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| | | Location: Home » Dolphins » Subjects » Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched: Life and Lessons at the World's Premier School for Exotic Animal Trainers | |
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| Kicked, Bitten, and Scratched: Life and Lessons at the World's Premier School for Exotic Animal Trainers | 
| Author: Amy Sutherland
Publisher: Viking Adult
Category: Book
List Price: $25.95
Buy New: $6.46
You Save: $19.49 (75%)
New (11) Collectible (1) from $6.46
Avg. Customer Rating:  28 reviews
Sales Rank: 33108
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 336
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.2 x 1.2
Dewey Decimal Number: 636.0888023
ASIN: B000NNX1XC
Publication Date: June 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Great Read!! June 12, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a great read and exactly what every inspiring animal trainer should read.
a reality check for animal lovers May 7, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I bought this book after reading the author's article in the New York Times using the techniques she learned in the school on her husband. It was so funny I had to buy the book. I didn't give it five stars simply because it is very long and some of the subject matter gets difficult to read, but I would recommend this book to anyone who knows that owning and training animals on a professional level is more about hard bitten reality than love centered euphoria. As someone who has owned and trained horses for many years I saw similaries and learned a few things, too. Good read.
 Warning: This book is not about animals! March 10, 2007
3 out of 8 found this review helpful
After putting the book aside half way through to pursue more rewarding activities, I realized I hadn't read the title carefully.
The title really says exactly what the book is about and the author's attitude about it. Her view on animals: they kick, bite and scratch. And poop, lots and lots of poop discussion. She doesn't really like animals and presents an unsympathetic view.
The second half of the title says the book is about life, meaning the students, not the animals. Most of the book is about how unpleasant the experience is, how unbalanced the students lives are and their broken relationships.
You won't learn anything about animals here. It has the unamusing feel of a required book report.
 not quite what the title promises February 18, 2007
2 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is a book about a school for teaching people how to work with wild animals. It does a great job of introducing us to some of the people who work and study there, has a few stories about the animals (especially when they attack the trainers). What it DOESN'T have is any explanation of what the students learn other than passing references to operant conditioning. I find it surprising that someone could write about a school for hundreds of pages and yet avoid any description of what is actually taught. The book is, in fact, sub-titled "Life and Lessons ..." and yet not a single lesson is to be found!!
Now one objection might be that this isn't a training manual, its a description of the school. Sure, but describing at least some of the content that's taught would be both interesting and useful. Useful because many of the readers have pets. And while nobody would expect to read a book like this and be ready to become a movie-set trainer or work at an animal park, a discussion of how praise and operant conditioning can be used would have served to make the lives of innumerable pets better as owners learn a way to control and teach without punishment. And even if they don't do it perfectly or understand every nuance of the method, surely it can't be worse than the way so many animals are punished by people who don't know any other way.
As a much better counter-example of the genre, let me offer Tracy Kidder's books. Read "Soul of a New Machine" and you're not ready for a job as a computer programmer, but you have a much better understanding of how computers do what they do. Read his book "House" and you're not ready to build your own, but you have an appreciation of what goes into building them and an inkling of how to try some small repairs yourself.
Great read! January 19, 2007
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
Loved this book! I am a true animal lover, so this title captured my attention. It was a
real eye opener into the world of training animals, (and training the trainers!), for the entertainment industry. This book could have been dry and scientific, but Amy Sutherland's descriptions of the students and their interractions made it not only informative, but also very entertaining!
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