What do you think?
Rate this book
Follow My Lead: What Training My Dogs Taught Me about Life, Love, and Happiness
Follow My Lead is the story of how two rambunctious dogs and a tough Eastern European dog trainer named Irina taught Carol Quinn everything she needed to know about life, love, and happiness. It all begins when the author—unhappy with her failing love affair, her career, and even herself—decides to enroll her two Rhodesian ridgebacks into dog agility training. She's hoping to both find a hobby and straighten out her unruly pets, but she soon discovers that dog agility demands more from her than she ever expected. What follows is a life-changing experience: one that teaches her not only about her dogs but also about herself. With Irina’s guidance and wisdom, Quinn and her dogs develop a deep bond of trust as they learn to navigate the course obstacles, and Quinn begins to accept her own flaws, allowing her to find the inner strength to become the “alpha dog” of her own life.
256 pages, Paperback
First published July 26, 2011
6 people are currently reading
171 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 11, 2011
Really terrific memoir, which blends the sport of dog agility with the author's growing self-awareness. She does a masterful job of writing a memoir and talking about how agility plays into her life (and her dogs' life) so well.
September 28, 2011
If you love dogs, you will enjoy this book. Gave me more insight to my dogs and I also realized the truth of the similarity between dogs and people. I had not thought of this perspective before and enjoyed making the connections. Food for thought -- Remember the treats (rewards) needed for happy relationships.
June 18, 2012
It was okay. I couldn't help but feel that the author was a bit of a doormat, which was particularly surprising in a woman who could successfully train two hounds (notoriously difficult to train) so effectively. I am glad she found some closure in her life, but I have to say that I was more interested in her process of training her two ridgebacks to perform in agility. I have considered doing agility with my dog, but have been resistant as she (like most Ridgebacks) is not all that reliably obedient. Instead, this book was more about her loser boyfriend and autocratic, tyrant-style agility coach. I wonder what THEY thought when they read this book, as they certainly were not presented in very favorable ways.
February 2, 2012
Great book! What a well-written, thought-provoking, insightful work linking learning life's lessons and relating them to understanding and training one's dogs (and one's self)! Full of quotable wisdom, as well as entertaining, anecdotal asides. I thoroughly enjoyed it and will be keeping it close at hand for reference!
September 13, 2011
This was a wonderful book. Was very inspirational and well written. I will defiantly be keeping my eyes out for further books written by Carol Quinn, and will also be checking out her other titles.
June 17, 2017
A really amazing book! Great advice and outlook on dogs and life. Written well and describes dogs' personalities beautifully. Definitely recommend.
September 2, 2011
Carol Quinn has two large, energetic, complicated dogs, a difficult boyfriend, and The Dog Trainer From Heck. That last is my opinion, not hers. This book is her memoir of how training her Ridgebacks, Nairobi and, eventually, Sheila, helps her to get to know herself better. She learns to appreciate her own good qualities, value her successes, respect her own way of working, and forgive herself for her imperfections.
Quinn was a divorced mother of two children when she got her first Rhodesian Ridgeback, Blue. Blue became a treasured member of their family, and a special support for the younger and shyer of her two sons. When Blue died at age four, they all agreed that when they were ready for another dog, it would be another Ridgeback.
That dog was Nairobi, who was joined in a couple of years by Sheila.
Quinn herself is pretty much an emotional basket case. Raised in a family the demanded perfection, she’s painfully aware that she’s no perfect, and feels inadequate because of that, despite a successful career as an advertising art director. Happiness doesn’t even occur to her as a goal. Sheila is also a wreck: scared of everything, dog-aggressive, and in serious need of rehabilitation. Nairobi, on the other hand, is a happy, bouncy, friendly, enthusiastic 85-pound dog who desperately needs to learn better manners than Carol finds acceptable in her own home.
Nairobi and Sheila’s breeder wants Carol to show Nairobi, and she signs up for a ring handling class, which doesn’t go well, because Nairobi is determined to play with everyone. She shows him once anyway, and that goes badly, too, for the same reason.
So she changes course, and signs up for a dog agility course instead.
The trainer is Irina, an Eastern European immigrant, a star agility competitor, a woman totally in tune with dogs—and not much interested in human beings. She’s judgmental, authoritarian, the sole possessor of The One True Way, and forbids conversation amongst the dog owners in her classes, even to the extent of chewing someone out for the crime of saying something nice to another class member about their successful run with their dog.
As Irina and Carol become what Carol considers “friends,” Irina doesn’t hesitate to tell her how to live her life. And in fairness, it has to be said that much of her advice is good. Carol is twisting herself into a pretzel trying to maintain a successful relationship with her boyfriend (and eventual fiancé) Henry. He’s intelligent, often charming, but emotionally cold, and not really interested in putting himself out for anyone. All “compromises” have to be Carol’s—and when she does what he wants, he takes it for granted.
Irina is at least being demanding and domineering mostly on behalf of the dogs. And as Carol gets more in tune with her dogs, she gets more in tune with herself, and starts to believe she deserves happiness. She starts to recognize her own strengths, her own personality, and develop a backbone. She starts to ask whether what she’s doing in her personal life (Henry) is healthy for her, and if there’s a better, less stressful way to work together with her professional colleagues.
This is the real heart of the book, as Carol learns to understand her dogs, learns to understand herself, and makes a better life for all of them.
I have mixed feelings about Follow My Lead, but it’s worth reading and there’s something to learn here.
I received a free copy of this book for review from the publisher.
Quinn was a divorced mother of two children when she got her first Rhodesian Ridgeback, Blue. Blue became a treasured member of their family, and a special support for the younger and shyer of her two sons. When Blue died at age four, they all agreed that when they were ready for another dog, it would be another Ridgeback.
That dog was Nairobi, who was joined in a couple of years by Sheila.
Quinn herself is pretty much an emotional basket case. Raised in a family the demanded perfection, she’s painfully aware that she’s no perfect, and feels inadequate because of that, despite a successful career as an advertising art director. Happiness doesn’t even occur to her as a goal. Sheila is also a wreck: scared of everything, dog-aggressive, and in serious need of rehabilitation. Nairobi, on the other hand, is a happy, bouncy, friendly, enthusiastic 85-pound dog who desperately needs to learn better manners than Carol finds acceptable in her own home.
Nairobi and Sheila’s breeder wants Carol to show Nairobi, and she signs up for a ring handling class, which doesn’t go well, because Nairobi is determined to play with everyone. She shows him once anyway, and that goes badly, too, for the same reason.
So she changes course, and signs up for a dog agility course instead.
The trainer is Irina, an Eastern European immigrant, a star agility competitor, a woman totally in tune with dogs—and not much interested in human beings. She’s judgmental, authoritarian, the sole possessor of The One True Way, and forbids conversation amongst the dog owners in her classes, even to the extent of chewing someone out for the crime of saying something nice to another class member about their successful run with their dog.
As Irina and Carol become what Carol considers “friends,” Irina doesn’t hesitate to tell her how to live her life. And in fairness, it has to be said that much of her advice is good. Carol is twisting herself into a pretzel trying to maintain a successful relationship with her boyfriend (and eventual fiancé) Henry. He’s intelligent, often charming, but emotionally cold, and not really interested in putting himself out for anyone. All “compromises” have to be Carol’s—and when she does what he wants, he takes it for granted.
Irina is at least being demanding and domineering mostly on behalf of the dogs. And as Carol gets more in tune with her dogs, she gets more in tune with herself, and starts to believe she deserves happiness. She starts to recognize her own strengths, her own personality, and develop a backbone. She starts to ask whether what she’s doing in her personal life (Henry) is healthy for her, and if there’s a better, less stressful way to work together with her professional colleagues.
This is the real heart of the book, as Carol learns to understand her dogs, learns to understand herself, and makes a better life for all of them.
I have mixed feelings about Follow My Lead, but it’s worth reading and there’s something to learn here.
I received a free copy of this book for review from the publisher.
October 15, 2011
A cute, quick read. The structure of the chapters was kind of jarring at first; each chapter has lots of little sub-chapters that didn't always flow smoothly. I felt like it was part memoir, part animal behavior discussion, and part dog agility 101. Each was interesting, but I think they could have been combined more seamlessly.
Quinn is immensely likeable, though, and that shone through every page. She's one of those people who is so devoted to her dogs, leans on them in hard times, works her butt off for (and with) them, and her love for them was palpable. She did a good job explaining how her dogs changed her outlook and philosophy on various facets of her life, which was nice. I was also glad the ending wasn't A) cheesy, or B) horrifically sad. She wrapped it up very well, I thought.
Overall, though, the jarring effect of lots of little paragraphs really bothered me. It was a good read, though, and perhaps you'll like it better than I did. I wish she had focused more on her life with the dogs; the parts where she talked about Nariobi and Sheila's bedtime routine made me laugh out loud - she painted such a vivid picture of them! If she wrote a book about her trials and travails (on a daily basis, not just in regards to agility training) with the Ridgebacks, I would absolutely read it (hint, hint Carol!).
Quinn is immensely likeable, though, and that shone through every page. She's one of those people who is so devoted to her dogs, leans on them in hard times, works her butt off for (and with) them, and her love for them was palpable. She did a good job explaining how her dogs changed her outlook and philosophy on various facets of her life, which was nice. I was also glad the ending wasn't A) cheesy, or B) horrifically sad. She wrapped it up very well, I thought.
Overall, though, the jarring effect of lots of little paragraphs really bothered me. It was a good read, though, and perhaps you'll like it better than I did. I wish she had focused more on her life with the dogs; the parts where she talked about Nariobi and Sheila's bedtime routine made me laugh out loud - she painted such a vivid picture of them! If she wrote a book about her trials and travails (on a daily basis, not just in regards to agility training) with the Ridgebacks, I would absolutely read it (hint, hint Carol!).
February 5, 2012
I was expecting more info on dog training, but the only thing she says about that specifically is to discuss how one must give a dog a reward--usually treats--to train it to do something. She talks a lot about her dog agility class/training, but mostly in terms of how it also applies to her own life. It's an okay read, just lots of introspection--if you'd like information on training methods, look elsewhere.
February 7, 2013
i had high hopes for this book. i guess.... too high. i didn't feel that it was well written. she seemed like such a doormat it was very off putting. and her trainer was all over the place. I liked her in the very beginning but I couldn't handle all her (the trainer's) freak outs and melt downs. I ended up giving up and putting it down about 2/3rds of the way in. I had other books lined up and couldn't be bothered finishing this one!
March 13, 2015
I laughed more than a few times while reading this book. I liked it, but I would have preferred if the author, Carol, would have talked less about Henry,although as I continued reading I realized that this was a path she needed to travel, explore, and of course, talk about. Carol does make you think about life and the way we, as individuals, deal with loved ones, death, self-confidence, etc. I totally agree with her about dogs being our teachers. Yes, dogs truly are amazing teachers!
November 30, 2012
I *loved* this book! She's frank and honest about her life with her dogs - warts and all are shared with us. I learned a lot about how to approach life and that I'm not alone with having a dog with quirks. I'm now even more interested in trying agility with my dogs. Give this book a read, you might learn something too!
October 1, 2012
I could relate to so much of it. How my anxiety tends to undermine my training attempts, how he reflects my energy for better or worse, and how my life perspective is permanently altered for the better because of loving a dog.
July 13, 2012
Rather boring writing style. I will keep reading because I believe we can learn much from our dogs. maybe this author will improve as the story continues. (By mid July, I have given up.)
March 4, 2016
Two ridgebacks and one excellent author make for an engaging read...
May 25, 2016
Such a wonderful examination of life and how dogs can help refocus us.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews