Before becoming a children’s author, I worked for years as a certified professional dog trainer. I was surprised at how often people misunderstood their dog’s point of view. Instead of appreciating the way dogs experience the world – spoiler alert, it’s with their noses – they thought of dogs as furry, little people. Therefore, one of my favourite aspects of dog training was helping my clients realise what their dog was really saying and doing and why.  Stephanie Gibeault training her dog Chi Chi on the agility field This desire to explain a dog’s perspective prompted me to write Dogs vs. Humans: A Showdown of the Senses. This nonfiction picture book, illustrated by Bambi Edlund and published by Owlkids Books, is a fun yet fierce competition that compares the ways dogs and humans perceive the world through each of the five basic senses: sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing. But my dog training experience didn’t just inspire this book; it’s helped inform my writing life too. Here are some of the rules of dog training that have helped me become a better writer: 1. Be patient. Dogs don’t master new behaviours overnight. It takes time for them to understand that “sit” means they should sit down whether they are in the living room or the park. That’s also true for producing a polished manuscript. There are days the writing flows and days you feel stuck. Plus, there’s nothing better for revision than fresh eyes. That means giving drafts a chance to rest before you tackle edits. For this picture book, the first two versions of the manuscript didn’t work. I tried both a circus and a sports setting before settling on the contest theme. I needed time to experiment before finding the right structure. 2. Be consistent. If you ask your dog to get “off” the couch one day, don’t say “down” the next. Your dog will perform best if you’re steady and predictable. The same can be said for your writing life. You don’t have to write every single day, but you do need to make a regular effort to work on your craft and put words on the page. It also helps to have a writing routine that cues your brain when it’s time to get creative. For Dogs vs. Humans, I spent at least five days a week either researching, writing, or revising. And my writing habits, like shutting off social media and taking regular breaks, helped me stay on track.  Interior pages from Dogs vs. Humans: A Showdown of the Senses, illustrated by Bambi Edlund 3. Quit while you’re having fun. You don’t want to wait until your dog is bored or frustrated to stop a training session. It will make them less likely to want to train the next day. Your brain works the same way. If you always stop your writing sessions on a good note, you will associate writing with having fun. With this book, if I felt blocked one day with the writing, I would switch to research and vice versa. I made sure I was always working on something fun or interesting before calling it a day. 4. Be positive. Positive reinforcement training is all about rewarding your dog for a job well done. It’s super effective, and when your dog enjoys training, they will give you their best effort. Positive reinforcement works on people too. If you reward yourself for the writing process and make it as fun as possible, you will stick with it despite the ups and downs of the publishing business. Try giving yourself a treat for every 500 words you type. And celebrate all the little victories, like finishing a draft or subbing to an editor. For Dogs vs. Humans, I had my chocolate-covered almonds to reward all the writing milestones, plus I celebrated each completed revision with a day away from my desk. And, of course, I celebrated the book’s publication with a book signing at a bookstore and going for coffee with a friend. Who would have thought all those years working with dogs would have helped me as a children’s author. But not only do I get to write about our canine companions, my training skills have made me a better writer, too. Maybe these tips can help you as well!  Stephanie Gibeault celebrating publication day of Dogs vs. Humans: A Showdown of the Senses Stephanie Gibeault is an award-winning author of children’s picture books and middle grade nonfiction. As a former biologist with a Master of Science in animal behavior, Stephanie used to spend her time grunting with gorillas and stinking like marmoset monkeys. Years later, being a certified professional dog trainer meant being covered in fur and drool. Now she spends her days just outside of Toronto, Canada, sharing her love of dogs and other animals through her writing. For more information, please visit stephaniegibeault.com.
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