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 decides--somewhat naively--to enroll her two Rhodesian
ridgebacks, Nairobi and Sheila, into dog agility training. Unhappy with
her failing love affair, her career, and even herself, she's hoping to
find a hobby and straighten out her unruly but affectionate pets. She
soon discovers that dog agility is not a lazy game of fetch--it's a
highly competitive sport that requires owners to move their dogs through
a timed obstacle course using only voice and hand signals. What follows
is a life-changing experience: a learning process that teaches her not
only about her dogs, but also about herself. As she continues, the
training, and even the obstacle course itself, becomes a metaphor for
her life.
With humor and candor, Quinn shares the parallel story of how, with
Irina's guidance and wisdom, she and her dogs develop a deep bond of
love and trust, and learn to navigate the course obstacles with grace
and skill; and how she, too, overcomes life's obstacles by accepting her
flaws and finding the inner strength to move forward--away from her
doomed love affair, fears, and anxieties--and become the "alpha dog" of
her own life.
Funny, thoughtful, and uplifting, Follow My Lead is a story full of
useful life lessons and homespun wisdom that will entertain and inspire
readers of all sensibilities, whether they are dog lovers or not.
