Back in 2006, I had just released All Cats Have Asperger Syndrome, and people kept saying to me, that if cats had Aspergers, then surely dogs had ADHD. It did not take me long to realize how apt that comparison was, and how special a book could come from that comparison.  So, through a snapshot of a dog’s frenzied activities, I tried to capture the essence of the highs and lows of life with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and thus, All Dogs Have ADHD was born.

Have you ever owned a dog?  All through my childhood, we had dogs and I loved playing tug-of-war and fetch and taking them on long walks and giving them hugs and knowing I was unconditionally loved.  Their frantic tails and faithful loyalty are all treasured memories of days past.  A more recent memory of dogs is not as rosy.  I was visiting my son who happened to have two Alsatians as house pets.  At dawn, around 5.30am, on my first morning as a guest, I heard a frantic scrabble at my closed door.  Suddenly the door was flung open and two 30kg monstrosities were jumping all over my bed.  They took my screams as their own personal love language and slobbered their delight all over my face. Definitely dogs with ADHD!

 Fast forward 13 years and although All Dogs Have ADHD was still selling well, the layout was dated and some of the text needing tweaking to represent current views and terminology.  The biggest criticism I had was that it was written with male pronouns, and as many girls also have ADHD, they also wanted to see themselves on the page. With these things in mind, I took the opportunity to freshen up the entire book, and revitalized it with all new images as well.  Choosing the photos was challenge and joy all of itself.  I get the images from Shutterstock.com and every time I create a photo book, I look at hundreds of thousands of animal snapshots.  It’s not a bad way to spend your creative time!  Try it sometime.  Each picture has to be the perfect mix of stunning photography, perfect match with the concept I need to portray, and has to have an ‘awww’ factor of 10 out of 10.  I narrowed my selection down to around 750 of my favourites, then whittled those down until finally 65 were chosen. 

The result is fun and vibrant.  Enjoy!

How do you see All Dogs being used in the classroom?

There’s a well known sales model that shows the steps needed to sell a product or change a mind set:

When I wrote All Dogs, I was slap bang in the awareness box and prayed that the other steps could flow on naturally.  Although many people had heard the term ADHD, few really understood what that meant or how it played out in daily life.  When teachers read this book to a class, not only do the teachers increase their awareness of the traits, trials, and triumphs of those with ADHD but so do their students.  Suddenly that hyperactive kid becomes an interesting person in their own right.  Someone to care about and have fun with.  Then changes can come about in the way the teacher might organise their classroom or manage a lesson in a way that accommodates this child’s needs. Once other students recognise the reason an ADHD child does certain things, they can accept them more easily into friendship circles. So many positives can flow from this.  The ADHD child’s self esteem grows and the class is enriched with their input.

 Sue Larkey, an educational specialist has written a great resource for teachers that covers many ways this book can be used in the classroom.  Check out her teacher notes at https://suelarkey.com.au/media/Activities_-_All_Dogs_Have_ADHD.pdf