Customer Reviews

Adam's Task: Calling Animals by Name

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This is one of my favorite books of all time.

Vicki Hearne - animal trainer, poet, and philosopher - talks about her relationship with the working animals she trains. She presents her philosophies by illustrating them with stories of animals she has trained.

If you have deep respect for animal intelligence, this book will confirm and deepen your beliefs.

Training, she says, is the creation of a shared language. But language has many ambiguities. For example, trainers haven't a clue what the world smells like to a dog, for whom "scenting" is a primary sense. Yet humans and dogs can learn to work together across the gap of their differences by coming to share the vocabulary of trained scent work.

Animal training, says Hearne, is as challenging for the trainer as it is for the animal. Trainers must learn humility, and learn to communicate in new ways. For example, horses take in information through touch and are extremely sensitive to the motions of the rider. Once a trainer comes to understand this (and other things about horses), she or he can begin to understand the way a horse understands its world and its self.

Of course I don't do justice to the book by summarizing a few of its philosophical points! Hearne writes gracefully, and shows a great mastery of a variety of disciplines - psychology, philosophy, literature, animal training. Her anecdotes make the philosophy much easier to understand, and the philosophy makes the implications of the anecdotes much richer.

Re: the "near drowning" of the hole-digging dog, here's how Vicki describes it: "I put Salty's head in the Hole. She emerges quite quickly (she's a very strong, agile dog)." This is not waterboarding; it's getting the dog's attention. I would not try this method myself, as I am not a trainer. (Vicki warns us we "can't work a dog" from her writings.) Neither would I let this description turn me away from a wise, courageous and ultimately compassionate book about intraspecies communication.

As an ex-vet. tech., I've seen what happens when people and animals don't talk the same language: the animals suffer. When they inconvenience their "loving" owners enough, the animals die. Chapter 8, "The Sound of Kindness," should be required reading for all pet owners.

Other parts of this book soar and inspire with their deep respect for what the relationship between humans and animals should be. It is because of this that we must take responsibility for what we do to and with companion animals. As Henry Beston had it, "They are not bretheren, they are not underlings; they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time, fellow prisoners in the splendor and travail of the earth."

Vicki Hearne re-trains "bad" animals - mostly dogs and horses. She's also a university prof. What I got from this book was an understanding of the interaction between communication and discipline when working with dogs, horses and cats (!). I read this book years ago, before I had children - in rereading it recently, I was struck by how useful the author's ideas were in understanding how to communicate with and learn discipline with my kids. My favorite chapter is about how cats contribute to the household enterprise

Vicki Hearne looked at animals in a way few humans do. With careful thought, deep consideration and the willingness to ask a question... and listen for the answer.

Although some are quick to discount this book because of some tangential thoughts and what would, in today's age of positive-reinforcement-is-the-norm training methods, be considered "barbaric" training methods, don't let the reviews turn you away. An individual who reads their own emotions into Vicki's brutally honest accounts of her training experiences is being unfair.

Vicki's thought-provoking book about what really constitutes language, communication, society and community in the context of our lives with animals is a graceful exploration of the unanswered questions in one woman's life.

All one must do to train an animal, or train onesself, is to say what you mean, and mean what you say. Vicki deserves a commendation on her composition if for no other reason than she boldly asserts her experiences because they are true, and she means every word she says to any person or animal. That is true respect, regardless of the methods used.

Vicki Hearne is both an animal trainer and an assistant professor of philosophy at Yale. With these two qualifications, she addresses the relationship humans have with "dumb" domestic animals, primarily dogs, horses and cats. he book is exquisite, and confirms what we already "know, that animals can think, feel, respond, and--in a sense--make decisions about how to respond to humans. She proves the intelligence of the horse trainer who admitted there were truly "crazy" horses whose indsanity justified their destrucrtion, but that if any trainer had experienced more than one such horse, the trainer should be put to sleep instead. The chapter on cats is a little fuzzy, but the rest is five-star.

In Donald McCaig's new introduction to this wonderful book, he tells of his reaction to first reading Vicki Hearne's writing: "I felt like some homesick exile startled by a voice singing brilliantly in my native tongue." What an apt description! Hearne's writing style is as unique and refreshing as her perspective on animal training. This book is a luminous mingling of literary criticism, science, philosophy, and animal psychology-- a real treat to read.

If you are interested in exploring deeply the underpinnings of our attempts to share meaningful relationships with animals, don't let the previous negative reviews dissuade you from reading this beautiful book. If you personally have a deep relationship with an animal or animals, you know what she says is true.

For those who don't have such relationships, in particular the aforementioned reviewers, let me just say that you are welcome to persist in your positivist, reductionist, rationalist, anthropocentric world view. Just don't presume to speak for the rest of us who see a bit beyond it, or deny the existence of that which you cannot experience or understand.

Adam'Task was one of the first books I purchased in my quest to understand how best to communicate with and instill safe, acceptable behaviors in a dog I rescued in the Hawaiian Islands and brought home to the West Coast.

The author's poetic way with words and nice prose should not lull readers into using cruel tactics to teach their companion animals.

This book stirred misgivings in me, and it should in you. I assume most readers agree (at least I hope they do) that cruelty to an animal, especially a beloved companion animal, is inexcusable.

The author describes with humor how to train a dog not to dig holes in her garden....by shoving her dog's head into a hole full of muddy water, nearly drowning the dog. This is only one example. And it should serve as a red flag to the reader, no matter how prettily the author uses words.

This example of how to teach a dog not to dig holes is not communication or training by a person who respects how animals feel (I hope most readers agree animals have feelings). This is cruelty by a bully.

If I had been Hearn's dog in that situation, I would have bitten her....hard....and would probably have paid with my life.

There are a great many books by other authors, who write about animals' emotions.

I recommend the following authors because they write with deep respect for the animals they observe and communicate with and train and because they give concrete examples of how to teach your companion animal acceptable behaviors without resorting to abuse and bullying tactics:

Marc Bekoff and Jane Goodall, THE EMOTIONAL LIVES OF ANIMALS: a LEADING SCIENTIST EXPLORES ANIMAL JOY, SORROW, & EMPATHY - AND WHY THEY MATTER;

Patricia B. McConnell, FOR THE LOVE OF A DOG: UNDERSTANDING EMOTION IN YOU AND YOUR BEST FRIEND;

Trish King, PARENTING YOUR DOG;

Suzanne Clothier, IF A DOG'S PRAYERS WERE ANSWERED, BONES WOULD RAIN FROM THE SKY;

Stanley Coren, HOW DOGS THINK

Brenda Aloff, CANINE BODY LANGUAGE: INTERPRETING THE NATIVE LANGUAGE OF THE DOMESTIC DOG.

Not only is this an enjoyable, life-affirming, and ultimately truthful book in every sentence written, it is also one of the most important books of the 20th and (so far) the 21st centuries. In this age, where we have become so far removed from Nature and are only just beginning to see the consequences of our actions regarding Nature, this book brings us back to the truth of the animal part of Natural Law.
The sections regarding the American Pitbull Terrier are particularly pertinent and telling.

I first read this book when it was initially published, and have reread it many times. It's one of my favorite books. Like many reviewers, I was initially put off by the complex language of this book, but I was also entranced by how Hearne applied complex philosophical ideas to the practical situation of dog training. For the reviewers who find her methods cruel - she spoke of this reaction with the sections on "humaniacs"! I have also found it instructive to compare this book to the TV show "Dog Whisperer." I think Cesar Milan demonstrates the same approach to dog training as Hearne, but without the high falutin' verbiage.