Love is the Best Medicine: What Two Dogs Taught One Veterinarian about Hope, Humility, and Everyday Miracles, by Nick Trout [$23.99 hardcover] – From instant New York Times bestseller, Dr. Nick Trout comes another touching and heartfelt story from the front lines of veterinary medicine—the story of two dogs who forever changed the way he thought about life, death, fate and love. Helen is an older cocker spaniel found neglected and abandoned in a restaurant parking lot one rainy night. Despite her mangy condition and terrible smell, Ben and Eileen fall in love with the pitiful creature and decide to take her in. But just as Helen is rescued from a sad life on the streets and enveloped in a loving home with all the creature comforts an old dog could ask for, a tumor is discovered and she's given a devastating prognosis. All Ben and Eileen want is for Helen to beat the odds and survive for one more summer so that she can have one chance to swim in the ocean on the family's annual trip to Prince Edward Island. In short, they want a miracle. Meanwhile, fourteen-month-old miniature pinscher Cleo keeps breaking one leg after another which devastates her poor owner, Sandi. While Cleo is visiting Sandi's daughter, Sonja, in Bermuda, she succumbs to yet another fracture. Distraught that the injury happened on her watch, Sonja makes a plan to fly Cleo to Boston to get the specialist care she needs before Sandi even finds out. Enter Dr. Trout who presides over what should be a fairly routine surgery. What happens next forever links two families, their dogs and a beloved veterinarian and teaches them all a lesson about grace that resonates to this day. Love is the Best Medicine immerses you in the true life drama of beloved pets whose lives hang in the balance. Every page underscores the profound bond we have with the animals in our lives and the incredible responsibility Nick carries as their healer. Certainly Dr. Trout has an impressive array of fancy equipment, training and skills at his disposal, but his most important tool (as he persuasively illustrates here) is a fundamental belief in the power of hope, humility, and grace. Wry, charming, and intensely affecting, Love is the Best Medicine is a one of a kind story only the winsome Dr. Trout could deliver and is destined to become a favorite for animal lovers.
Imagine Life with a Well-Behaved Dog: A 3-Step Positive Dog-Training Program, by Julie A. Bjelland [$17.99 paper] – Do you consider your dog part of the family? Most dog guardians do. But just like children, dogs need structure - structure to show them that they shouldn't jump on every person who enters your house, or urinate indoors, or drag you down the road when you walk them. In Imagine Life with a Well-Behaved Dog, Julie Bjelland offers all the information you need to make your dog confident, secure and able to understand and follow rules. Drawing on years of experience, Julie has created a thorough guide that teaches basic training, how to communicate with your dog, and how to prevent and solve behavior problems. She discusses puppies and adult dogs, even special needs dogs, and tells how to choose the right dog for your family and how to integrate him into a home with kids, other dogs, or cats. Because each dog's situation is unique, Julie is offering readers exclusive one-on-one guidance via her website, for up to 60 days. Here dog training, often very expensive, is affordable and accessible to a broad audience. Julie's down-to-earth, uncomplicated advice is a welcome solution for a busy dog guardian and aims to change the way people communicate with, and care for, their dogs forever.
See Spot Run: 100 Ways to Work Out with Your Dog, by Kirsten Cole-MacMurray and Stephanie Nishimoto [$19.99 paper] - Do you want your dog to be more active, and to run, jump, hike, and play alongside you when you exercise? Getting active begins way before you start training your dog on equipment or on agility courses. You must ramp up your daily activity, interactions, and overall health of the dog and the trainer—you! From their experiences as puppies to what they eat at every stage of their lives to what they do when they're not in "training" mode, your dog's lifestyle matters. Your canine companion's performance depends a lot on how they view you as their leader; how much impulse control they have, how much focus, and how they channel their energy to the job at hand. See Spot Run teaches you the basics of canine/owner fitness, including nutrition, getting to know fitness equipment, building a weekly program...and how to stick with the program, and more. Then, the book dives into the instructions for more than 100 sports, games, and activities, teaching you the rules and skills, how to set a training schedule, how to dive in and get your paws wet, and beyond.
