I recently interviewed an author about a book she wrote—a book about one particular dog and a book about training dogs in general. It’s already won one of dog writing’s most prestigious honors, and anyone who likes dogs will find it instructive and entertaining.
Dale Ward is the author. She answered my questions about the dog and about the book.
You wrote a book! Have you written a book before?
No, this is my first book! I have written a lot in my past, given my educational background—articles and essays mostly—but I never dreamt that someday I would write a book. It always seemed like a lofty goal, but now it’s a reality!
Tell us what the book is about.
The book is about my dog, the Wylie One of Highbridge, a beautiful black Labrador retriever, and me, her human, and our escapades and antics. I wasn’t a dog trainer when I got Wylie, and I had to learn how to train a puppy through trial and error, making mistakes along the way, figuring things out as situations and problems arose. This book is unique in its structure. There are so many dog-training books out there, all attempting to give owners advice. Some are great, but many of them make for dry reading for the average dog owner. Let’s face it, a “how to” manual on any subject is not that engaging. My book combines a dog-training manual with a memoir full of funny, touching stories. Following each story chapter, I include solid training advice on how to address the issues in that particular tale. The reader gets to enjoy both. This book is entertaining: funny, touching, poignant. It’s informative: practical, detailed, full of tips and instructions.
The book recently won Dog Writers Association of America (DWAA) 2020 writing competition in the category of best Book—Human/Animal Bond.
What made you decide that it was time to write a book?
I had been thinking about it for the last few years of Wylie’s life. I wanted to honor her by telling her story. As a dog trainer, I saw many of my clients struggle with the same things, trying to manage large, enthusiastic dogs. I came up with the idea of combining a memoir with instruction on how to manage and train certain behaviors that we humans find problematic. I thought it would be useful to dog owners—to know that they were not alone in their struggles, and that there was solid, practical advice and techniques that could help them. A few years after Wylie was gone, I decided it was time to tackle writing the book.
How long did it take to finish the manuscript?
Phew! About five years total, from conception to publication. The day after Wylie died, I sat down and hand-wrote page after page of notes on what happened during her last days. It was such a traumatic experience for me, I knew I wouldn’t be able to remember details later, so I wrote down everything I could think of, page after page. I stashed it all away for about a year. It was just too painful to work on. I started by writing the training chapters. They were easier emotionally than the story, of course. Slowly, I started writing our story. I wrote the chapter entitled The End last. It was the most difficult because I had to relive the events over and over as I wrote and edited. It took up a lot of emotional and mental energy.
What happened next in the process of getting the book published?
Writing the book was one thing, getting it ready for publication was another. I wanted to publish paperback and eBook versions simultaneously. I researched many methods and companies before settling on my chosen ones. I hired a book-cover designer and we worked together to produce the version you see today. I also had to find an editor, a proofreader, and a book designer. Working in concert with this talented team, I finalized the manuscript and ensured that it was publication ready. I researched the best route to publication for my needs and selected Ingramspark as my printer/distributor. I also had to deal with myriad associated entities—including the Library of Congress, Bowker (to get ISBNs and bar codes), the U.S. Copyright Office (to file copyright)—and tackled many more small but important hurdles. This administrative part of publishing took about nine months in total.
What makes your book different from all the other dog-training manuals?
I know there are many training books out there, all attempting to give owners advice. Some are great, but many of them, as I said, make for dry reading for the average dog owner. I believe my book is the first to incorporate real-life stories with actual training advice. It makes the book very relatable!
How did you come to enter the DWAA contest and what was your reaction to the win?
One evening last fall, I got a call from a stranger who said that she had just finished reading my book and loved it. She asked if I had considered entering it in the Dog Writers Association of America annual competition. I didn’t even know that such an organization or competition existed, so of course I said no. She had been a judge in the past and she encouraged me to submit, so I did. I never dreamed I would win. I was surprised when I received a certificate of nomination in the mail a few months later. I had made the finals! Winners were announced in February, online instead of at the usual banquet because of COVID. When my category, Book—Human/Animal Bond, came up and they announced my name, I was so happy. I felt like I had achieved my goal of honoring Wylie and sharing her with the world.
Photo by Dale Ward
Tell us specifically about Wylie—an incident that’s included in the book?
One of my favorite chapters in the book is called “Wylie the Kleptomaniac.” As you can probably deduce from the title, it’s full of stories about Wylie stealing things. Like all puppies, Wylie put many, many things in her mouth that we deemed inappropriate. (They were all treasures to her, though.) Occasionally, it would be something dangerous, so we would chase her to take it from her, in a state of panic. This taught Wylie that if she stole something, we obviously wanted to engage in a game of chase-me-chase-me-catch-me-if-you-can.
One cold winter day, we had just finished a snowshoe walk in our back woods. I had bought new, expensive snowshoes for us as an early Christmas gift. We took our snowshoes off, stuffed them into a snowbank, and chatted outside. Out of the corner of my eye, I spied a black blotch way down the driveway. It was Wylie, standing proud, with one of my snowshoes in her mouth. She had it by the straps. Oh, no! How on earth was I going to get it back without her chomping right through the bindings? I knew we would never catch her. Instead of chasing her, I had someone call her name and run away from her, in the opposite direction. Well, she just couldn’t resist the chance to chase and play, so she dropped the snowshoe and was in hot pursuit in an instant. I ran over and recovered my snowshoe. No harm done.
Tell us another story about Wylie that’s not included in the book
We were in the process of moving from Wisconsin to Virginia and took several trips east to house hunt. Wylie, of course, came with us. She was a great traveler. All that car training really paid off! One of my husband’s coworkers asked us over for dinner one night. Wylie loved everyone and was happy to meet new people. She was still young, so we supervised her very carefully while we visited, then put her in her traveling crate next to the table while we all ate dinner. When the lovely evening was over, we returned to our hotel for the night.
We were watching television when Wylie got up and started to heave. Oh, oh! She threw up her entire dinner, plus a big blob of something unidentifiable. What the heck was that? Of course, me being me, I had to know what it was. I went outside and found a stick so I could poke it. It turned out to be a long black knee sock and a piece of colorful plastic. Somehow, during my diligent supervision (obviously not diligent enough), she’d managed to find a sock and swallow it, along with a piece of dog toy that she had chewed up. I was so relieved that she expelled it, and I learned yet another lesson. Wylie was stealthy and she was fast. Clever girl!
Photo by Dale Ward
Dale M. Ward, BAHon, MA—Born and raised in Ottawa, Canada, Dale earned BA Honors and Master’s degrees from Carleton University. She spent the next ten years in the corporate world as an information-technology consultant where she gained extensive experience in teaching and training adults.
After moving to the U.S. in 2002, Dale shifted her focus to working with dogs. She completed her academic training and then sought ways to gain practical, hands-on experience with dogs in multiple environments, including dog boarding facilities, dog grooming, and an AAHA-accredited veterinary hospital [American Animal Hospital Association]. Dale was Head Volunteer Trainer for over four years at Portsmouth Humane Society (PHS) in Portsmouth, Virginia, an open-admission shelter, where she designed and implemented training programs that demonstrated an incredible increase in the adoption rate. Dale trained over 400 PHS volunteers in basic canine handling and training skills and implemented a successful program to reduce kennel stress.
Dale now has almost 15 years’ worth of education and experience in the dog-training field. She is a Certified Professional Dog Trainer and a graduate of Animal Behavior College (ABC), a certified/licensed Victoria Stilwell Positively Dog Trainer (VSPDT), a member in good standing of the Pet Professional Guild (PPG), a supporting member of the International Association of Animal Behavior Consultants (IAABC), a Certified Fear Free Professional Dog Trainer and Veterinary Professional, a Certified Animal Trainer under ICAN (International Companion Animal Network) and is also certified in Canine First Aid and CPR by the American Red Cross.
Dale opened Dale’s Dog Training Academy LLC in 2007 and offers online dog-training and behavior consultations. She is a contributor to the Positively Expert Blog on Positively.com and is a noted presenter on a variety of topics, including Volunteering in a Shelter: Win/Win/Win, Setting Up a Bark Free Shelter Volunteer Program, So You Adopted A Dog, Canine Body Language, and more.
Websites
For the book:
http://www.worstdogever.com/
For dog-training services:
http://www.daleward.positively.com/
Where to Buy
At Amazon, Dogwise, or wherever books are sold online. Here is the Amazon link:
Social Media
https://www.instagram.com/the_worst_dog_ever/
https://www.instagram.com/daletrainsdogs_/
https://www.facebook.com/TheWorstDogEver/
https://www.facebook.com/DaleTrainsDogs/
