience training, is not intended to teach a dog how to properly behave. Rather, agility training is, as David's trainer explains, "fun and games for the dogs." Through such training with their human owners, dogs will learn how to partake in activities on beams, tubes and obstacles--ideally, on their own and for their own enjoyment. The key, Davis says, is positive reinforcement. At the onset, her instincts tell her that negativity and scolding are the way to make her dog do as she says. But as she discovers, she needs to adapt and adjust to her dog's behavior, which she can accomplish in large part through training. A skilled writer, Davis tells her tale with intimacy as she casually converses with her reader, describing her and Willow's journey from the beginning. In her kind, cheerful treatment, she expresses honest thoughts about her own perceived shortcomings as a pet owner, as highlighted by the training experience. Through the detailed examination of Davis' experience, readers will not only comprehend her expanded knowledge of spirit and soul, but also her feelings of failure and, most significantly, her reinforced attachment to her pet. In the end, Davis's memoir is as much about the human spirit as it is about dog training. It's therefore a worthy read not only for those with their own "alien creature," as Davis lovingly refers to her dog, but also for readers interested in why we do the things we do and how we might change our approach. An enjoyable look at the connection between people and their dogs.

Kirkus Reviews