1 comments about It's a Dog's Life: Journal for Your Pet, A.

1. It is a great way to watch Bozer (my golden / American Eskemo blend) grow. We have moved a couple of times since he was young and it is so great to have a one-place-reference for medical records. Plus, this has been a great book to take with me and show off my puppy.

1 comments about For the Love of Golden Retrievers HardCover Book (For the Love of).

1. This book is a pleasure to read, because it not only contains beautiful full-page, color calendar-quality photos of Goldens, but also gives the history of the breed as it became differentiated from other retriever breeds. The author has carefully documented the early geneology of the breed, and describes the scientific rationale for the program of inbreeding, line-breeding and outcrossing which established the breed characteristics. It was a real treat to find such depth of explanation presented so clearly. Experienced breeders as well as newcomers to the fancy will enjoy and learn from this book.

1 comments about Today's Essential Guide to Keeping Goldfish: The Aquamaster Series (Aquamaster).

1. This book didn't have nearly enough information. I still have tons of questions about my goldfish. It is especially lacking in information on goldfish illness.

No comments about Chow Chow: An Owner's Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet.

No comments about The Dachshund: An Owner's Survival Guide (Benchmark Series Book).

3 comments about Cats in the Parsonage (All God's Creatures Series, Book 1) (All God's Creatures).

1. Cute cat stories interspersed with miniature sermons.
   
   While I enjoyed the cat stories, I didn't think they were particularly well-written. Not poorly written, mind you, but it is quite clear that the author is not accustomed to writing long works or well-experienced at stringing his anecdotes together. (As he is a minister, I assume he is proficient at the shorter works he must compose every week for his sermons!)
   
   Most chapters end with a sermon, attempting to tie the stories of the chapter to a Christian lesson. These would have worked better for me if they had been gently worked into the chapters, but many will enjoy them -- I found them too preachy and an abrupt departure from the cutesy cat stories.
   
   Moreover, I think I would have been a lot more impressed with the lessons he claims to have learned from the cats if one of them had been "Hey, all these outdoor neighborhood cats we love keep getting run over by cars -- let's bring them inside or at least spay the mothers so they stop dropping doomed-to-die kittens" instead of "You should keep loving even though sometimes it ends up hurting you." It's really sad to read the occasional mentions of these poor outdoor critters among the cute indoor cat stories, and doubly sad because the author, his wife, and his neighbors don't seem to think about it or how they could stop it. Giving playful lectures to the stray female cats about promiscuity is all very well, but a trip to the vet would have been rather more effective.
   
   In the end, I can't recommend this book to cat lovers -- and who else would really be interested in it? I'll be selling my copy to the used bookshop or putting it up on BookMooch.com, because I'm not interested in keeping such a thing.



2. What is more fun if your a cat lover, than reading this wonderful book. Full of religion and cats. The preacher and his wife learn to enjoy the antics of their cats. This is a wonderful inspirational book.



3. I received this as a gift because I LOVE cats! I could only read so much. In the first 17 pages, the author has an "outside" cat that gives birth to 5 kittens, 2 of which get run over. Those 3 then have kittens of their own, bringing the total to 16 cats.
   The author doesn't think about being a responsible pet owner and having them spayed or nuetered. One of the cats has a
   hard time giving birth, and is weak and sick for days afterward. Does the owner take her to a vet? Of course not!
   He leaves everything up to God. The writing is peppered with religious talk that makes me sick, because the owners won't even take care of their pets! I couldn't finish the book- it made me so angry.

1 comments about Curious Cats.

1. this book is just too cute for words, if you like cats that is.The front cover is not as funny as Comical Cats, but the pictures inside are better. Personally, I feel sorry for some of the cats who have their pictures in this book when I think about the fact that they actually had to get in the positions they were in in the book.Most of the pictures in this book are close ups and some of them are of really adorable kittens, young kittens. I love it!

1 comments about Monarch of Deadman Bay: The Life and Death of a Kodiak Bear.

1. The Monarch Of Deadman Bay is an outstanding story of nature and survival. The format and prose are splendid in this story as it follows the life of a Kodiak Bear. It begins at the time of his conception and follows him through his rise in status as the dominant bear in the Deadman Bay area on the southern coast of Kodiak Island and finally to his death.
   
   This is a wildlife story and though there are some references to hunting it doesn't take an anti-hunting or a pro-hunting stance. The story is told from the bear's viewpoint. It's a story of the daily struggle for survival in the wilderness. Told with outstanding and sometimes brutal descriptions of both the various wildlife species and the the harsh environment that they survive in.
   
   The story is grand and it is obvious that Roger Caras has a vast knowledge of wildlife habits and habitat. He also clearly understands how harsh and violent life can be in even the most beautiful areas of the vast wilderness areas of the world.
   
   If there is one criticism that I have it's that Caras occassionally uses complex terms where simpler words would be just as effective and more readable. A story should flow and be very easy to follow and not be a tribute to the writers vocabulary. My opinion? If you like stories about the environment, raw and natural. Read this one and overlook the "Ten dollar words" (they're not on every page anyway). Enjoy the story for it's own sake.

5 comments about The Rabbit: An Owner's Guide to a Happy Healthy Pet.

1. Urban rabbits must be spayed or neutered. Not only is it safer and healthier for the rabbit, it will also help prevent overpopulation of rabbits, which results in needless suffering and euthanisia of innocent rabbits. The person who said rabbits' skin is too thin to support stitches is TOTALLY misinformed. The surgery is successfully performed around the country on a daily basis on house rabbits. Please, please read as much material as you can on rabbits before purchasing. Please get one from a shelter and not from pet stores.



2. Out of my "library" of about 10 rabbit books, this is one of them that I thumb through often. Being an experienced rabbit owner, I'm not in bad need of information, but this is just a joy to read. There are lots of interesting pictures, of our floppy eared furry friends, and loads of information. A must for a "newbie" to the bunny world!

   And, regarding the ignorant person who posted the comment about altering a rabbit, it is perfectly safe for rabbits to be altered. In fact, it is safer to have them altered than to not (due to testicular and uterine cancer). I'm sorry that you've been misinformed.




3. the person who said that they should not be spayed or newtered is wrong, very wrong, if you look at the title it says FOR A HAPPY, HEALTHY PET! not for rabbit breeders, o well he/she is entitled to her/his opinion. but i found this book very good and it started my love for rabbits. it is very descripted and i hope you love it too.



4. I had to laugh at the previous review, which stated that rabbits should not be spayed! Tell that to the millions of rabbits spayed in the past 11 years since the House Rabbit Society was formed! Assuming a vet experienced with rabbits, this is now a fairly routine surgery, and it saves lives and leads to happier rabbits.

   That said, Ms. Pavia's book, while not House Rabbit Handbook (my #1 recommendation), is pretty good. There are a few problems with it, but overall it's a good introduction, and far better than the breeder-based books out there.




5. It did not help me with breeding. It said that you should spay you rabbit, that is incorect info. You should never spay a rabbit or do any other sugery on them, because their skin is to fin and silky to hold stiches and then it rips.

3 comments about Dogwise: The Natural Way to Train Your Dog.

1. I actually had the chance to spend time at a seminar that John Fisher put on at the Humane Society. Before his death, he was working very hard to show owners/trainers how to work with their dogs and not use the standard dominance/punishment method. Unfortuantely a previous reviewer must not have read the whole book. You introduce the discs slowly and you are simply dropping them when you introduce them (from a distance of you knee to the floor, because you sit when introducing these) Later when working distance exercises you may toss them near a dog as a distraction...but nothing more. His video show the steps much better. "Training dogs in the human pack" As he states in the book, to get a better understanding of how the discs work he advises you read his other books, this book does not go into full detail. Overall I enjoyed reading Dogwise. They shaped the dogs behavior with NO aggression or punishment. They made the dog figure things out on his own and in a very short period of time. It's great reading if you want to undersatnd how your dog learns and what you can do to teach them in a positive way.



2. What an awful approach, if the dog ignores a command you scare him/her into action by throwing noisy metal discs at him/her.

   There are so many positive ways to train dogs there is no reason to scare them into action.




3. Dogwise is an amazingly practical guide to training. It gives an insight to dog psyche and is very easy to follow. Training a dog a command takes no more than fifteen minutes, that's my own personal practical and successful experience. You can also help your dog learn other commands based on the same techniques given here, you'll become innovative. The illustrations are great but the number of photographs should have been more. Whatever dogwise is a book that can turn your dog from scratch to a complete police dog in no more than three months. Take my word for it! I strongly recommend dog lovers to give it a try; they and their dogs will both be happy and better off.