Animal Writes

Listen to Episode #217 Now:

    

BIO:

Transcript:

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Announcer: This is Pet Life Radio.

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Announcer: Let's Talk Pets.

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Tim Link: Welcome to Animal Writes on Pet Life Radio! Super excited to talk to our next guest.

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Tim Link: She is a research scientist and part of the Duke Canine Cognition Center, and she's also a professional journalist and the best-selling author.

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Tim Link: So it's going to be exciting.

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Tim Link: Of course, we're talking about Vanessa Woods, and Vanessa has got a new book out with her partner, Crime, we'll call it, Brian Hare.

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Tim Link: The new book is called Puppy Kindergarten, The New Science of Raising a Great Dog.

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Tim Link: So I love that we can never have too many puppy early stage because we know those early stages of puppyhood are critical.

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Tim Link: So we need all the help we can get.

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Tim Link: And Vanessa is the expert at that and she's going to give us the proper guidance for her new book.

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Tim Link: So everybody hang tight.

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Tim Link: We'll come back right after this commercial break.

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Tim Link: You're listening to Animal Writes on Pet Life Radio.

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Announcer: Let's Talk Pets on petliferadio.com.

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Tim Link: Welcome back to Animal Writes on Pet Life Radio.

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Tim Link: Joining us now is best-selling author, award-winning journalist and of course, part of the Duke Canine Cognition Center, Vanessa Woods.

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Tim Link: Vanessa, welcome to the show.

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Vanessa Woods: Thanks for having me on, Tim.

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Vanessa Woods: It's a pleasure to be here.

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Tim Link: Yeah, we're excited about it.

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Tim Link: I love the book and all the, you know, I will admit I'm not a science guy, but I do like to delve into the minds of everything, you know, including our puppies, because trying to keep up with a puppy is a full-time job in itself.

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Vanessa Woods: yes.

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Tim Link: Yeah, and you've got the great book, Puppy Kindergarten now.

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Vanessa Woods: Yeah, it is a full-time job.

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Vanessa Woods: And when there are seven of them, it's like, I feel like it goes exponentially with each puppy.

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Tim Link: I love that.

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Tim Link: I reflect back.

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Tim Link: I remember we have Schnauzers, we're a Schnauzer family, and when our Buzz and Woody made their transition, we went for just a brief while without a pup.

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Tim Link: And then we started looking at people presenting Schnauzers to us and saying, oh, this will be the perfect one for you.

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Tim Link: And next thing we know, we had a list of like seven or eight Schnauzers.

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Tim Link: Fortunately, we figured two is plenty and that's all we can handle.

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Tim Link: And I'd sort of forgotten that we went about a 20-year span between having the puppy to the adulthood and then getting the new puppy.

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Tim Link: And I had forgotten rather quickly about what it takes to be a puppy parent.

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Tim Link: Oh my goodness.

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Vanessa Woods: Yeah, they're just like babies.

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Vanessa Woods: You just forget everything.

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Vanessa Woods: And then you like do it again.

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Vanessa Woods: You're like, oh my gosh, how did I do this?

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Tim Link: Like, it's just crazy.

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Tim Link: I always said to you, play 10 minutes on the floor plane.

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Tim Link: Then they take a nap for five and then they're ready to go again.

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Tim Link: You got to feed them and poo them and pee them again and teach them all this stuff.

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Tim Link: So tell us a little bit about, you know, puppy kindergarten.

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Tim Link: Yeah, you call it the new science of raising a great dog.

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Tim Link: So I want to delve into that and what's your insights.

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Tim Link: So tell us a little bit about the book.

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Vanessa Woods: So puppy kindergarten, it's like, it's not really a place, it's kind of a philosophy that we have, and it's about, you know, basically a new way to raise a dog.

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Vanessa Woods: And, you know, I think that we're in this real cultural moment right now where a lot has changed.

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Vanessa Woods: Like since you raised your puppies 20 years ago, and you know, I know when I was a kid, like dogs used to just, you know, roam around, my dog would roam around the neighborhood.

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Vanessa Woods: She'd jump the fence.

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Vanessa Woods: She'd be back by dinnertime, kind of like me, you know, as is in my childhood.

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Vanessa Woods: But, you know, within a generation, a really short time on the way we raise our kids are different and the way we raise our dogs are different too.

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Vanessa Woods: So they're much more part of the family.

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Vanessa Woods: Parents have a lot more influence and involvement in our dog's lives.

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Vanessa Woods: Like we, you know, they're rarely off leash.

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Vanessa Woods: We have to take them to class.

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Vanessa Woods: We've got to make sure they get enough exercise.

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Vanessa Woods: They're eating all the right foods.

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Vanessa Woods: And, you know, this comes with these wonderful benefits.

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Vanessa Woods: We spend more time with our dogs than ever, but it also comes with a unique set of challenges.

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Vanessa Woods: And that's really what we wanted to address with Puppy Kindergarten.

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Tim Link: I was reflecting back with my wife the other day about raising puppies from when we got our first dog when we were in college together and in all the subsequent dogs and plethora of other animals, of course, but dogs in particular.

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Tim Link: And the advancements and everything from veterinarian care to training techniques, to food, to treats, to socialization behavior.

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Tim Link: I mean, all of it's fantastic, but it can get very overwhelming because like you said, in my day, at least in your day, yeah, the dog was the, you know, get the dog, feed the dog, let the dog run around.

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Tim Link: And there you go.

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Tim Link: There's your dog.

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Vanessa Woods: Yeah, no, that's right.

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Vanessa Woods: And in the 80s, at least, if you let your dog jump into bed with you and sleep with you, the next morning, you'd probably both wake up covered in fleece, because, you know, so medicines come a long way.

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Vanessa Woods: And then just also, you know, the way we think about dogs, we've discovered more about the dog mind in the last 10 years than we have in the last century.

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Vanessa Woods: So, you know, understanding the way they think has been part of our research program for, you know, several decades now.

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Vanessa Woods: But, you know, we were kind of like using puppies to kind of figure out like what comes online first, like the different intelligences they have.

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Vanessa Woods: So, what we learned about puppies really does just apply to all dogs.

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Tim Link: Let's talk a little bit about that, the research that you have been doing for quite some time.

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Tim Link: And I want to talk about also the surprises that come along, you know, the advancements of it, but also the surprises going into it, maybe thinking your research was going to lead you down one path and you found out it was something totally different.

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Vanessa Woods: Yeah, no, absolutely.

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Vanessa Woods: And, you know, we have like, I guess the way it kind of like just clicked for us is that, you know, we had like thousands of people, you know, who visit the Puppy Kindergarten and, you know, in this cultural moment that we were talking about, people saying, well, you know, is there a group of dogs or is there a breed of dogs that really kind of like fits into this modern lifestyle?

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Vanessa Woods: And then, you know, Brian and I realized like, oh, my gosh, yes, they're these, they're these puppies.

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Vanessa Woods: And so we work with service dogs from canine companions and they, you know, come to us when they're eight weeks old and we sort of like play this set of games with them every two weeks until they're 20 weeks old to kind of like see how their minds develop.

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Vanessa Woods: So that period from like eight to 20 weeks old is the final period of rapid brain development.

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Vanessa Woods: So what we were really interested in is trying to graduate more service dogs because at the moment it takes, you know, two years and tens of thousands of dollars before you even figure out if they're going to make it.

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Vanessa Woods: So what we were trying to do with this whole project was increase the number of service dogs by looking at puppies and seeing if we could predict early which puppy was more likely to make it.

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Tim Link: Now, did you find through your research that you mentioned particular breeds and we know for service dogs, certain ones seem to excel, we'll say.

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Tim Link: But what was the factoring as far as not only a particular breed, certain ones can succeed, but are there other individual personalities that we know the animals have that may not even be part of the breed that you were considering?

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Vanessa Woods: So I think two things.

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Vanessa Woods: I actually think that any dog could be a service dog.

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Vanessa Woods: It really does, as you say, depend on the individual.

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Vanessa Woods: I think the reason why canine companions and other service dog organizations use sort of like, you know, labs or lab golden retrievers mix is because it's what people think of is when they think of a service dog.

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Vanessa Woods: And people with disabilities have such a high barrier into entry places anyway.

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Vanessa Woods: Like you don't want them turning up with like, you know, like a dachshund and saying, yes, this is a service dog and, you know, have them be refused entry or all the associated problems that come across with that.

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Vanessa Woods: But having said that, you know, service dogs do need to be a certain size if they're going to turn light switches on and off, if they're going to help you with the laundry, if they're going to pull you in a wheelchair.

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Vanessa Woods: So I think that breed was just kind of like universally settled on because of the perception of what a service dog is and then also what they're able to do.

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Vanessa Woods: But what we've found out with breeds because we have a database of like tens of thousands of dogs in doing this kind of like citizen science project called Dognition, where they actually play the same games and do the same experiments that we do at Duke.

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Vanessa Woods: And what we found was, because there we really have like maybe 30, 40,000 dogs.

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Vanessa Woods: And so we've been able to look at different breeds.

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Vanessa Woods: And what we found is really our main discovery with the puppies is that dogs have multiple intelligences.

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Vanessa Woods: There is not one breed of dog that is smarter than all the other breeds of dogs.

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Vanessa Woods: So different breeds are good at different things.

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Vanessa Woods: And, you know, so I think, for example, just kind of like looking at our data, I think pit bulls were the best at the memory tasks that we were looking at.

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Vanessa Woods: You know, Bernie's mountain dogs are kind of like really high on the communication.

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Vanessa Woods: So it's not like the breeds that you would typically think of as being smart, like border collies, German shepherds, poodles.

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Vanessa Woods: They didn't really sort of like stand out.

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Vanessa Woods: But, you know, the main thing is that there's different kinds of intelligences and, you know, just like people, different dogs is good at different things.

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Vanessa Woods: And, you know, then on top of that, you've got the individual variability.

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Vanessa Woods: So even within a breed, you can have kind of like, you know, genius dogs, as you were, like dogs who were just like good at everything.

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Vanessa Woods: And then you can have, you know, dogs who are not really that great at everything.

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Vanessa Woods: And then you have just like everything in between, right?

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Vanessa Woods: Like, you know, just because you have a good memory doesn't mean you're like a good communicator and vice versa, that kind of thing.

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Vanessa Woods: So yes, that was a long way to say, you're right.

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Tim Link: Hey, as long as you get to the I'm right part, then we're all okay.

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Vanessa Woods: As long as we finish with that, okay.

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Tim Link: That's right, you got that.

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Tim Link: So I love the fact that, because I've always said this too, I mean, even when I reflect to some previous Schnauzers that we had, they're brothers from the same litter.

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Tim Link: oftentimes, people think, well, they got to look alike.

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Tim Link: Well, they didn't.

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Tim Link: They got to act alike.

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Tim Link: They didn't.

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Tim Link: They were very much bonded, for sure.

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Tim Link: One would not go anywhere without the other.

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Tim Link: So they had that good telepathic connection and heart connection that they had.

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Tim Link: But they were totally different personalities, and one was a lot more serious, took things serious as far as watching out for the family, watching out for the door.

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Tim Link: Even though I told him he didn't have to, he could chill out a little bit, you still had that, and the other guy was just very smart, but very funny, go lucky, he went with the flow.

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Tim Link: And so I always told our one dog Woody was like my wife, super smart, focused, ready to go, and the doofus was Buzz, which was me.

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Tim Link: So that worked out well.

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Vanessa Woods: No, and I think that's true of everybody who has more than one dog, is that you really see that even if they look exactly the same, like you get the same dog from the same breed or whatever, they can be completely different, like they're just like people.

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Vanessa Woods: And I think that's really where the science of cognition has been really helpful because studying intelligence instead of just temperament really kind of like just adds a lot to this phenomenon of personality.

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Tim Link: You've been doing this for how many years now?

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Vanessa Woods: So many.

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Vanessa Woods: Many, many, many, many.

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Vanessa Woods: I feel so old just thinking about it, but you know what, it's not as old as Brian, because he's been doing it since he was 19.

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Vanessa Woods: So Brian really was doing this in the 90s.

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Vanessa Woods: So he was at the forefront of this kind of revolution in dog cognition, because before that, scientists didn't really think that dogs had much to offer.

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Vanessa Woods: They were dumbed down because of domestication, they couldn't really survive, they weren't as majestic as a wolf, and there was this kind of concept that domesticated animals were dumber than their wild counterparts.

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Vanessa Woods: But it's not true.

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Vanessa Woods: Dogs have this incredible set of cognitive skills that make them the most successful mammal on the planet besides us.

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Tim Link: There you go.

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Tim Link: I love it.

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Tim Link: Well, I didn't mean to date you there, and I've always say, yeah, I've been doing this since I was two, and then I start to calculate how many years I've been working with animals like, oh, I am getting up there even now if I started too.

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Vanessa Woods: It's okay.

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Vanessa Woods: Our friend Isabella Rossellini, she's always say, I don't mind how old I am.

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Vanessa Woods: I actually like to get older, so I always just look to her for inspiration.

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Tim Link: There you go.

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Tim Link: Well, when doing the research, behind it and putting together the book Puppy Kindergarten, what will the readers gain from the total insider?

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Tim Link: Any aha moments without giving the whole book away, but anything they're like, wow, this is cutting edge or this is something that I've read every puppy book out there from positive training to dominant training to this to that, this particular book Puppy Kindergarten is going to teach me what little tidbit that maybe you don't see anywhere else.

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Vanessa Woods: I think it's that what service dogs have to teach us about raising great dogs and what service dogs have to teach us about this cultural moment that we're in right now, where the role of dogs has just changed so much from what they were before.

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Vanessa Woods: As you say, one of your snorkels was like a guard dog and a protector, even though he didn't have to be, but that's what dogs were.

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Vanessa Woods: And that's what they have been for 14 to 40,000 years.

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Vanessa Woods: Our relationship was built on the fact that they could defend our property and our loved ones and our houses from external threats.

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Vanessa Woods: And we don't need that anymore.

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Vanessa Woods: And as a matter of fact, we don't want that anymore.

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Vanessa Woods: And so now we're changing really fast from all this emphasis on breeds and what a breed is supposed to be and what they're supposed to bring to the table, to this really dramatic shift of like, actually, no, we need a dog who can sit quietly with us in a cafe.

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Vanessa Woods: We want dogs who are going to be kind to children and gentle with the elderly.

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Vanessa Woods: We want a dog who can come with us on family vacations and be with us in our lives in a way that service dogs have been for over a century.

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Vanessa Woods: I mean, they're so ahead of the curve.

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Vanessa Woods: So I think that's really something that's new and surprising to a lot of people, just kind of like identifying number one, that we are in this cultural moment, and then number two, really thinking about what is the kind of dog that we want and how different that is to anything that we've wanted from them before.

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Tim Link: I love it.

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Tim Link: In the book, you do a fantastic job of giving the history of where we were, where we're at, and where we're going.

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Tim Link: The back part of it I loved in particular, the fact that you do give some tidbits on how to pick out the right shampoo or what to look for with various terminologies that we hear out there.

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Tim Link: I applaud you for doing a great job from front to back on the book.

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Vanessa Woods: Well, that was really funny.

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Vanessa Woods: That was actually the pandemic that did that because everyone we know suddenly had a puppy.

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Vanessa Woods: Everyone was writing to us and asking, oh my gosh, what are we doing?

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Vanessa Woods: We're like, well, here's our schedule, and here's our list of supplies.

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Vanessa Woods: We just had so many people going, oh my God, that was so helpful because we used to just throw the puppy outside and just leave them there all day.

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Vanessa Woods: I mean, that's what dogs did, but now it's like, it's a really, I think a lot of people are surprised by how intensive it is.

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Vanessa Woods: And that, you know, as you said, you really need the schedule.

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Vanessa Woods: It's like five-minute play and then followed by 10 minutes of this and then your puppy's going to need a nap.

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Vanessa Woods: It's like, it's, yeah.

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Vanessa Woods: So, so that's why we put that in there because you know, a lot of people found it helpful just to know what they were getting into.

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Vanessa Woods: Yeah.

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Tim Link: Even a section on diarrhea.

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Tim Link: I think that may be a first one and it's so important.

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Vanessa Woods: yes.

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Vanessa Woods: yes.

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Vanessa Woods: Outsized role.

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Tim Link: I love it.

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Tim Link: I love it.

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Tim Link: All right.

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Tim Link: We're going to take a quick commercial break.

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Tim Link: We'll come back and continue our conversation with Vanessa Woods about her book, Puppy Kindergarten, The New Science of Raising a Great Dog.

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Tim Link: Everybody hang tight.

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Tim Link: We'll be back right after this commercial break.

00:16:40.720 --> 00:16:43.300
Tim Link: You're listening to Animal writes on Pet Life Radio.

00:16:49.632 --> 00:16:55.912
Tim Link: Hi, this is Tim Link, animal communicator and pet expert and host of Animal Writes on Pet Life Radio.

00:16:55.912 --> 00:16:58.672
Tim Link: Have you ever wanted to know what your pet is really thinking?

00:16:58.672 --> 00:17:01.872
Tim Link: Do you want to find out if they truly understand what you're trying to tell them?

00:17:01.872 --> 00:17:05.492
Tim Link: Or wish you could build a better understanding and closer relationship with your pet?

00:17:05.492 --> 00:17:06.712
Tim Link: Well, now you can.

00:17:06.712 --> 00:17:10.412
Tim Link: Learning to communicate with animals is a four-part on-demand workshop.

00:17:10.412 --> 00:17:28.352
Tim Link: In the workshop, you'll learn the essential techniques that are necessary to communicate with animals, including what is animal communication, breathing correctly to achieve the perfect state to communicate with your animals at a deeper level, using guided meditation exercises and method to communicate with animals, and how to send and receive information from your animals.

00:17:28.352 --> 00:17:38.712
Tim Link: So, if you're wanting to learn how to communicate and connect with your animals at a deeper level, visit petliferadio.com/workshop and purchase and download Learning to Communicate with Animals.

00:17:38.712 --> 00:17:40.312
Tim Link: You'll be glad you did.

00:17:48.972 --> 00:17:57.652
Tim Link: Welcome back to Animal Writes on Pet Life Radio.

00:17:57.652 --> 00:18:05.732
Tim Link: Continuing our conversation with New York Times best-selling author, Vanessa Woods, and her latest book, Puppy Kindergarten, The Science of Raising a Great Dog.

00:18:06.052 --> 00:18:15.412
Tim Link: So Vanessa, when everybody picks up a copy of the book and they read through it, whether they have a puppy or not, what do you hope the takeaway is from this?

00:18:16.512 --> 00:18:17.272
Tim Link: I'll leave it to that.

00:18:17.272 --> 00:18:20.632
Tim Link: What's the one thing, if you had one message to get across, what would you hope that would be?

00:18:20.632 --> 00:18:32.572
Vanessa Woods: That the minds of dogs are really important and that understanding the way their minds work and the way they understand things and see the world is like one of the best things you can do for your relationship.

00:18:32.572 --> 00:18:33.252
Tim Link: I love it.

00:18:33.252 --> 00:18:33.912
Tim Link: I love it.

00:18:34.012 --> 00:18:35.312
Tim Link: And I think that's very true.

00:18:36.212 --> 00:18:49.072
Tim Link: I complain a lot or stand on my soapbox, rightfully so, that we see, you mentioned the pandemic and even in our neighborhood that we live in, a lot of families did not have dogs until the pandemic hit.

00:18:49.072 --> 00:18:54.412
Tim Link: And they all got dogs and they all kept their dogs and they're out walking their dogs, which is all fantastic.

00:18:54.412 --> 00:19:03.852
Tim Link: But my soapbox is getting the dreaded cell phone out and looking at the phone, reading through the phone, doing the text, whatever, while you're walking your dog.

00:19:03.852 --> 00:19:16.152
Tim Link: And so I think you're missing out on the key point of not only being able to understand what your dog wants and needs, but connecting with them and understanding them from a little bit higher level and a little bit higher mental level.

00:19:16.152 --> 00:19:23.592
Vanessa Woods: Well, in the book, we really tried to explain the games that we were playing in a way that even like a fourth grader could do them.

00:19:23.592 --> 00:19:24.732
Vanessa Woods: And it's not complicated.

00:19:24.732 --> 00:19:27.112
Vanessa Woods: They're like cups and some boxes.

00:19:27.112 --> 00:19:31.692
Vanessa Woods: But there's one game that's my favorite, and it's called The Impossible Task.

00:19:31.692 --> 00:19:42.392
Vanessa Woods: And what you do is you just lock a treat in one of those snap lock containers, you know, the snap lock one, the rubber, and then you just see what your puppy does or what your dog does.

00:19:43.272 --> 00:19:48.952
Vanessa Woods: And some dogs will just really try and open up by themselves.

00:19:48.952 --> 00:19:54.032
Vanessa Woods: They're very wolf-like, like the military dogs we work with, they're like really self starters.

00:19:54.032 --> 00:20:04.712
Vanessa Woods: And then some dogs will just look at you, like stare at you as in, hey human, you with the opposable thumbs, open this for me.

00:20:05.692 --> 00:20:12.572
Vanessa Woods: And number one, it's like really fun just to see what your dog is and how they solve problems.

00:20:12.572 --> 00:20:14.192
Vanessa Woods: Like are they independent problem solver?

00:20:14.192 --> 00:20:15.852
Vanessa Woods: Are they gonna ask you for help?

00:20:15.852 --> 00:20:25.132
Vanessa Woods: And the second thing is that when we played this game with puppies, once every two weeks for five minutes, it doubled the amount of eye contact they make.

00:20:25.132 --> 00:20:30.412
Vanessa Woods: And of course eye contact is really important for bonding, basically.

00:20:30.632 --> 00:20:35.932
Vanessa Woods: It's what our little babies use when they're awful and they don't do anything but cry.

00:20:35.932 --> 00:20:45.212
Vanessa Woods: And the way they elicit kind of like love and attention is they just make eye contact with you and it makes your eye contact go up, sorry, your oxytocin go up and your baby's oxytocin go up.

00:20:45.212 --> 00:20:50.512
Vanessa Woods: And dogs have managed to hijack this oxytocin bonding pathway.

00:20:50.512 --> 00:21:00.432
Vanessa Woods: And so when your puppy is staring at you and you're staring at your puppy or your dog, like the oxytocin of both of you goes up and it just makes you feel loving and loved.

00:21:00.432 --> 00:21:08.272
Vanessa Woods: And so, you know, I think that if people are going to play one game with their dogs, I think that that one is a really important one.

00:21:08.272 --> 00:21:08.832
Tim Link: I love it.

00:21:08.832 --> 00:21:17.712
Tim Link: You know, and that's such a, when you peel back the onion sort of thing, it's so simple, you know, I can't count how many toys and games I have in this house.

00:21:17.712 --> 00:21:24.672
Tim Link: I am that pet parent, I will say that, especially when I used to travel all the time internationally, I always bring back, you know, two or three toys.

00:21:24.792 --> 00:21:27.612
Tim Link: And so we've got them laying everywhere in the house.

00:21:27.612 --> 00:21:36.032
Tim Link: But a simple game, take a treat, hide it in a container in this case, make contact, play for five minutes.

00:21:36.032 --> 00:21:37.632
Tim Link: It makes the world of difference.

00:21:37.632 --> 00:21:40.512
Tim Link: You can connect it with your animals in a much deeper level.

00:21:40.512 --> 00:21:42.252
Vanessa Woods: Yeah, no, and it's just like kids, right?

00:21:42.252 --> 00:21:45.372
Vanessa Woods: I mean, yeah, you can hang out with your kids while you're on your cell phone.

00:21:45.372 --> 00:21:47.792
Vanessa Woods: But I mean, they want to play with you.

00:21:47.792 --> 00:21:53.852
Vanessa Woods: Like they want to do something with you, and it doesn't have to be expensive, and it doesn't have to be complicated.

00:21:53.992 --> 00:22:11.092
Vanessa Woods: But I think, you know, pet owners, you know, that's why Dogmission was so successful, is because it was a new way to play with their dogs, like engaging with them and asking them to make choices that allowed dog owners to kind of, you know, see how their dog thought and understood the world.

00:22:11.092 --> 00:22:16.212
Vanessa Woods: And that's not something you can do just by kind of, you know, watching them run around.

00:22:16.212 --> 00:22:19.872
Vanessa Woods: I mean, you have to ask them questions and, you know, they got to make choices.

00:22:19.872 --> 00:22:20.392
Tim Link: I love it.

00:22:20.392 --> 00:22:20.832
Tim Link: I love it.

00:22:20.832 --> 00:22:27.832
Tim Link: And everybody can learn all about this when they pick up a copy of Puppy Kindergarten, the new science of raising a great dog.

00:22:27.832 --> 00:22:36.452
Tim Link: So now, Vanessa, we know you're a world class journalist and top notch, best selling author and have this latest wonderful book out.

00:22:36.452 --> 00:22:41.692
Tim Link: So we've got to pick your brain a little bit about writing in general, your techniques, what's your methods?

00:22:41.692 --> 00:22:42.992
Tim Link: Are you a 5 a.m.

00:22:42.992 --> 00:22:49.212
Tim Link: every morning, 5,000 word person, or are you like me and you got a week till deadline, you got to get something out?

00:22:49.212 --> 00:22:51.152
Vanessa Woods: You know, that's funny because you're such a great writer.

00:22:51.152 --> 00:22:55.572
Vanessa Woods: I wouldn't have thought you were like a crush to the deadline and you're also so prolific.

00:22:55.572 --> 00:23:01.972
Vanessa Woods: I wouldn't have thought that you would have had, I would have thought you'd have to be writing all the time.

00:23:01.972 --> 00:23:05.512
Tim Link: Well, thank you for, mind me to put the check in the mail to you.

00:23:07.792 --> 00:23:12.692
Vanessa Woods: But for us, I'm just like a consistent writer.

00:23:12.692 --> 00:23:13.852
Vanessa Woods: I write every day when I can.

00:23:13.852 --> 00:23:23.012
Vanessa Woods: I mean, I'm running the Puppy Kindergarten, I've got two kids, everybody's got their schedule, so it's just kind of like a really write when you can kind of thing.

00:23:23.012 --> 00:23:26.152
Vanessa Woods: I sit down, you got 30 minutes, you smash it all out and stuff like that.

00:23:26.152 --> 00:23:32.952
Vanessa Woods: Then Brian and I write together, and we'll just be emailing each other while we're sitting next to each other.

00:23:35.992 --> 00:23:41.572
Vanessa Woods: It's much better if it's just emailing back and forth, so yeah, that's how we do it.

00:23:41.572 --> 00:23:57.832
Vanessa Woods: But I mean, writing about puppies is just such a joy because you just remember all the funny things they did and the different puppies, and the ones who were like crazy genius puppies, and the ones who were really struggling with tests that were developed for pigeons.

00:23:57.832 --> 00:24:01.952
Vanessa Woods: So I mean, and then everything in between.

00:24:01.952 --> 00:24:04.752
Vanessa Woods: So yeah, this book was a joy to write.

00:24:04.752 --> 00:24:05.592
Tim Link: That's great.

00:24:05.592 --> 00:24:07.332
Tim Link: yes, they are just the idea.

00:24:07.332 --> 00:24:10.452
Tim Link: I mean, dogs in general, I get a kick out of them every day.

00:24:10.452 --> 00:24:17.112
Tim Link: One of my Schnauzers is 12, and she just constantly surprises me every day on the fun and active things.

00:24:17.112 --> 00:24:18.352
Tim Link: She brings fun to the table.

00:24:18.452 --> 00:24:19.332
Tim Link: That's her role.

00:24:19.332 --> 00:24:25.452
Tim Link: That's what she chose to do, and it's constant fun time, play time with her.

00:24:25.452 --> 00:24:34.152
Tim Link: It makes me reflect back to those puppy days when we first started this journey together, what we did and what we wished I would have done even better.

00:24:34.152 --> 00:24:38.052
Tim Link: It's a learning process as we go along, so it is a joy.

00:24:38.052 --> 00:24:48.092
Tim Link: Well, I think you and Brian probably need to play the hide the treat in the container game, so you can leave still five minutes together instead of emailing each other, or back setting next to each other.

00:24:49.812 --> 00:24:51.372
Tim Link: I think that's the key.

00:24:51.372 --> 00:24:52.252
Tim Link: Well, it's good.

00:24:52.252 --> 00:25:04.512
Tim Link: That's very helpful from a writing standpoint, because obviously I've been doing this show for quite a while, and I know a lot of great writers and authors that write at various platforms, and everyone has their own unique take on it.

00:25:04.512 --> 00:25:13.692
Tim Link: That's why I try to bring to the listeners the fact that you can be that 5 AM every morning, 5,000 word per author and writer.

00:25:13.692 --> 00:25:17.632
Tim Link: You can be the last-minute person, you can be still whatever amount of time you can.

00:25:17.632 --> 00:25:29.032
Tim Link: The fact is, you have such a busy schedule, obviously, and family life and work life and job life, all of this, but still managed to put together a world-class book, and I applaud you for that.

00:25:29.032 --> 00:25:30.672
Vanessa Woods: Well, thanks so much.

00:25:30.672 --> 00:25:32.292
Tim Link: Yeah.

00:25:32.292 --> 00:25:32.812
Tim Link: I love it.

00:25:32.812 --> 00:25:39.192
Tim Link: Everybody pick up a copy of the book, whether you have a puppy or not, whether puppy is going to be coming in your life, which probably will.

00:25:39.192 --> 00:25:41.212
Tim Link: If you love animals, they're going to be coming.

00:25:41.212 --> 00:25:46.612
Tim Link: But learn a little bit about the background, the science and everything and some new techniques.

00:25:46.612 --> 00:25:47.452
Tim Link: Pick up a copy of the book.

00:25:47.452 --> 00:25:51.372
Tim Link: It's called Puppy Kindergarten, The New Science of Raising a Great Dog.

00:25:51.372 --> 00:25:53.152
Tim Link: Brian Hare and of course, Vanessa Woods.

00:25:53.152 --> 00:25:55.712
Tim Link: Vanessa, thank you so much for coming on the show.

00:25:55.712 --> 00:25:57.852
Tim Link: It is a pleasure indeed.

00:25:57.852 --> 00:26:02.052
Tim Link: I love the book, love what you do, love what you do over at Duke.

00:26:02.052 --> 00:26:03.812
Tim Link: So just keep up the great work.

00:26:03.812 --> 00:26:04.412
Vanessa Woods: Thanks so much.

00:26:04.412 --> 00:26:06.372
Vanessa Woods: It was so fun to be on the show.

00:26:06.372 --> 00:26:07.472
Tim Link: My pleasure.

00:26:07.472 --> 00:26:09.552
Tim Link: Well, we're coming to the end of the show today.

00:26:09.552 --> 00:26:13.092
Tim Link: I want to thank everyone for listening to Animal writes on Pet Life Radio.

00:26:13.212 --> 00:26:17.112
Tim Link: I want to thank the producers and sponsors for making this show possible.

00:26:17.112 --> 00:26:22.392
Tim Link: If you have any ideas, comments, or want to suggest people to come on the show, drop us a line.

00:26:22.392 --> 00:26:29.572
Tim Link: Go to petliferadio.com and we'll entertain your comments, answer your questions, and bring on the people you want to hear from most.

00:26:29.572 --> 00:26:32.392
Tim Link: And while you're there, check out all the other wonderful, great shows.

00:26:32.392 --> 00:26:37.392
Tim Link: It's a cornucopia of barking, furry, feathered, finned fun.

00:26:37.392 --> 00:26:38.652
Tim Link: It's petliferadio.com.

00:26:39.312 --> 00:26:46.492
Tim Link: So until next time, write a great story about the animals in your life, and who knows, you may be the next guest on Animal Writes on Pet Life Radio.

00:26:46.492 --> 00:26:47.872
Tim Link: Have a great day.

00:26:47.872 --> 00:26:49.212
Announcer: Let's talk pets.

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Announcer: Every week on demand.

00:26:51.232 --> 00:26:52.952
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  Vanessa Woods

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