No comments about How to Train Your German Shepherd (Tr-102).

4 comments about A New Owner's Guide to Chow Chows (New Owner's Guide To...).

1. We've been reading this book to prepare ourselves for our new addition of a purebred Chowlet. The breeder recommended this book and it is full of all the typical things, but also contains LOTS of excellent information for the first-time dog owner such as Basic Training. Mr. Beauchamp helps you to get inside the head of a Chow Chow more than any book I've run across. I love his personal insights, such as when his US Army experience is drawn upon to explain the training style of a Chowlet. Expert information given with memorable explanations make this book a real winner.



2. This is a great reference for a Chow owner, but even more useful for deciding whether a cute and cuddly, but stubborn Chow is the right breed for you. Chows are what their owners make them, and this book gives readers the tools and techniques to make them great companions.



3. we have a chow chow puppy and its cute



4. What a wonderful little book! We had a Chow many years ago and were considering replacing our previous mixed breed dog (who died of old age) with a Chow puppy. After we read this book, and carefully considering the pros and cons, we couldn't wait to find the right breeder. Chows aren't for everyone but this book convinced us it was still the right breed for us. The book is a buy at 3 times the price.

4 comments about Uncle Matty's Ultimate Guide to Dog Training: The Woof Papers.

1. This book appears to have been written to mimic Uncle Matty's TV show (which I've never seen). This means lots of "cute" dialogue between Uncle Matty and the dog owners he's trying to help. They even write in "stage directions," that is, what's happening at the time.
   
   And the instructions Uncle Matty gives us for the basic commands -- sit, stay, down, come, etc. -- are so complicated and convoluted, I'm not sure anyone could follow them! "Here's how you hold the leash; here's how you do your feet; don't say the dog's name; say the dog's name..." For crying out loud!
   
   After I spent a couple days slugging through this book, I read "Good Dog: Positive Dog Training Techniques" by Deborah Wolfe in a couple hours. Her philosophy differs a bit from Uncle Matty -- no high falsetto, but lots of praise nonetheless, for example -- but the basics are there: punish only if the dog understands and is caught in the act; follow it up with praise; state commands only once... Her book was much more business-like and straightforward.
   
   If you like Uncle Matty and want to read his cute-lame repartee wtih his guests, go ahead and read this book. But if you just want to get down to the business of actually training your dog, look elsewhere.



2. As a fan of 'Uncle Matty's" delightful television program, I was disappointed by this book. While the information about dog personalities and training techniques was good, the little anecdotes used to frame the information, which are touted as what makes it special, were very silly and unnatural. Uncle Matty and his collaborators need to get a better dialog writer.



3. A great book that gets you on your way to training a great to-be dog, with tips on almost all needed aspects of dog-training.



4. This is an excellent book for the average person to understand about teaching their pet household manners so the dog is much more enjoyable for the family. Matthew Margolis has such understanding of the differences between dog personalities and how they need to be handled in teaching technique. He uses praise rather than submission - therefore the dog responds because he 'wants to please his master'. He makes the statement that it is the owners that are usually at fault for bad behavior in our animals as they don't understand how to take charge. There is no such thing as an untrainable dog!

2 comments about Purebred Rescue Dog Adoption: Rewards and Realities.

1. Even though I have had many dogs, Tank was my first rescue dogs. This book was very helpful to read before adopting and in the first few months I referred back to the book frequently for helpful hints.



2. This book is just full of good information for anyone considering a rescue dog, or even just an adult dog to purchase. It reassures you that happenings are normal while also alerting you to anything that might need further study. I especially liked the case studies of actual rescue dogs and their happy endings.

2 comments about The Shetland Sheepdog: An Owner's Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet.

1. It's a nice book, pretty pictures. Did not have the information I was hoping for.



2. I bought this book along with 2 others and this book is by far the most informative for the average buyer. It is easy to read and understand. It should be all you need unless you are going to show you dog.

1 comments about Selected Shorts: Pets! (Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story).

1. If you want to buy stories about pets, don't choose these: animals play a tiny part in them and are oscurely symbolic or merely incidental to the tales. Actually, the standard is fairly high overall, with some stories much better than others, but the audience reaction is lukewarm, sometimes missing altogether the humour. Furthermore the whole is short, the three cds offering six stories, none especially long.

No comments about Dog Box - Postcards.

5 comments about What Wendell Wants: Or, How to Tell if You're Obsessed with Your Dog.

1. A review from the author of Born Without a Tail:
   
   Jenny Lee's hilarious book will resonate with any dog owner. Much of it was laugh out loud funny. I related with so much of what she describes - and saw myself, and my dogs in so many of her descriptions. A great and fun read for any dog lover.



2. As the obsessed owner of a blinded-at-birth basset hound, I really wanted to love this book. But it should have been trimmed by one-third before it went to print. I quickly grew weary of the incessant cutesy parenthetical asides, as well as Lee's habit of explaining/belaboring her jokes and pop culture references. Either we get it or we don't. Move on. (Oops, was that a belaboring? [See, this is how she writes!]).
   
   However, I enjoyed the brief essays and observations scattered throughout the book. Keyword being "brief." But the rest of it read like the work of a talented high-school student who is too amused by her own wit.
   
   For my money, the classic in the doggie love genre is Jacqueline Susann's wonderful "Every Night, Josephine." And from Lee's frequent use of the word "glorious" - an adjective that Jackie used quite a bit in her book, but to much more comic effect - I'm guessing that Lee has read it too.



3. The author was very funny and the stories rang true so many times - the thought we put into our dogs health, well-being and feelings can be over the top. She would go to any length to make sure Wendell the dog was happy and safe, and the stories were hilarious. In the end, we would all do the same. She also gives cute little descriptions of "Ten Types of Dog Owners" that all dog owners can identify with.



4. I found this book to be quite funny in its accounts of life with Wendall (or more so life with Jenny who worries about Wendall). I smiled and chuckled often as I read. However, while I am obsessed about dogs, I was relieved to find that I am not obsessed in the ways that Jenny is.
   
   But while this was a good book, it does not even compare to similiar books about life with dogs. I would recommend Marley and Me by John Grogan, A Dog Year by John Katz, and The Dogs of Bedlam Farm also by John Katz over this book anyday. Those books all seemed to captivate me and connect me to the owners in a way this book never did (although perhaps it's because this is also much shorter).



5. We bought a Papillon and the breeder who sold her to us highly recommended this book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was hard to tell how much was "real" versus made up or exaggerated in the telling, but regardless, it was a good read, if only to convince myself that I'm not that obsessed with our dogs!

4 comments about A New Owner's Guide to Lovebirds (New Owners Guide).

1. I am thrilled with this book. It has given a lot of insight. I recently became the owner of our new lovebird, Peachy. My children (4 and 20 months) LOVE to look through this book with me at the beautiful pictures. It is organized very well, and the information is useful. I find myself referencing this book quite often. Thanks :)



2. Searching for information to take care of my newly acquired small flock of lovebirds I found this book. With 160 pages it contains sufficient information, although not extremely detailed. It is indeed an excellent guide for those who begin to raise and take care of these lovely birds. Beautiful pictures, a good layout and hard cover make it a very handy and useful book, well worth its modest price.



3. I do not own a lovebird and had never owned any pet bird at all, but I had received this book as a gift and had read it several times since then! Some of the pictures are beautiful and high in quality, and if I had a lovebird, this book would have all the information I would need, from where to buy a lovebird, to breeding and hand-feeding babies. The endearing traits of lovebirds described in the book, such as an "affectionate lovebird [hiding] in it's human's clothes or underneath long hair" has definitely made me want to own a lovebird as soon as it becomes possible for me.



4. I've had lovebirds for a few years, and I'm always looking for new information about them. This book is one of the best I've found. The text is clear and the advice is easy to put into practice. The photos are pretty as well. I highly recommend it.

5 comments about World of the American Pit Bull Terrier.

1. Read this book years ago, and looking back it's almost comical in its style. 137 lb Korean chindo dogs? Korean, jindhos weigh about 45-60 lbs. Some of his claims are absurd regarding pitbulls and do the breed no favors, plus dogfighting is for criminals. So if you like biased, exaggerated portrayals of your breed this is the book for you.



2. Stratton writes books that glorify dog fighting. Anyone that truly loves their dog would read anything from Stratton!!!



3. I have raised and trained American Pit Bull Terriers for 16 years (starting in 1980). This is THE most intelligent and comprehensive book on the subject of APBT's. Anyone that can't stomach this book has no business owning an APBT...PERIOD.
   Kristi



4. I belive this book tells the true history of the APBT and anyone involved in this breed should read this book cover to cover but that is the inherit problem with a lot pit bull owners and breeders is that they don't know their dogs inside and out. The pitbulls I have owned are incredible farm dogs, I don't condone dogfighting but the realization is that dogfighting and dogmen kept this breed alive because 99% of the population didn't know what an APBT was before 1980



5. Unless you honestly think that any animal enjoys fighting another for his life, unless you enjoy the idea of animals abused for entertainment purposes or unless you think that "dog fighting" quaifies as a "gentleman's sport" then I'd suggest you look to someone other than Stratton for your information. His glorification of the past and present of dog fighting is both sickening and and frightening all at the same time.

   Calling the low lifes who get their kicks watching animals suffer "dogmen" in an attempt to sanitize this brutality does not change the facts. Dog fighting is not now, nor was it in the past, anything to be admired. His description of match details is enough to make any honest dog lover cringe.

   The book does provide some excellent historical information on the development of the breed. However, there are other excellent sources of information on the subject, which manage not to make dog fighting sound like an acceptable activity.

   Thank you Mr. Stratton for pounding one more nail into the coffin of this beautiful, loyal and misunderstoond breed.