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?
The next time her 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. As she put more training principles into action, she noticed that she became more optimistic and less judgmental and that their marriage improved.
What started as a goofy experiment had such good results that Sutherland began using these training techniques with all the people in her life, with great results.
"Hilarious and persuasive."
"Playful, passionate, and practical."
"Sutherland's a smart, engaging writer, and her stories about the hows and whys of exotic animal training are fun and fascinating."
"In the little, private zoo known as marriage, it helps to remind yourself that you and your partner are just two bipedal primates trying to get along in intimate co-habitation."
"Invaluable…It succeeds nicely as an animal-training guide, and amusingly as a relationship book."
"Wise and pragmatic advice…The thing I love most about this book is that every other paragraph, Sutherland's terrific wordsmithing, compelling logic, and anecdotes about exotic animals make me feel like she's tossed me a biscuit."
"With one of the most mature and appealing voice personalities on audio, Hillary Huber adds credibility to a lesson that might come across as less than substantial without her."
"This engaging, often humorous, insightful book belongs in all public and academic libraries' self-help, psychology, and animal behavior collections."
