1 comments about The Versatile Border Collie.

1. This book was really helpful on understanding my dog, I aqcuired it when my dog was 2 months old. he is now 5 and I've been able to housbreak him and give him some basic training commands succesfully. Besides, this is an excelent guide on grooming and feeding this breed, I honestly recomend it.
   Enrique Carcaño
   Mexico City

2 comments about Walking With Zeke.

1. (This review first appeared on [...].)
   
   Chris Clarke calls "Walking with Zeke" an edited compilation of "several years of writing about my best friend's life and death." It's pretty safe to say that "Walking with Zeke" is the best self-published book of the year, and the best "book that grew from a blog" of all time. Lifted straight from the author's acclaimed Creek Running North web log (blog seems too coarse a word for the fine writing he's done here) with only a little reworking, it's surprising how well the story coheres, told in the original journal entry format.
   
   This is a great animal book, but also much more than an animal book. It's filled with the author's love for his companion, deft characterizations of Zeke, and moving accounts of the author's near-heroic efforts to care for him until the end. As an old writing instructor once said, "If you're not risking sentimentality, you're not even in the ballpark." Treading on inherently sentimental ground, Clarke rises above sentimentality to deliver honest and often gripping emotion.
   
   But beyond the central core of Zeke's story, this is also a book filled with careful observations of nature in the author's Bay Area community of Pinole, in the Sierra, in the Mojave, and elsewhere. There are also odd moments of humor, fascinating meditations on the convergent evolution of humans and dogs, and thoughts on the intersection of wild and tamed nature.
   
   Walking with Zeke achieves what all good nature writing should: it reminds us simply to pay attention.



2. Potential readers may hold two reservations. How could the last years of a dog, no matter how cherished, fail to seem slight in comparison to Chris Clarke's masterful nature essays at Creek Running North? How could material initially contained in blog posts be ordered or shaped?
   
   I believe that you will find both concerns unfounded, and love this book, unalloyed.
   
   I.
   
   First (and perhaps shockingly): this is not a dog book. Rather, Clarke has written a memoir on his enmeshment, his overlapping boundaries with the natural world. Clarke himself admits only that he writes "about wildlife, family, paleontology and Zeke through the lens of how I feel about my relationship with myself." I would submit that Zeke is not truly a subject at all, but rather a joint-venturer and co-author. His royalties, one presumes, were paid in advance, in filet tender.
   
   Clarke (with Zeke) walks through landscapes -- the Bay Area, the Mojave, Northern New York State -- with an unmatched ability to inhabit the growing and the breathing, the fossil and its stone. His writing is umami, and so triggers those newly-discovered receptors. The reader tastes the savory, the yum.
   
   There are the careful observations, which you want to carry away and sleep with, as Freda the rat does with dollar bills from Clarke's wallet. After a Christmas tree is sacrificed, "[t]he shredder smells of conifer sachet." A fire in the Oakland Hills spews "[l]ive embers the size of chickpeas." Soaproot leaves are "frozen splashes around imagined points of impact." Gardening on a hill of diatomite (fossil Miocene plankton) is like "walking on very stale halvah."
   
   There are the pervasive seams of esoteric knowledge: botany, gardening, corvid behaviors, paleontology, geology. Clarke displays the world's workings: the mechanism of cholla barbs; co-evolution of dogs and humans; how soaproot's saponin-filled leaves suggest assignment to the Agave family; Mayan legends of the coyote; the altitudinal range of the Joshua Tree. Clarke obviously loves the physical world with his head as well as his heart. Each detail flows seamlessly from the narrative, yet lends weight and authority.
   
   There is throughout, one must note, a witty, inimitable authorial voice for which Zeke is blameless. A vet suggests opiates for pain. The author fears that Zeke will write "senseless dream fever poetry," and riffs a "Kibble Khan" Coleridge parody. Clarke finds a tail shed by a Western Fence lizard, likely under feline duress. He uses it to boost the growth of a potted cactus, in hopes that the plant someday will fall on a cat and effect "the revenge of the tail." Musing on a Buddhist approach to environmental protection, Clarke opines: "I want no part of any enlightenment posited on the nonexistence of bird song, of capsicum, of salt water or libido or tooth enamel."
   
   Do we hear Clarke speak about his dog? Absolutely, his book sings just as he sang to Zeke on every walk: "[n]onsense, mainly, about the squirrels as we walk past them or about his bad breath or dirty feet or general fuzziness". But Zeke is but one strand of Clarke's braided love of the physical world. On hands and knees in January, Clarke grazes the miner's lettuce of the California hills: it "tastes like home, and spinach."
   
   II.
   
   We also read, of course, of Zeke's decline and Clarke's grief. At book's end, Zeke's world is his bed; the author's world-gaze is similarly blindered. This is exactly where Clarke made an unerring decision: to maintain blog-post order.
   
   The posts themselves had not been journal snippets, but rather had knit past, present and future. Posts meditated on memories, current events and anticipation of loss-- "[a] long life is a landscape of holes where things once grew." Clarke marries these layers of the human temporal with observations on geologic time. The result is a deep earth perspective of aging, death and grief.
   
   This perspective wrings out tears and self-pity, and instead impresses a dry but detailed story into the land. The sorrows of life on earth are the earth. Passages like this preserve our brief human lives, and the even shorter lives of the dogs who leave us behind:
   
   "Green serpentine from the earth's mantle, sand laid down on the bed of a Miocene sea, shale made of silt washed down from the Sierra, diatomite from a deep trench off Monterey: all mix as pebbles in the bed of Pinole Creek. All of them will wash out to the bay, eventually. A gravel delta runs fifty yards out from the creek mouth now. It was not there last year. At quarter to three tomorrow morning, the tide will wash over it again."

2 comments about English Cocker Spaniel (Comprehensive Owner's Guide) (Comprehensive Owner's Guide).

1. This book is so much better than many of the other breed books out there that offer nothing but basic knowledge filler. I was skeptical about buying it, but figured what the heck. It's worth the money and has lots of good information in it.



2. This book was a true insight for us into the life of a cocker spaniel, how to train them, live with them, feed them, groom them, walk them and treat them as one of the family. It was invaluable.

4 comments about Blessing The Animals: Prayers and Ceremonies to Celebrate God's Creatures, Wild and Tame.

1. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I found the perfect poem for a friend who had to euthanize her best friend, a yellow lab. The selections are diverse, and seem to have been compiled by someone who understands the loss of an animal friend



2. There's an even MORE in-depth book entitled, "Blessing of the Animals" by Diana L. Guerrero (Sterling Publishing). Guerrero's book contains more than quotes -- it also has great ideas for activities to celebrate animals, such as birthdays, new pets, loss of a pet, religious ceremonies, and a lot more. You may want to check it out as well.



3. As a collector of poems, quotes, and tributes to beloved pets, I plan to keep this beautiful volume close at hand for browsing, comfort and inspiration. The author has done a wonderful job of compiling literature from many faiths and representing all animal species. As I am anticipating having to say goodbye to a much beloved dog, I found the passages suitable for memorials very meaningful and uplifting.



4. I wanted a book I could use to lead prayers for my dog, dogs that I volunteer with at the shelter, and the animal world at large. This book fits the bill perfectly. Poems, prayers, and blessings from many different faiths (buddhism, native american, protestant, jewish, many differnet ones. Deep and meaningful prose from a variety of authors. Beautiful!

No comments about Rat (Animal).

No comments about Pastor Aleman / Greman Sheperd Dog (Nuevas Guias Perros De Raza / New Guides Breed Dogs).

5 comments about The Basenji Out of Africa, Revised Edition: A New Look (Pure-bred).

1. This book went on a bit about specific basenjis and their blood lines. I found it a bit technical to tell you the truth. The first couple of chapters were excellent though where the author describes the personality of the fabulously independent basenji dog. Probably great if you are a breeder or seriously into the history of the basenji.



2. If you own a basenji or are curious about them, this book is for you!
   
   Coe tells us plenty about basenjis, which are native to eastern Zaire. These expressive dogs rarely pant, they rarely bark, and they rarely are obedient. More than any other dogs, they will look you straight in the eye. And they yodel in approval when you show up or offer food.
   
   These 30-pound dogs are very handsome, as they each sit like an Anubis. A black-and-white one will appear to be wearing a perpetual tuxedo, with ears up and a curled-up tail. They are fast and energetic escape artists. They are short-haired, and dislike cold or wet weather. One problem is that many of them have a tendency to nip at people without provocation.
   
   The author has a discussion of top show basenjis, with pictures of several of them. And advice for those who want to take their basenjis hunting, or racing (lure coursing), or enter their dog in obedience competitions (good luck!). And there's plenty of advice on breeding basenjis and caring for them.
   
   It's a great book for those who are interested in this unusual breed.



3. The basenji is a beautiful and exotic dog. They are very distinctive looking from their high, wrinkled foreheads to their doubly curled tails. Swift and long legged, the basenji moves with the grace of an Impala (the antelope, not the Chevrolet). Basenjis laugh and make a yodeling sound instead of barking. They also don't shed. Females come into season once a year whereas other breeds come into season twice a year.

   Basenjis have a long established history. They were the beloved pets of ancient Egyptian nobility. They figured prominently in art and Egyptian culture. Anubis, the Egyptian God of the underworld had a basenji head. Basenji shaped footstools and paintings of the exotic dog graced Egyptian homes and can now be found in museums.

   Basenjis were brought from Africa to Europe in the 1930s and have since become a loved and recognized breed worldwide.

   This book is a treasure trove of history about a delightful ancient breed. The pictures alone will delight any reader. Basenjis are truly special, lovable dogs.




4. This is a must have anyone that loves the Basenji. It is filled with an excellent history of the Basenji breed.



5. I own and love these dogs. This book helped a lot in answering many questions about the breed. A must for any Basenji household.

No comments about The Art of Horseshoeing: A Manual for Farriers (Farrier classics).

5 comments about The Alaskan Malamute: Yesterday and Today.

1. The book is well written and consist of a wealth of knowledge about the breed. Unfortunately it is to theoretical and not as practical as I hoped it would be. Also the pics are dull and in black and white and doesn't give the book an attractive feel to it. Also some chapters in the book are useless information unless u plan to write a thesis about the first dogs in the line. Overall some useful info. in this book but will not consider it to be the ultimate book to describe Alaskan malamutes



2. We bought this book shortly after it first came out and from that point forward we have purchased copies for anyone who has gotten one of our puppies. We feel strongly that along with our mentoring new owners, this book provides a resource for them to understand their dog. Bobbie Brooks has done an outstanding service to our breed with this book!



3. You will find all you need to know about this fantastic breed from grooming, showing, training, and of course the origin. I recommend it to everyone who loves mals like me!! (greetings from Malta Europe)



4. I wish a bought this book before I got my first Malamute. It's got everything about the breed. As a malamute owner, it's one of the best books I've ever bought. I would even bet it's the most comprehensive book ever written on ANY dog breed!



5. This book tells it straight about the butchest dog there is. You can't say fairer than that.

No comments about Principles of Driving (German National Equestrian Federation's Complete Riding and) (German National Equestrian Federation's Complete Riding and).