Thinking outside the treat

books:


	• What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage: Lessons for People from Animals and Their Trainers Amy Sutherland Random House, 2008 - 192 pages average customer review:based on 36 reviews view larger image
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Thinking outside the treat

Thank you for prompting a new way of thinking about everyday interactions. Too many times I have nagged, cajoled, bribed or begged my way to getting others to do what needs to get done. This book helped me see how much there is to gain for all concerned when the interaction is approached with treats in mind. What a relief it is to get out of my own head and think about what motivates others, makes others happy and in the end gives others the "treat" of accomplishment. The job gets done and everyone walks away feeling good. What a great way to go about life.

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An engaging, fast read

If you love animals and are fascinated by behavior, both the human and the animal, read this book. It is an absolutely delightful, and often very funny, account of Sutherland's attempts at adapting exotic animal training ploys to enhance her relationships with her husband, family and friends.

I must confess, I think the above-mentioned humans all get stars for being her guinea pigs. Sutherland's account of trying to persuade her mother to wear hearing aids had me in fits of laughter as I rode the New York subway. (My amusement elicited lots of smiles from fellow travellers amused at my amusement.)

In between the laughter I was totally absorbed by her descriptions of specific training procedures at an exotic animal training school where she spent a good part of her time to write her first book, "Kicked, Bitten and Scratched." Sutherland is a deft and engaging writer, fast on the draw with humor, `fesses up to her own shortcomings while trying to change those around her, and obviously has a great love for all her subjects.

Ultimately, as she says in her book, she realised she had to change herself rather than try to change everyone around her.

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Put on your laughing hat!

Put on your laughing hat and get ready to bust your seed! I didn't just like this book, I LOVED it!

So insightful to see how I, as a broth swilling man of distinction, can be trainable like the bear (GRR) I am.

I would love to have the author over for a night of java logs and Iphone Scrabble and hopefully end the date with a lovely pink sock!

fun with a textbook

what a fun read and what great information. Sutherland has a way of imparting pearls of wisdom in such a humorous, easy to digest way. The book is a textbook in my house and I have referred to it many times when I'm in a stuck place with relationships.

Sutherland has great depth with the pen which is evident in the last part of her book.

READ IT! You'll love it!

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

While observing exotic animal trainers for her acclaimed book Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched, journalist Amy Sutherland had an epiphany: What if she used these training techniques with the human animals in her own life?namely her dear husband, Scott? In this lively and perceptive book, Sutherland tells how she took the trainers? lessons home.

The next time her forgetful husband stomped through the house in search of his mislaid car keys, she asked herself, ?What would a dolphin trainer do?? The answer was: nothing. Trainers reward the behavior they want and, just as important, ignore the behavior they don?t. Rather than appease her mate?s rising temper by joining in the search, or fuel his temper by nagging him to keep better track of his things in the first place, Sutherland kept her mouth shut and her eyes on the dishes she was washing. In short order, Scott found his keys and regained his cool. ?I felt like I should throw him a mackerel,? she writes. In time, as she put more training principles into action, she noticed that she became more optimistic and less judgmental, and their twelve-year marriage was better than ever.

What started as a goofy experiment had such good results that Sutherland began using the training techniques with all the people in her life, including her mother, her friends, her students, even the clerk at the post office. In the end, the biggest lesson she learned is that the only animal you can truly change is yourself.

Full of fun facts, fascinating insights, hilarious anecdotes, and practical tips, What Shamu Taught Me About Life, Love, and Marriage describes Sutherland?s Alice-in-Wonderland experience of stumbling into a world where cheetahs walk nicely on leashes and elephants paint with watercolors, and of leaving a new, improved Homo sapiens.

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