5 comments about Saying Good-Bye to the Pet You Love: A Complete Resource to Help You Heal.

1. I read the book but it didn't help me with the grieving of my pet. It is a good book to read if you aren't in the midst of recovery. There are good points as far as the ceremony but other than that it was nothing that I didn't already know.



2. Finally, a well written and very helpful book on grieving the loss of your pet. Dr. Greene shares a nice mix of pet owner stories and wonderful, proven exercises to help you move through your own emotions.
   
   Best of all, for us, was her suggestions on how to respond to others who may not share as strong a bond with pets. Her simple paper-pencil assessment helped us understand where we fell on the continuum from pets are animals to pets are family members. Our 14 year dog was definitely a family member to us!
   
   Her book provided us comfort, humor, and a sense of peace about not having to defend our grief over the loss of our dog. We highly recommend this book to anyone whose pet recently passed away, and to those with dogs and cats faced with the tough decision about putting their pet down at the vet due to a serious medical condition. Get it, read it, and allow yourself to celebrate your pet's life and its positive impact on you.



3. I found this book in a program that offers courses for R.N. continuing education. What a wonderful book! We have had many pets over the years. With three kids in the family, we've loved frogs, lizards, fish, cats, dogs and a horse. My horse is 25 yrs. old now and that's why this particular book caught my eye. I think it is very well thought out and written. I give thanks to Lorri Greene and Jacquelyn Landis for addressing the love that we have for our companions and how to help them-and us- to go on when their time comes. My daughter is in Vet school. I'm giving this to her. Good Book!



4. I got this book soon after I lost my 10-year-old Persian male soul mate, and it really helped me through a time of great sorrow. There are exercises to do that help you work through your grief and help you to understand your feelings. I highly recommend it for anyone dealing with the loss of a pet.



5. I ordered this book and waited for it eagerly, based on "Search Inside" reading I did on Amazon. I hoped the chapter devoted to guilt experienced by "animal guardians," as the author considerately calls pet owners, when euthanasia or an accident precipitates a pet's death would speak to me. Therefore I was surprised to find the book more clinical than inspirational. I also found it emotionally distant from its subject...which perhaps is to be expected, considering that it was written by a psychologist. I wouldn't recommend it to anyone suffering from deep grief over a lost pet.

5 comments about Walking Ollie: Or, Winning the Love of a Difficult Dog.

1. This is a difficult read, although very interesting, as the author (Ollie's owner) kept demonstrating that he was not qualified to own a dog, let alone a very difficult dog. There were some very good insights (not usually intended as such!) into Ollie's behavior system.



2. I felt a little frustrated with this book. The author never found a way to help this poor creature. I kept waiting for Ollie to be happy... The end of the book was not really an end.



3. This is another dog rescue biography (I suppose the dog equivalent is caninography?) that has the novelty of being set in the UK and involving a particularly British combination - a saluki lurcher cross that one doesn't come across much in the U.S. Part of the book's interest, then, is that it discusses the whole getting a dog from a shelter and rehabilitating it in a Brit setting.
   
   Truthfully, there's not a great deal to interest one other than that in the content, because, plotwise, not much happens. The author principally relates his trials and troubles acquiring and then walking his dog. Though the author claims to be a pro writer, the book rambles. It doesn't have much structure. As for the characterization, the dog remains something of an enigma even to the book's relatively uneventful conclusion.
   
   The book has a few moments of entertainment and humor, but not many. A lot of it is taken up by this first time dog owner relating in a partially astounded, partially complaining tone about how his schedule has been disrupted by all this dog walking and pooper scooping. I suppose it's not a bad idea for a newbie owner to relate to the equally clueless the work involved in dog ownership.
   
   There's somewhat proportionally less of the book relating various fitful attempts to turn around this fearful dog. Ollie the dog fears most men, including his new owner. So the story is supposed to be how the dog slowly - very slowly - moves past that and what the author did or didn't do to make it happen.
   
   Part of my issue with the book was that the writing style mirrored the dogs equally unimpressive and fitful progress. And no particular sense went into getting the dog past his issues. It's pretty common in shelters to "office foster" a particularly shy dog, to get him used to people. But though the author works at home (a perfect setting for letting the dog learn to relax in your presence and look forward to frequently thrown treats) the dog stays on one floor, and the author on another, to which the owner periodically decends and invades into the dog's room to throw treats, with the result that the dog, instead of relaxing from a constant presence, gets even more nervy by the author popping in on him. And even in the 80s the Monks of New Skete talked about the advantages of having your dog sleep in your presense to get used to you and relax, and the benefits of binding or later, crate training. But none of this was done with Ollie. So he seems to make much slower progress than he might have. Keeping the dog with him, crating him at night (because the author relates his frustration that Ollie is not housetrained to last the night) would have perhaps brought Ollie around a lot quicker and eliminated at least half of the author's complaints about nighttime incontinence and that the dog grew no better or even more fearful of him during his pop in and throw treats schedule.
   
   The rest of the complaints deal with his frustrations in "walking Ollie". I couldn't help but wince every time the dog (running off leash close to traffic) comes in near contact with a car, or the repetitive tales of how the owner just lets the dog run wild to rough house with other dogs (whether the canine targets appreciate it or not). The author's disparaging comments re those owners that responsibly keep their dogs on leashes contrast with his frustration and despair over his attempts to recollar his dog at the end of these walks or just when he's attempting to prevent it from harassing humans (such as when it disrupts a riverbank full of men attempting to hold a fishing competition) or pull it off some other dog that may not appreciate its rough play. The reader quickly gets that the dog is impossible to control off leash. That the author hasn't attempted to gain control prior to taking him off leash. We come to understand that the author (as well as the dogs victims) find Ollie's off leash behavior very frustrating. But what is difficult to understand is why the author keeps letting him loose. The author claims he wants the dog to run free and play with his kind. I have to admit I'm not one to much appreciate the idea of the impotent owner and the out of control dog repeatedly (daily or more often) being inflicted upon the neighborhood. How about exhausting the dog jogging with it for an hour, and then keeping it on a flexilead until it you meet up with a fellow dog owner whose dog appreciates being slammed? It just seems like a little control or attempt at trying such would have gone some toward relieving the idea that the owner was pretty pretty irresonsible and somewhat of a neighborhood nuisance to boot.
   
   The author and his dog do find their way to eachother after predictable events unwind, and you are glad for them. They've been through enough to get there. And you're glad the author hung in there since he did find it all so frustrating. But both author and dog stumble around in such a clueless, anxious (both dog and human) and frustrating way to get to that reconcilation, that while you're glad of it, it seems like there would have been numerous ways to make it far more easier and far less stressful and dangerous for all involved. Of course, that would have eliminated half the content of the book.
   
   It's not a bad book. It's just not a great one. I didn't find it very heart warming nor inspiring. It's not amusing. Nor does it have any good advice or tips for the novice with a similarly troubled dog. You finish it with a sort of a nod - another rescue story: clueless owner, difficult dog made more difficult by clueless owner. It was more interesting for me due to the Brit background and the fact that it was a lurcher dog. We also had a rescue lurcher, another very difficult dog, whom we picked up off the I-95 with a dislocated hip after it was thrown out of a car. Like ollie, it had also been abused based on it's temperament -- a fear biter. He lived to the ripe age of 17, but like Ollie's owner, the journey wasn't all peaches and cream. One good thing about all these dogographies is the truism that misery loves company, and drives book sales. People who work with difficult dogs like to read they're not in it alone. And we're already interested in reading out how someone else did it, to pick up any tips, or laugh, or commiserate. This book was a little thin in some departments.
   
   In conclusion, rehabbing any difficult dog is no picnic. And while all such tales are essentially the same, they're also interesting to read for those who have interest in that activity, both for the circumstances and the dog portraints. For the general population, I'd gues there's not enough of a story here to make this worth the purchase.
   
   This book's main flaw to me was that the author's complaints through 3/4 of the book tend to be wearing even though you acknowledge he is doing pretty well to hang in there with Ollie. The ending is a happy one, though. With that, and points for the novelty of the setting and dog, and seeing how these things may be handled across the pond, I'll give it a (generous) three stars.



4. Yet another "My dog was unruly so I had to write a book about him" tome. The fad of writing books about unremarkable dogs acting like dogs is getting really old. This is standard stuff and not book-worthy.



5. This charming book is for dog lovers and people lovers. It's sensitive, funny and sweet. It's an honest look at how we humans make human assumptions and how our dogs show us time and again that they are dogs who have, for whatever reason, their own way of dealing with and getting through life. You'll enjoy this book and will probably learn something about yourself and your dog.

5 comments about You Are a Dog: Life Through the Eyes of Man's Best Friend.

1. "You are a Dog" offers painfully funny, yet adroit, insight into dog-brain-logic (or relative lack thereof). Dogs really are man's best friend, and in Terry Bain they've found their voice.



2. Cute, clever, funny. Great bathroom reading. My dogs enjoy it when I read it to them.



3. YOU ARE A DOG: Life Through the Eyes of Man's Best Friend by Terry Bain is an entertaining romp with words as they might have been written by the family dog. Mr. Bain reveals to readers that the family dog is quite aware that you have many names for her; but more interesting is the dog's many names for the family members, names such as: He Who Leaves the Seat Up So That You Might Drink (it has been my experience with dogs that it is usually the male dog that drinks out of the toilet, not the female); He Who Smells of Garlic, Tastes of Salt, and Will Let You Lick His Feet (Grandpa?); She Who Does Not Allow Licking Ever (Mother-in-Law?); She Who Drops Food From Her Plate (and always has a diaper full), are but a few of these titles the family dog bestows on its family members.
   
   YOU ARE A DOG informs the reader of the dog's relationship with the household itself, including his relationship with the furniture, the sofa monopolizing much of the spotlight. Terry Bain speaks of the dog's ability to mimic human expressions, especially the smile, which the dog often uses to deflect a scolding when he has been caught sleeping on the sofa. (In my house, it is the love seat, which my Border collie, heeler, and Boxer mix mutt sleeps on every night. I need to share with you here, dear reader, that this mix of mutt is the nuttiest on four legs, sometimes two. Her name is Maggie Peppers; but as crazy as she is, she would never drink out of the toilet: However, the male cat does, every chance he gets.)
   
   Most significant of the household items to the family dog is the vacuum cleaner. While most all threats to the family members arrive from the outside in, the vacuum is already in the house, hiding in the closet, which is quite agitating to the family dog. She can smell the vacuum hiding in the hall closet, just waiting to burst, roaring, from its hiding place, intent on eating everyone and everything in its path. It is the dog's responsibility, therefore, to see to it this monster does not eat the kids, and that any food or nonfood items on the floor are eaten by the dog only. Hence, the vacuum is not only a danger to the family, but also a competitor for food, and must be destroyed, at all cost.
   
   Terry Bain writes humorously about Fido's perception of training, traveling, visits to the vet, health and hygiene, and even doggie politics. If you are a dog lover, you will love this book. Highly recommended.



4. Dogs are not JUST man's best friend. I think the title lacks... obviously. Ladies, if you are feeling a bit offended I would like to suggest reading: "Woman's Best Friend" By Barbara Cohen & Louise Taylor. Ever since I can remember dogs have always been referred to as "Man's Best Friend" so not true.



5. When I got this book for Christmas, I  thought I would treated to a sincere attempt to get inside the mind of my dog to view the world as he might. The jacket cover has this great picture of a deliously happy pup with his head out the car window. How many times haven't I tried to envision what a creature with a dog's sense of smell must be experiencing on our morning rides down to the town park.
   
   What I got, instead, was a series brief vignetts ranging from one paragraph to several pages in length. I have to say some were cute, but many were hard to finish. They were grouped into categories that really don't organize material in any meaningful way.
   
   Although you can certainly read 150 pages over a weekend, that approach doesn t work. But to be fair, the author might well have intended his readers to read one scenario each morning and to reflect on them throughout the day. That's an approach I can appreciate.
   
   Wasn't that what "Dogs Don't Bite When a Growl Will Do" by Matt Weinsteinand and Luke Barker was about?
   Let's put it this way, "It worked for them."

1 comments about The Power of Purrs: Reflections on a Life with Cats.

1. I couldn't put Gary Shiebler's THE POWER OF PURRS down. The honesty in his writing resonates. I laughed, I cried (and I'm not just saying that for dramatic effect!), and I remembered the cats that have come in and out of my own life. Even if you hate cats, you'll love the insightful stories Shiebler shares. Maybe you'll even change your mind . . .

1 comments about Dickens of a Cat, A: and Other Stories of the Cats We Love.

1. Reviewed by Lisa Frisbie
   
   This easy-to-read book features funny and poignant stories written by cat lovers,for cat lovers. Anyone who has been owned by a cat will recognize the many antics and the often endearing qualities of the pets described in these pages.
   
   Editor Callie Smith Grant gathered stories from her friends and some of her favorite writers, themed around the joys and heartaches of having a cat in the house. With a forward by author H. Norman Wright, the book is a perfect choice to read by your fireplace on a chilly winter evening.
   
   "The Cat Who Loved Chemo" is the true story of a cat who made cancer treatments more bearable for the author during an incredibly difficult struggle to survive.
   
   "Out of the Woods" describes a cat who showed up at the doorstep one morning while the author was on a sojourn in the Cascade Mountains. The cat soon felt right at home.
   
   These and other stories will warm the heart of any cat lover. Although currently a pet-free home (we travel too much!) I found myself missing the companionship of a cat after reading these short, well-crafted stories. Two dozen stories are here, each one written by a different cat owner; each one a loving tribute to our furry friends.
   
   Armchair Interviews says: Cat lovers, this one is for you!

1 comments about Bandit: The Heart-Warming True Story of One Dog's Rescue from Death Row.

1. Just like her other book, Animal Happiness, Vicki Hearne really makes you care for Bandit another animal outcast that she rescues. Hearne goes to court and fights for this dog. This is a great, heart-warming tale that any animal lover will fall in love with.

5 comments about Hiss and Tell: True Stories from the Files of a Cat Shrink.

1. This book was extremely interesting to me because I love cats and it explained some of the puzzling behaviors that can arise. I found it fascinating that this woman was able to actually think like a cat to figure out what was causing the strange behaviors. It is both humorous and educational. It gives great insight into explaining various cat behaviors. I highly recommend it to any cat owner.



2. I am the proud mother of three cats and two kids. Sometimes we all have problems living in sync with each other. This book let me know that there are many cat owners worse off than I am. All of the chapters were hilarious except for one. I wont say which one, but I cried for ten minutes after I read it. Everyone will really enjoy this treasure and it may tell you things about your kitties you never knew. According to the book, there are no such things as bad kitties, just miscommunications between kitties/owners.



3. My husband got this book for me for Christmas and the next day I sat down and read the whole thing in one sitting. It is very engaging, and it gave me some insight into the zany behavior of my own two cats. Some of the stories were funny, some were sad but all were touching. I would highly reccomend this book for any cat lover.



4. Excellent book, throughly enjoyed. The stories presented by Johnson-Bennett will make you laugh, even cry, and definately THINK! Reading these stories can give you insight in providing a more enriching homelife for your feline companion, maybe even tell you how your cat can tell you if your spouse cheating. This book is a page turner.



5. I had the best experience while reading this book - a purring cat curled up in my lap. I laughed at some of these stories, cried at others (especially the one about Angel). The book also reinforced for me how important it is to have interactive play sessions with your cat each day.

3 comments about Angel Animals: Divine Messengers of Miracles.

1. Purchased for our 10 year old daughter, she has not put it down. The stories are touching and funny and intense. Good quick read!



2. We all have our own anecdotes about how important our animal friends are to each of us. In some small (or large) ways we have all experienced the miracles of angel animals. In daily life they teach us patience, show us unconditional love, and expect us to be nothing less than ourselves with them at all times. In times of crisis, they stand beside us reminding us that we are stronger and more courageous than we think. In short, they change our lives, for the better. Animals really are pretty amazing creatures.
   
   Angel Animals is an anthology of animal experiences that changed the lives of various individuals. The types of animals and the dynamics of these relationships vary substantially as do the lessons learned and the gifts given by these beings. As expected household pets are common heroes and heroines in these stories. However, in quite a number of the entries, the animals depicted are quite out of the ordinary including seals, raccoons, bees, and spiders. In all cases, these creatures bring with them special gifts and lasting lessons that guided their humans through very difficult or challenging times.



3. Updated and revised to include a new introduction, ANGEL ANIMALS gathers stories about spiritual lessons they've learned from animals and comes not from new age leaders but from ordinary individuals, making for an even more powerful collection. From a sparrow's influence on volunteering to animals who promoted spiritual growth, ANGEL ANIMALS is an outstanding survey for any who would reveal the underlying importance of animals.

5 comments about Hoof Prints: More Stories from Proud Spirit.

1. This is a perfect compliment to Horses of Proud Spirit. Horse Lover or not, this will have a place in your heart!Wow......the stories of these horses and donkeys are amazing! Kuddos to Proud Spirit Rescue and dedicating your life to giving horses a respectful retirement and being there with them to the end.



2. I got this book for my mom, who LOVES horses. I got her the first one and she loved it, even though it made her cry every time she read a story. So, I figured I'd make her cry again and get her this one, and Yes, she loved it and yes, she cried.



3. A truly remarkable book from one of the best authors of today. Heartfelt, inspiring and brimming with compassion and love, Melanie's writing reflects her deepest emotion, bringing the sounds of trotting, galloping horses right out of the page. With her we cry and laugh while gaining a deeper respect for the animals that share our planet. Superb in every respect. The purest love is what a person gives to something or someone simply for the joy of sharing it.



4. Another great book by Melanie. Hoof Prints is as colorful as the first, with new true stories about the great horses and people of Proud Spirit. I laughed and I cried. After I finished the book, I went out to the barn and hugged all my horses. We give it 2 hoofs up!



5. This is not only a great collection of stories about horse rescues; it speaks of the love and respect for animals that is the driving force behind all those who devote their time and resources to rescue and rehabilitaiton.

5 comments about The Faraway Horses: The Adventures and Wisdom of One of America's Most Renowned Horsemen.

1. I love the cadence of this book, a good read! I enjoyed his journey with various horses and his life. I recommend this book, not as a guide to training, just as a trainer's story.



2. Pretty good story,too bad I found out from this book that Buck was the horse technical advisor on the the movie The Horse Whisperer. That movie was another awful Hollywood misrepresentation and misleading work on horses and horse training. It's a shame that a real horseman like Buck could be a part of such garbage. Maybe someday Hollywood and a real horseman will get together to make a movie that shows the real nature of horses and horsemanship.



3. One of the most insiring books about Natural Horsemanship and any instructor that I have ever read. I wish I had read it before I took a clinic with Buck. I most certainly will continue to Study with him when ever possible and with the instructors he has taught. Ricky Quinn & Paul Dietz
   Thank you Buck for all that you are and all that you do for us and our Horses we love and revere so very much.
   Donna Petermann
   Gilbert Arizona



4. This book arrived in less than 1 week, in new condition. I am very happy with the service as advertised. I was given a copy of this book and have passed it along to several friends, who in turn, have passed it along until it was worn out. Quite a story and man.
   JD



5. Buck invites us on a journey of his life that is less than perfect and yet terribly intriguing. His honesty is refreshing and his story is not tainted by the misgivings of others. This book demonstrates his desire to overcome a difficult childhood, his love of horses, and his compassion for all. He is certainly not a "Hollywood cowboy," though his skills have brought him into unintended notoriety. Inspiring for all horse lovers.