Regular readers of Front & Finish are familiar with Catherine Zinsky and her Border Collies from her “Playing By The Rules” column in which she breaks down obedience exercises and explains how she trains.  Some may even be familiar with her website (www.gettoready.net), accurately described as a competitive obedience toolbox, full of articles and videos, or her Facebook feed of dog brags and stunningly beautiful nature photography.  Given all that, you might think you are already familiar with what Zinsky has to offer in her book on attitude and attention in training.   However, Zinsky’s book, which is now available in a new e-book edition as well as print, shares a different aspect of her knowledge and training and would benefit any obedience competitor and indeed anyone who competes in a dog sport.  At heart, it is about our relationships with our dogs and how to deepen and enrich those relationships, while making clear what our responsibilities are to our dogs if we want them to be willing members of our team.

While Zinsky states that this is not a training book and refers readers to their local dog clubs for dog-sports-specific training, I would argue that much of the book consists of clear foundation training from which obedience exercises will be more easily built.  For instance, it is true that Zinsky does not delineate how to train all the elements of a formal recall, but the foundation of puppy recalls and one-cue responses that she explains in this book will undoubtedly give both the trainer and dog a clear advantage when moving to formal recall training.  More importantly, Zinsky teaches HOW to train, spelling out the fundamentals to keep in mind when training anything (such as generalization or clarity or high standards).  This is a book about the principles of training as much as the nuts and bolts of specific behaviors.

The beauty of Zinsky’s book is that she is crystal clear about the WHY behind the rules she advocates for with dogs, so it is easy to make whatever adjustments you wish based on your own training methods and philosophy.  For instance, even if you don’t want to use the light collar corrections she recommends for teaching a one-cue recall, you will not question the necessity for such a recall and you will endeavor to teach it in whatever way makes sense for you and your dog, keeping in mind the training principles Zinsky outlines.

Zinsky spends almost as much time on OUR behavior as she does on the dog’s.  She is passionate about our responsibility to our dogs, from understanding how their sensory world differs from our own to giving our dogs the full measure of our attention when demanding that from them.   Too often, we focus on our dog’s attitude and attention and fail to look at our own: Zinsky provides numerous tips and advice to ensure that our attitude and attention is at least as strong as what we ask of our dogs.  She knows the common pitfalls handlers face and helps us analyze and solve those issues, whether while training or on the show grounds or in the ring.  She insists that we are fair to our dogs, both in what we expect and how we react when we don’t get the response we want.  Her goal is to get us to work together as a team, but her emphasis is on the roles of each member of the team: the trainer is the coach and the dog is the player.

The book takes you from establishing the proper coach/player relationship with your dog all the way to getting into the ring with confidence and joy.  Zinsky is generous with her knowledge, clear in her presentation, and an advocate for our sport.  This is a book you will return to again and again as you progress in your training, for troubleshooting, encouragement, and Zinsky’s infectious enthusiasm.