The Forever Dog: Surprising New Science to Help Your Canine Companion Live Younger, Healthier, and Longer


Rodney Habib - 2021
    The Forever Dog has descriptive copy which is not yet available from the Publisher.

What's a Dog For?: The Surprising History, Science, Philosophy, and Politics of Man's Best Friend


John Homans - 2012
    Soon enough, she is happily ensconced in the daily workings of his family. And not only that: Stella is treated like a family member—in ways that dogs of his youth were not. Spending humanlike sums on vet bills, questioning her diet and exercise regimens, contemplating her happiness—how had this all come to pass, when the dogs from Homans’s childhood seemed quite content living mostly out in the yard?In What’s a Dog For?, Homans explores the dog’s complex and prominent place in our world and how it came to be. Evolving from wild animals to working animals to nearly human members of our social fabric, dogs are now the subject of serious scientific studies concerning pet ownership, evolutionary theory, and even cognitive science. From new insights into what makes dogs so appealing to humans to the health benefits associated with owning a dog, Homans investigates why the human-canine relationship has evolved so rapidly—how dogs moved into our families, our homes, and sometimes even our beds in the span of a generation, becoming a $53 billion industry in the United States in the process.As dogs take their place as coddled family members and their numbers balloon to more than seventy-seven million in the United States alone, it’s no surprise that canine culture at large is also undergoing a massive transformation. They are now subject to many of the same questions of rights and ethics as people, and the politics of dogs are more tumultuous and public than ever— with fierce moral battles raging over kill shelters, puppy mills, and breed standards. Incorporating interviews and research from scientists, activists, breeders, and trainers, What’s a Dog For? investigates how dogs have reached this exalted status and why they hold such fascination for us. With one paw in the animal world and one paw in the human world, it turns out they have much to teach us about love, death, and morality—and ultimately, in their closeness and difference, about what it means to be human.

Just Gus: A Rescued Dog and the Woman He Loved


Laurie Williams - 2006
    Injured and abandoned, he could have become another of the 7 million animals euthanized every year. Then Stephanie Williams entered the picture. A successful journalist, she had been diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer at the age of 30. On medical leave and living alone, she wanted a warm four-legged companion. When she saw Gus's soulful eyes and goofy grin, it was love at first sight: she would rescue him, and he would return the favor.Just Gus is about how much one dog did to make a dying woman happy — giving tireless love, comfort, and support. This extraordinary story shows how one dog brought joy and hope to a woman's last days.

Pukka's Promise: The Quest for Longer-Lived Dogs


Ted Kerasote - 2009
    But how to do that? So much has changed in the way we feed, vaccinate, train, and live with our dogs from even a decade ago.In an adventure that echoes The Omnivore’s Dilemma with a canine spin, Kerasote tackles all those subjects, questioning our conventional wisdom and emerging with vital new information that will surprise even the most knowledgeable dog lovers. Can a purebred be as healthy as a mixed-breed? How many vaccines are too many? Should we rethink spaying and neutering? Is raw food really healthier than kibble, and should your dog be chewing more bones? Traveling the world and interviewing breeders, veterinarians, and leaders of the animal-welfare movement, Kerasote pulls together the latest research to help us rethink the everyday choices we make for our companions. And as he did in Merle’s Door, Kerasote interweaves fascinating science with the charming stories of raising Pukka among his dog friends in their small Wyoming village.Funny, revelatory, and full of the delights of falling in love with a dog, Pukka’s Promise will help redefine the potential of our animal partners.

Chaser: Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words


John W. Pilley - 2013
    Chaser has a way with words. She knows over a thousand of them—more than any other animal of any species except humans. In addition to common nouns like house, ball, and tree, she has memorized the names of more than one thousand toys and can retrieve any of them on command. Based on that learning, she and her owner and trainer, retired psychologist John Pilley, have moved on to further impressive feats, demonstrating her ability to understand sentences with multiple elements of grammar and to learn new behaviors by imitation. John’s ingenuity and tenacity as a researcher are as impressive as Chaser’s accomplishments. His groundbreaking approach has opened the door to a new understanding of animal intelligence, one that requires us to reconsider what actually goes on in a dog’s mind. Chaser’s achievements reveal her use of deductive reasoning and complex problem-solving skills to address novel challenges. Yet astonishingly, Chaser isn’t unique. John’s training methods can be adopted by any dog lover. Through the poignant story of how he trained Chaser, raised her as a member of the Pilley family, and proved her abilities to the scientific community, he reveals the positive impact of incorporating learning into play and more effectively channeling a dog’s natural drives. John’s work with Chaser offers a fresh perspective on what’s possible in the relationship between a dog and a human. His story points us toward a new way of relating to our canine companions that takes into account our evolving understanding of the way animals and humans learn.

Bonding with Your Dog: A Trainer's Secrets for Building a Better Relationship


Victoria Schade - 2009
    She explains how this bond forms the core of your entire relationship; if it's lacking, it's the primary source of any frustration you may be having with your dog.First, you'll take a quiz to help you gauge your current relationship with your dog. Next, you'll learn the building blocks for creating a positive, mutually rewarding bond-from granting privileges to being unpredictable to offering ample praise and playtime. You'll discover how a bonded dog:Listens to obedience cuesWants you in her sightlines, even in intriguing environmentsDoesn't escape through open doorwaysUnderstands and follows your house rulesWants to be close to you and work with youTruly trusts and respects youWhether you share your heart and home with a puppy, an adolescent, or a senior dog, it's never too early or too late to build a bond to last a lifetime-and this book shows you how.

Ruff Love: A Relationship Building Program for You and Your Dog


Susan Garrett - 2002
    Book about professional productions

The Koehler Method of Dog Training


William R. Koehler - 1974
    The method is based in the philosophy that a dog acts on its right to choose its actions. Koehler explained that a dog’s learned behavior is an act of choice based on its own learning experience. When those choices are influenced by the expectation of reward, the behavior will most likely be repeated, and when those choices are influenced by the anticipation of punishment, they will most likely cease. Once the dog has learned that its choices result in comfort or discomfort it can be taught to make the correct decisions. Action→Memory→Desire encapsulates the learning pattern used by the method; the dog acts, remembers the consequences, and forms the desire to repeat or avoid those consequences. Adherents believe that once the behavior has been correctly taught, it should be performed, thus making any correction, fair, reasonable, and expected.

Don't Dump the Dog: Advice from America's Favorite Dog Rescuer


Randy Grim - 2009
    And dog rescuer Randy Grim has heard every reason under the sun. But before you load Fido into the back of your car, read this book. In it, Randy addresses the concerns of dog guardians everywhere by responding to letters that he 's actually received. With humor, and from his vast experiences with abandoned dogs, he reveals exactly what you can do to remain calm and fix every bad behavior problem. (Even if it means dumping your husband instead of the dog.)

Chicken Soup for the Soul: What I Learned from the Dog: 101 Stories about Life, Love, and Lessons


Jack Canfield - 2009
    Join Wendy Diamond, editor in chief of Animal Fair magazine, judge on Greatest American Dog, pet rescue advocate, author, regular expert on Today and general dog-lover and read 101 heartwarming, amusing, and inspirational stories about our best friends and faithful companions — our dogs.You’ll see your own dog with a new eye through these true stories about: the amazing intuition and intelligence of dogs dogs teaching us to enjoy every day learning to put things in perspective dogs changing people’s lives learning to say goodbye fabulous rescue dogs therapy dogs

Raw Dog Food: Make It Easy for You and Your Dog


Carina MacDonald - 2003
    You may have heard about the "BARF" diet - Biologically Appropriate Raw Foods. Learn why and how to feed your dog this new (but really OLD) diet. "Raw Dog Food: Make It Easy for You and Your Dog " explains in simple, friendly and understandable terms the logic behind this approach. This fun and slightly irreverent book shows you how feeding your dog a raw diet can be effective, economical, and easy for you and healthy for your dog. Learn how to make it work for your dog and you!

Brain Games for Dogs: Fun Ways to Build a Strong Bond with Your Dog and Provide It with Vital Mental Stimulation


Claire Arrowsmith - 2010
    Claire Arrowsmith strongly suggests that such challenges help build a strong bond between a dog and its owner. She examines the accepted evidence of the importance of mental stimulation and why it's important to use only reward-based teaching methods. She also explains how to use hand signals and incorporate mental challenges and learning into everyday activities.Icons for each game indicate whether it is interactive, solo or group, where it can be played, the level of difficulty and whether any props or toys are used. Some of these great games are:Puppy PlayHide and SeekCarry ItEgg and Spoon RaceMini Agility CourseNature's Obstacle CourseFind the TreatRoll Over, Play Dead and other performance tricksWith straightforward text and full-color photographs, Brain Games for Dogs is a valuable guide to important elements for successful and fun dog training.

Katz on Dogs: A Commonsense Guide to Training and Living with Dogs


Jon Katz - 2005
    Many dogs are out of control, untrained, chewing up furniture, taking medication for anxiety, and biting millions of people a year.Now, in this groundbreaking new guide, Jon Katz, a leading authority on the human-canine bond, offers a powerful and practical philosophy for living with a dog, from the moment we decide to get one to the sad day when one dies. Conventional training methods often fail dog owners, but Katz argues that we know our dogs better than anyone else possibly could, and therefore we are well suited to train them. It is imperative, he says, that we think rationally and responsibly about how we choose, train, and live with the dogs we love, and the more we learn about ourselves, the better we can recognize their wonderful animal natures. Misinterpreting dogs is a profound obstacle to understanding them.Katz believes that both people and dogs are unique-a chow differs from a Lab just as a city dweller differs from a farmer-and he describes how such individuality isn't addressed by even the best and most popular training methods. Not every training theory is for everyone, notes Katz, but almost anyone can train a dog and live with him comfortably. Katz on Dogs is filled with no-nonsense advice and answers to such key questions as:- What kind of dog should I have? Is there is a specific breed or kind of dog for my personality, family, or living situation?- What is the best way to train a dog?- Can I trust my vet?- How often (and for how long) can a dog be left alone?- Is it preferable to have only one dog, or are more better?- What are the secrets to successful housebreaking?- What are my dogs thinking, if anything?- How can I walk my dog instead of having her walk me? - Is it ever okay to give away a dog you love?- When is it time to put my dog down?Katz draws from his own experience, his interactions with thousands of dog owners, vets, breeders, dog rescue workers, trainers, and behaviorists, and he has tested his approach with volunteer dog owners around the country. Their helpful and often inspiring stories illustrate how all of us can live well with our dogs. You can do it, Katz contends. You can live a loving and harmonious life with your dog.

Medicine Dog: K9s, Stem Cells, and an Amazing Tail of Recovery


Júlia Szabó - 2014
    Diligently researching how to restore his quality of life, she discovered Vet-Stem, a service that provides cutting-edge regeneration therapy for pets, using stem cells harvested from animals' own tissue. Just hours after receiving IV and intra-joint injections, Sam began aging backward--which left Julia wondering why this simple, effective treatment was not available for humans.            Julia suffered from chronic inflammatory bowel disease, and after witnessing Sam's astonishing recovery, she set out on a curious quest: to be treated like a dog by a doctor as competent as her vet! After a four-year wait, Julia became the first American to be successfully cured of a perirectal fistula with stem cells derived from her own fat. With this amazing true story of how a pack of shelter dogs she rescued from death row came to save her life, Julia hopes to inspire and inform readers about exciting healthcare options available to them and their cherished animal companions.

DIY Dog Grooming, From Puppy Cuts to Best in Show: Everything You Need to Know, Step by Step


Jorge Bendersky - 2014
    Trust Jorge and he’ll show you how to groom your dogs right.” –Cesar Millan With a foreword by leading expert in dog behavior Cesar Millan, best known for his Emmy-nominated television series Dog Whisperer with Cesar Millan, DIY Dog Grooming offers easy-to-follow, expert instruction on every aspect of grooming.  Master dog groomer to the stars Jorge Bendersky bathes, brushes, trims, and pampers some pretty important pooches. Nevertheless, the fundamental skills and techniques he uses every day in his Manhattan salon can and should be in every dog owner’s repertoire. From breed identification to tool selection, clipping to scissoring, Bendersky shares, in his unmistakably playful way, the tricks of his trade:Simple, step-by-step instructions for everything from bathing to brushing.Practical solutions to common problems like fleas and ticks, dirt and mud.Creative suggestions for grooming a picture-perfect dog.How to use items from your pantry for grooming when pet store products are not available.With DIY Dog Grooming as your guide, your canine companion will never again suffer a bad hair day.