Life Lessons Learned from Shamu: A Guide to Love and Marriage

Amazon Customer: A very witty informative and amusing book. The author has learned skills from animal trainers she met. She then
Uses these methods to try to alter her sometimes frustrating husband and his annoying habits in order to save her relationship, after traditional methods of arguing and complaining did not work. The author rewards good behaviour and ignores the bad and surprisingly her methods work for her. Highly recommended

United Kingdom on May 16, 2020

Amazon Customer: I was assigned this book in my psychology class and I have to admit it was very interesting. When reading the introduction, I thought although this book doesn’t have that many pages it seems it is going to drag. Instead, it was the opposite, halfway through the first chapter it was hard for me to put it down and not because it was assigned but because it was quite riveting. I loved how when she would describe the animal trainers’ interactions with the animals she would also throw in one of her personal stories and how she would interact with someone whether it’d be with her spouse, mother, friends, or even the lady behind her at the atm. I felt I was able to relate to her when she spoke of her husband and how he had spousal deafness, as my husband suffers from it too. As she explained how knowledgeable the animal trainers were and how they would learn everything about an animal, she emphasized how timing was everything and that you could not train an animal who is not in its right mindset, they will not learn. The same as you cannot win an argument or get your point across when say your spouse or someone else is upset or panicked. When she wrote about how we tend to give...

United States on Dec 11, 2017

Amazon Customer: Initially by reading the title i assumed the author would have been a trainer at somewhere say sea world, but i was pleasantly surprised to find that instead, she is a journalist who finds passion in all the subjects she writes about. The book was very well written and was never slow. Sutherland begins the book by explaining her marriage and how she went about discovering animal training, and how by following animal trainers, she was able to apply their methods to her life, and produce preferred outcomes from the people around her. The animal training taught the author how to "train" herself, and the people in her life. She notes that although most people recognize the term "training" as having negative connotation, it's more so taking responsibility for your own actions and how they influence others rather than forcing someone to do something. Training is more about communication than anything. How you react or dont react and how you may accidentally reinforce behaviors in other people/animals. I enjoyed how she compared and contrasted people to animals in the sense that we are constantly learning from little details such as body language but we view the world from a very one...

United States on Dec 20, 2016

Leafy Seadragon: A funny read but I feel like it's similar to that news article she wrote.

Also I don't think Amy is suggesting that you manipulate people in your life by training them to do what you want, but rather that positive reinforcement works a lot better than negative reinforcement. Sometimes you just have to show that you appreciate things that people do for you and they'll be more likely to repeat that. People generally want to please each other and aren't mind readers. They can't read your mind and know that you like what they did.

Canada on Jun 15, 2016

Jamie: A great, speedy read for those who want to improve their relationships with others - and with themselves. The author breaks down complex and clinical behavioural psychology principles into relatable, digestible anecdotes that are much easier to remember than their textbook correlates.

Canada on Apr 15, 2015

Astrid: Voellig ohne Uebertreibung; dieses Buch hat meine Beziehungen entlastet. Lesen. kann es uneingeschraenkt weiterempfehlen, kann nur ein Gewinn sein. Sie schreibt kurz, praegnant, sehr klug, und was sie schreibt hinterlaesst, wenn man es ausprobiert, _wirklich_ Impact im Leben.
In Kuerze:
Bei unerwuenschten Handlungen des Gegenueber: freeze.
Bei erwuenschten Handlungen: _sofort_ positives Feedback.

Absurderweise tendieren wir dazu positives Feedback verzoegert zu geben. Es muss aber - nicht nur bei Walen und Loewen - sofort erfolgen. Try it for yourself!

Wie schreibt die Autorin so lustig: Die Elephanten (die ein schwieriges Gruppenkunststueck gemacht haben) hatten noch nicht mal einen Myers Briggs Test gemacht. (Meaning: es ist ja ganz nett zu wissen dass das Gegenueber der und der Typ ist - aber: und dann?)

Das Buch fuehrt nach meiner Erfahrung wirklich zu besseren Beziehungen. Besonders Menschen mit schwierigen MitarbeiterInnen, SchuelerInnen etc sollten es lesen.

Germany on Aug 15, 2014

BPd: This is the book I have most recommended to women struggling with their attempts to curb their men. It's funny & psychologically deep, practical & inspiring. Recommended to anybody interested in self- and other-improvement, education and habit formation.

Germany on Jul 17, 2014