Book picks similar to
Between Dog and Wolf: Understanding the Connection and the Confusion by Jessica Addams
dogs
science
animals-behavior-training
animals-ecology-evolution
Joy Unleashed: The Story of Bella, the Unlikely Therapy Dog
Jean Baur - 2016
Just after Jean Baur adopted a rescue dog, Bella, she lost her job at sixty-five. She decided to enroll Bella in a certified therapy-dog class. This new work, visiting hospital patients with her therapy job, gave Jean hope and purpose. As Bella’s work expanded to nursing homes and elementary schools, the journey into the world of therapy-dog work allowed Jean and Bella to help others. They met an Alzheimer’s patient who learned to smile again after Bella took a treat from her hand. They befriended a six-year-old boy with autism who previously had a deep fear of dogs. Bella also coaxed an uncommunicative hospital patient to open up again after she jumped into bed with him. National award-winning author Kim Kavin says Joy Unleashed “isn’t just another book about a dog and a person rescuing one another. It’s about how, together, Jean and Bella share their beautiful gift with countless other people who so desperately need to smile.”
The Whole Pet Diet: Eight Weeks to Great Health for Dogs and Cats
Andi Brown - 2006
Yet despite promises of complete and balanced meals, most commercial pet foods contain chemical preservatives, indigestible fillers, and dangerous by-products. If your pets are overweight, ailing, or aging—or you just want them to be as healthy as possible—THE WHOLE PET DIET offers a straightforward plan to achieve lifelong health and well-being. Featuring twenty-five easy recipes for homemade meals and treats, a guide to natural supplements, and practical tips for no-stress grooming and play, this holistic approach to pet care creates optimal health for dogs and cats—and it just might changethe way you eat, too.Reviews“. . . this book is your pet's ticket to pristine health and longevity.”—Tails Pet Magazine“Andi Brown writes from the heart with years of experience to her credit. Her information is logically developed and her advice is clearly presented. This book empowers you to take control of your animal's health.” —Anitra Frazier, author of The New Natural Cat “If you believe, like Andi Brown does, that pets are as integral to the family as they are to the ebb and flow of life, then this book will dramatically improve the health and vitality of all your four-legged family members.” —Dr. Marty Becker, veterinary contributor to Good Morning America and author of The Healing Power of Pets “THE WHOLE PET DIET is a must-read for any pet owner.”—Ann Martin, author of Protect Your Pet and Food Pets Die For “Andi Brown is on a mission to bring the best health to every pet using one of the most fundamental and important of medicines: good, wholesome food.”—Gregory Todd, D.V.M. “Bravo to Andi Brown, who makes animals happier, sweeter smelling, and less itchy without hurting the environment and without animal tests.” —Ingrid E. Newkirk, president of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals review in New Age Retailer
Tales from a Young Vet: Mad cows, crazy kittens, and all creatures big and small
Jo Hardy - 2015
Keep your eyes on them. Oh, and make sure you have insurance.’Not the most comforting words of wisdom, but probably the most useful for a trainee vet, Jo would say. From well-equipped surgeries to windswept hills and ramshackle barns, Jo has to be able to diagnose and treat any animal, at any time of the day or night. It’s not quite as easy as James Herriot made it seem.Jo’s final year of training saw her race from rectal examinations of cows to spine surgery on a Great Dane, and from treating an eventing horse with a heart problem to inserting a contraceptive implant into a monkey.And then there were the owners – the tough guy who sobbed when his cat was diagnosed with cancer, the woman who was convinced her dog was embarrassed by its stomach upset, and the farmer who loved his cows as much as anyone loves their pets.Gruelling days of animal treatments and visits combined with long nights of study and revision made Jo’s final year of training the most demanding and rewarding year of her life. Her book tells of the highs and lows, the pets that stole her heart, and the lifelong friends that she made – with two legs and four.
Cesar Millan's Short Guide to a Happy Dog: 98 Essential Tips and Techniques
Cesar Millan - 2013
Taken together, they will help dog owners create the most fulfilling life possible with their dogs.In these pages, Cesar delves into crucial themes that go beyond obedience-school basics to reveal the hearts and minds of our beloved pets. In short, practical takes, he explores:• The basics of dog psychology• Instinctual behaviors• Creating balance and boundaries• Managing common misbehaviors• Choosing the right dog for your family• Helping your dog adjust to life transitionsThroughout the book, inspiring stories from Cesar’s case files -- and from his TV show, Leader of the Pack – provide moving real-world applications and surprising life lessons.Smart, easy to use, and packed with Cesar's remarkable insights into human and canine behavior, A Short Guide to A Happy Dog is an inspiring tool for anyone looking to live a better life with a beloved member of the family.
In Praise of Wolves
R.D. Lawrence - 1986
Lawrence, traveled to Michigan's Upper Peninsula to live among and observe a captive pack of untamed wolves. The result is an extraordinary look inside the society of a much-maligned, much-persecuted animal. HC: Henry Holt.From the Paperback edition.
Excel-Erated Learning: Explaining in Plain English How Dogs Learn and How Best to Teach Them
Pamela J. Reid - 1996
With the freedom of understanding "how your dog learns" comes the ability of making the process easy, efficient, and enjoyable for your dog. You'll be in a position to excel-erate your dog's learning! At long last we have someone who can explain all-important learning theory and make it intriguing and interesting. Agility enthusiast, obedience competitor and psychologist Dr. Pamela Reid introduces you to cutting-edge scientific techniques in dog training including, autoshaping retrieval (i.e., teaching your dog to train herself), and "errorless discrimination learning" for teaching retrieval and directed jumping. You'll love this book?it's so useful and utterly fascinating.
Animal E.R.
Vicki Constantine Croke - 1999
In this premier animal facility, experts in the fields of surgery, internal medicine, cardiology, ophthalmology, and oncology provide care for patients of all shapes, sizes, and breeds. Here, operations using state-of-the-art technology go hand in hand with personal counseling for owners and pets in crisis. From a pygmy hedgehog with mites to an elephant with an eye problem to the Dalmatian who must undergo disc surgery for his back...from the close calls to the split-second decisions that can save a life, Animal ER is a moving testament to the healing powers of love and medicine-and to the timeless bond between people and their pets.
The Fish's Eye: Essays about Angling and the Outdoors
Ian Frazier - 2002
He sees the angler's environment all around him--in New York's Grand Central Station, in the cement-lined pond of a city park, in a shimmering bonefish flat in the Florida Keys, in the trout streams of the Rocky Mountains. He marvels at the fishing in the turbid Ohio River by downtown Cincinnati, where a good bait for catfish is half a White Castle french fry. The incidentals of the angling experience, the who and the where of it, interest him as much as what he catches and how. The essays contain sharply focused observations of the American outdoors, a place filled with human alterations and detritus that somehow remain defiantly unruined. Frazier's simple love of the sport lifts him to a straight-ahead angling description that's among the best contemporary writing on the subject. The Fish's Eye brings together twenty years of heartfelt, funny, and vivid essays on a timeless pursuit where so many mysteries, both human and natural, coincide.
Love, Life, and Elephants: An African Love Story
Daphne Sheldrick - 2011
Her deep empathy and understanding, her years of observing Kenya’s rich variety of wildlife, and her pioneering work in perfecting the right husbandry and milk formula have saved countless elephants, rhinos, and other baby animals from certain death. In this heartwarming and poignant memoir, Daphne shares her amazing relationships with a host of orphans, including her first love, Bushy, a liquid-eyed antelope; Rickey-Tickey-Tavey, the little dwarf mongoose; Gregory Peck, the busy buffalo weaver bird; Huppety, the mischievous zebra; and the majestic elephant Eleanor, with whom Daphne has shared more than forty years of great friendship. But this is also a magical and heartbreaking human love story between Daphne and David Sheldrick, the famous Tsavo Park warden. It was their deep and passionate love, David’s extraordinary insight into all aspects of nature, and the tragedy of his early death that inspired Daphne’s vast array of achievements, most notably the founding of the world-renowned David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust and the Orphans’ Nursery in Nairobi National Park, where Daphne continues to live and work to this day. Encompassing not only David and Daphne’s tireless campaign for an end to poaching and for conserving Kenya’s wildlife, but also their ability to engage with the human side of animals and their rearing of the orphans expressly so they can return to the wild, Love, Life, and Elephants is alive with compassion and humor, providing a rare insight into the life of one of the world’s most remarkable women.
The Grace of Dogs: A Boy, a Black Lab, and a Father's Search for the Canine Soul
Andrew Root - 2017
Andrew Root's search for the canine soul began the day his eight-year-old son led the family in a moving Christian ritual at the burial service for Kirby, their beloved black lab. In the coming weeks, Root found himself wondering: What was this thing we'd experienced with this animal? Why did the loss hurt so poignantly? Why did his son's act seem so right in its sacramental feel?In The Grace of Dogs, Root draws on biology, history, theology, cognitive ethology (the study of animal minds), and paleontology to trace how in our mutual evolution, humans and dogs have so often helped each other to become more fully ourselves. Root explores questions like: Do dogs have souls? Is it accurate to say that dogs "love" us? What do psychology and physiology say about why we react to dogs in the way that we do? The Grace of Dogs paints a vivid picture of how, beyond sentimentality, the dog-human connection can legitimately be described as "spiritual"--as existing not for the sake of gain, but for the unselfish desire to be with and for the other, and to remind us that we are persons worthy of love and able to share love. In this book for any parent whose kids have asked if they'll see Fido in Heaven, or who has looked their beloved dog in the face and wondered what's going on in there, Dr. Root delivers an illuminating and heartfelt read that will change how we understand man's best friend.
MEGACROC
Julian Michael Carver - 2020
When evidence at the latest scene suggests that a massive predator may be the source of the carnage, a local crocodilian specialist is brought in as a consultant. Soon an effort is launched by the police and the coast guard to successfully locate and capture the ancient creature, which threatens the lives of everyone in the expedition, as well as the surrounding communities.
Grayson
Lynne Cox - 2006
In it she tells the story of a miraculous ocean encounter that happened to her when she was seventeen and in training for a big swim (she had already swum the English Channel, twice, and the Catalina Channel).It was the dark of early morning; Lynne was in 55-degree water as smooth as black ice, two hundred yards offshore, outside the wave break. She was swimming her last half-mile back to the pier before heading home for breakfast when she became aware that something was swimming with her. The ocean was charged with energy as if a squall was moving in; thousands of baby anchovy darted through the water like lit sparklers, trying to evade something larger. Whatever it was, it felt large enough to be a white shark coursing beneath her body.It wasn't a shark. It became clear that it was a baby gray whale—following alongside Lynne for a mile or so. Lynne had been swimming for more than an hour; she needed to get out of the water to rest, but she realized that if she did, the young calf would follow her onto shore and die from collapsed lungs.The baby whale—eighteen feet long!—was migrating on a three-month trek to its feeding grounds in the Bering Sea, an eight-thousand-mile journey. It would have to be carried on its mother's back for much of that distance, and was dependent on its mother's milk for food—baby whales drink up to fifty gallons of milk a day. If Lynne didn't find the mother whale, the baby would suffer from dehydration and starve to death.Something so enormous—the mother whale was fifty feet long—suddenly seemed very small in the vast Pacific Ocean. How could Lynne possibly find her?This is the story—part mystery, part magical tale—of what happened . . .
Ella in Europe: An American Dog's International Adventures
Michael Konik - 2005
An homage to the friend who has “licked away my tears when I’m sad, hopped on her hind legs when I’m happy, and snuggled me when I’m lonely,” here is the story of a bond unlike any other–and an extraordinary dog who stole her way into one man’s heart. Los Angeles writer Michael Konik had always shared his life with dogs. But Ella, a gentle Lab mix, was something special. From the moment Konik laid eyes on Ella, he knew: This dog was meant to be his. An enchantress who charmed all who met her, Ella Guinevere Konik had a truly unique gift–and soon Konik found a way for Ella to share that gift, signing her up for a program that brings dogs into hospitals, nursing homes, and children’s shelters. When Ella turned ten, Konik wanted to thank the “best friend” whose unconditional love had transformed his life–and given comfort and joy to others in need. So a trip to Europe was planned–and for Konik and Ella a once-in-a-lifetime adventure began, one that would strengthen the already-powerful bond between them. As they explore Europe’s most beautiful–and surprisingly dog-friendly–cities, Konik is amazed at the experiences he and Ella can share . . . Arriving in Vienna on July Fourth with Ella wrapped in her American flag scarf . . . Dining at four-star restaurants in Paris . . . Ella swimming in the Danube . . . Taking a gondola ride in Venice . . . Sunbathing in St. Tropez . . . Searching for a canine toilet in Monte Carlo. But soon this journey of friendship, love, and discovery must come to a close. And as Konik heads home, accompanied by the canine friend who “helped teach me what love means,” one thing is certain: Both dog and owner have been changed forever. At once a testament to the power of unconditional love and a celebration of devotion, Ella in Europe is a book for anyone who has ever felt a special connection to a dog they’ve loved.