Pet Books

This book has some pretty great pictures! Definitely a great gift for any horse lover that dreams of having their own barn.

I live, breathe horses. Ever since the age of 2, when I rode my first horse I have been as they say "horse crazy". I ride horses alot for 4-H and for my school's Equestrian Team and when I saw this book in my Horse Illistrated Magazine and instintly wanted to get it. I looked online for it and found it on its original website, but I didn't want to pay the full price. I searched around an found the best deal here on Amazon.com I read the book cover to cover and still constintally (sp?) look at it. Its a dream of mine to open my own horse barn someday and this book has been a real instiration and a enjoyable book for me!

This pictorial gem makes a great gift for the horse-lover in your life. The photographs are absolutely breathtaking.

As a lover of horses and pictoral books on design, I have been looking for this type of book on horse barns for quite some time. This book contains a well thought out range of historic and new equine related buildings that have been beautifully photographed. The descriptive passages relating to each property give a very personal and charming look at the development, building process and use of the buildings. My interest in the book was primarily in the photographs which are not over powered by the text. I have purchased a number of other books on the subject but they do not compare to the quality of this publication. For horse lovers, would be barn builders and lovers of unique architecture, I highly recommend "Ultimate Horse Barns".

And I thought that people spent a lot of money on houses. Then again, with horses of the caliber being housed here, I suppose the cost of the Ultimate Horse Barns being shown here isn't significant after all. You could build nearly any of them for say $4 to $5 million. Needless to say these are not little sheds just to keep the horse out of the rain.

The buildings included here range from new construction to buildings that are well over a hundred years old. Many of these buildings are part of institutions such as the University of Vermont, the Kiwanis Club of West Toronto. Some belonged to the rich and famous, such as Vanderbilt. Some are working horse farms, but with a specialty in breeding or training high end horses.

Note though that these are working barns. There are horses here, horses being groomes, trained, or like 'Bailey' on page 125 looking out of his stall as if to say, 'OK, it's morning, where's my breakfast.'

Well, the book got made, and I bought it. Maybe I'm the dumb one!

We are still (months later) trying, as we really want to eliminate the litter, but have had to research other books and the internet for more, MUCH more info. This author doesn't even offer info for more questions. It's as if he's covered every possible scenario in the world, now it's up to you, the reader, to do it.

All you have to do is read the other reviews of this book to see that he's left out A LOT of possibilities. The reader is left to his own devices to fill in the numerous blanks. And as much time and energy as it takes, I find it almost impossible to believe the author has spent time training his friends' cats, too. It is time consuming, messy, and so far, extremely frustrating for both me and my cat.

We have followed, word for word, every instruction in the book, and have still been unsuccessful. The Saran Wrap? Bad idea - the cat falls through, every time (even with heavy duty wrap & very light Siamese cat ) which causes MUCH consternation on the part of the cat. We finally rig it so he can go again - he'll go, but doesn't like it. He has to be contained in the bathroom, and even still, will go on the floor rather than in the pot.

The pace of the training is entirely too fast, and offers no other options. Note to publisher: if you reprint this book, it needs some serious revisions.

i just bought this book last night and i read it cover to cover. granted i already did a few hours of preliminary research on cat toilet training methods and available training products online, the book was overly simplistic and i was appalled by some of the methods the author suggests.

first of all, only 33 pages of the book are actually dedicated to the training process itself which is 27% of the book. the majority of the remaining pages covers litter box training, a subject that i can probably safely assume that most of us have already addressed. the author does not address questions related to correct toilet seat posture, training multiple cats, getting your cat to use other toilets, and traveling with your cat.

the 33 pages of applicable material covers a 21 day process: the first 16 days consist of moving the litter box to the bathroom (1 day), gradually elevating the litter box to toilet seat height (12 days),and gradually moving the litter box from the stack of newspapers directly onto the toilet seat (3 days). on the 17th day, the author instructs you to remove the litter box altogether and give your cat the next 4 days to use the toilet seat itself. equipment needed? just heavy duty plastic wrap, adhesive tape, and newspapers. wow! lift the toilet seat, take a sheet of plastic wrap and attach the plastic across the toilet's porcelain rim leaving a slight indention in the middle. fill the middle with a cup of kitty litter and lower the toilet seat. the last 3 days instruct us to cut a small hole and then larger holes each day in the middle of the plastic wrap while at the same time using less and less kitty litter. on day 20, voila, get rid of the plastic wrap and litter! day 21, congratulate yourself. so in actuality, this is a 20 day training process.

the author's instructions are much too simplistic and give more weight to the height adjustment the cat will have to make (jumping up to use the bathroom) than the changes associated with posture and balance on the toilet seat, the removal of kitty litter, and the water in the toilet being exposed as the barrier disappears. most importantly, i'd like to know how many cats the author has actually toilet trained using his methods b/c i don't understand how heavy duty plastic wrap and adhesive tape can support the weight of anything larger than a 3 lb kitten. if the cat doesn't feel safe on the training contraption, it is probably going to refuse to use it. if the cat were to actually fall in, i'm pretty sure the cat will rebel against any other attempts at toilet training.

also, unless you have a spare bathroom, you may give up on toilet training before the cat. i imagine it will get really annoying removing, repositioning, and reattaching flimsy plastic wrap to your toilet everytime someone in the household needs to use it. or reinstalling and cutting holes in plastic wrap each time the cat soils the plastic wrap. i suggest buying one of the commercially available toilet training plastic pans, such as citikitty or litter kwitter, or just finding a metal bowl with the same diameter as the inside of your toilet bowl or aluminum baking pan that will sit securely under the toilet seat.

in all fairness, the book does address two topics that were completely new to me. in the first, the author states that you should not even attempt to train an unaltered cat. however, he does not address why this is true. secondly, he suggests that many cats can be "hooked" on the smell of chemically treated litter, so they should be slowly weaned off the scent by mixing the old litter with a new unscented (flushable) version.

i bought this book at half price books for $2.98. it wasn't even worth that.

The book was very clear and the steps are easy. My cats started off following right along, However I didn't follow the directions exactly & did have a set back. I'm looking forward to trying again & hopefull that it will work this time. I would advise anyone trying this method to make sure the rest of their house is clean though. If your cat does hit a point where they decide to resist the training, that fresh pile of clean laundry seems to be a favorite site for them to express their irritation at the new change to their lives.

I bought this book recently after being fed up with cleaning the cat box, stepping on litter that had fallen out, and lugging a ginormous amount of litter up stairs.
The majority (2/3) of this book is about cat behavior, even to what your cat's meows mean. In essence, why cats do what they do and how they have the potential to be toilet trained.
I did more research on the internet before I began Kunkel's method. His method, for me at least, would involve more money being spent than I was inclined to spend (new box that fit the size specifications, undeoderized litter to wean my cats off of the deoderized kind, etc.). Plus, his last few steps involve saran wrap and tape that goes over the bowl of the toilet. In other words, I feel there is a lot of potential for psychological damage for the cat - and maybe the owner, too!
Instead, I purchased a CITIKITTY (www.citikitty.com). My cats used it immediately - 20 minutes out of the box - and I am highly satisfied with the results so far. It is filled with litter and fits over the bowl of the toilet, under the seat. It is durable enough that the cats can stand in it and it is easy enough to take off when I need to use the toilet (no adhesives or other mess). A hole is made in the center that gradually gets larger so that the cat is forced to stand on the seat itself.
Toilet training your cat is an exercise in classical conditioning, whatever methodology you use. Go slow and with the pace of your cat. Good luck!

Most of the book contains information about how to litter train a kitten, but the last 20ish pages are the key. Our cat, Fenway, was not successful in just 21 days and required the alternate method. But, we are litter free now and have been for about two weeks. Plus, we really didn't need to buy anything new for this book. We had everything on hand. It was a bit annoying at the plastic wrap time as we had to leave our apartment to find another toilet. It would be nice if it had other chapters such as "Adding a second cat to your house" and "Moving to a new home." Check out this blog for photos of our Fenway in action--baggypantsandbravado.blogspot.c0m.

Great and informative book. Puts a lot of the problems now faced in the west into their context. Covers a lot of land history in the west not generally covered in school, but definately not a dry read!

A very though look at the major issues dividing westerners today. Looks at ranching, water, and logging in a very readable style. Do not loan this one out because it NEVER get returned. The only downfall is that this book is already dated because of the rise of the Wise Use movement.

An excellent rendition of how western law had transformend the American West into a land for humans, filled with dam after dam. Wild salmon have no where to go. Laws seem to be more powerful than Nature!

Wilkinson offers a balanced account of the forces that created the law and policy of the American West, and also of the forces that keep those outdated policies active in a very different West. As a native of Colorado, it was apparent that Wilkenson has spent a great deal of time in the American West and truly understands the complex issues that the region faces today. Very well researched, very easy to read.

A very scholarly, but accessible, history of the development of the West and the social/political/economic structures that shaped land, water and resource rights there. In particular, Wilkinson is addressing the notorious Hardrock Mining Act of 1872 (still in effect), the distribution of land and grazing rights, the fisheries of the Pacific Northwest, and the timber industry. His analysis of the Lords of Yesterday - his term for the antiquated statutes that govern those industries - is very convincing. The book's only weakness is that this is a 1992 text (presumably researched in the decade previous) that doesn't reflect changes in the laws and political pressures over the past decade. It would benefit from a new edition.

This book came in a timely fashion and was very well kept. Great book to read when looking for the answers to questions you may have. Awesome purchase.

This series is well worth every penny. You can find a lot of books for less but that is what you are getting. Save yourself some money and get the series that thoroughly do cover every aspect of the hobby in amazing detail. This series is amazing and you will love it. It is a bit scientific but it does not leave anything out.

New hobbyist should read this book for advice, then read it again in 6 months.

An exceptional book on the subject. It is comprehensive but I would not say not complete as no book on this subject could be. Still I believe this book to be the best work compiled in book form. Described by many as "the Bible" on the subject it indeed may be but it is not dogmatic as it offers several options and methods and leaves it for the aquarist to use.
(Note: This volume covers stony corals and not soft corals).
When I started keeping marine aquaria keeping back in 1970 one almost had to employ the skills of a chemist. In those days most people in the hobby  thought it nearly impossible to care for many of the species of coral now commonly kept. It was only through the encouragement of a local public aquarium (the John G. Shedd Aquarium) whereas a high school student I was able to participate in collecting trips that I got the encouragement to experiment. I started out with Robert Straughan's books back in 1970 which both helped to get me in trouble and helped me grow as an aquarist. both In those days there was an awful lot of trial and error. Later in the late 70's I helped to pioneer some techniques when I worked for the Steinhart Aquarium in San Francisco. In those days in San Francisco I worked for one of the largest marine fish wholesalers in the world. We had a lot of shipments that went off to Germany and now I wonder if some of the species that passed through my hands ended up in the hands of the authors. Somewhat of a revolution went of in the hoby in the 1980 thanks in part to the efforts of the Germans. Thankfully the hobby is now much more of a discipline and a lot more humane. It is quite amazing how far the hobby has come. I am sure the hobby will continue to evolve. This is a pricey book but it is a pricey hobby and this book is one of the best, if not the best, books on the subject available. The best place to start with the hobby is a book like this one.

The good?

This book is truly a comprehensive piece covering probably more than you want to know at times. For example, it explains the chemical reactions that occur during calcification of corals and why additions are necessary.

After reading many other references, I must say I am very happy I purchased this volume. Contained in these pages are insights you won't find anywhere else.

The book clearly explains the setup and maintenance procedures required to be successful in stony coral reef keeping.

The bad?

My main gripe is trivial. Guys, how about a larger font size and pictures? I had to do a lot of squinting.

It could do with a minor revision of some references that are dated (such as collection of live rock from Florida) as the original was 1994, but make no mistake that all information is relevant.

In summary...

Obviously at this price it is unfortunately out of reach of the casual hobbyist, which is a shame. However, one could buy this book instead of various "reference manuals" which might be the same at the end of the day.

Buy it if you can afford it.

I also highly recommend Eric Borneman's Aquarium Corals book.

In my opinion, this is one of the best starter book for raising a puppy, I wish I know about this book 3 months ago when we get our first ever puppy. I now know that we have spoiled the little guy and will need a much longer training to bring him back to true family pet.

The reason it does not get a 5 stars is the book missing detail on some of the training technique or process. But overall, I recommand this to all new dog owners.

I am a rescuer, and I have purchased many copies of this book to give to new adopters-- and I ALWAYS recommend it to every dog owner. This book offers great instruction for training obedience-- AND lots of useful information on dog behavior.

this is a good book when you first get your puppy and i really like her techniques but i was looking for more tricks.

I have had dogs all my life, and though I thought I knew dogs pretty well and how to train them, I learned a lot from this book. I recognized that some of my methods were out of date. I tried these new and improved methods on a new dog I just got who is 1.5 years old. It has been amazing how quickly our bond grew from these both sensible and respectful methods of teaching. I learned not to be quite so forceful with my new friend. I learned that being Alpha in the pack did not mean having to intimidate my dogs. I highly recommend it for those who are not getting the behaviors they want and need from their dog companions, and also, for those who are considering getting or just have added a new dog of any age to the family. Knowledge like this can really save many if not most of these beautiful and loving animals from being dumped at our shelters or elsewhere.

This book goes over the basics of puppy and dog training using positive methods. It's a great introduction to positive training methods and describes how to teach your dog a number of important behaviors. It has definitely helped me train my new puppy. My only complaint is that there are a few training descriptions that don't really tell you how to finish the exercise with your dog. For example, the book goes over the difference between "wait" and "stay" and describes how to do both, but focuses on "stay." It didn't really tell how you tell your dog he can stop the "wait." I'm going to be looking for more information to help me continue training my puppy, but I still would definitely recommend it for anyone new to dog ownership.

I really enjoyed this book, it in real speak talks about the breed and details many aspects. It is very conversationaly and informative. Buy and enjoy!

This is an excellent resource for anyone considering a french bulldog. (I also recommend it if you just like lots of cute puppy pictures!) It's packed full of everything you need to know about your frenchie, with special attention paid to health and training issues. Please make this book your first step in acquiring a french bulldog. Proper research is key to finding the right dog for you!

I bought this book on a whim as I already have plenty of other similar books but to my delight I found it to be funny and insightful as well as interesting and informative. The authors obviously have in-depth knowledge of this lovely breed and will give the reader many chuckles as they comment on the Frenchies quirks and peculiarities. However, it is also an excellent guide for the prospective owner giving good, sound information (and masses of photos)on how to look after a special little dog.

Clearly Bob Tarte strikes a chord with readers of all stripes. The way he gives his life over to his animals, and the rewards he receives, are quite spectacular. There is really no writer like him. This book made me laugh out loud several times. Knowing that the author is prone to depression, and that his wife has chronic back problems, this could easily have become a whinefest. But they both see the humor in everyday situations, and the demands of their menagerie are what keeps them both going. The sad parts are quite touching but never maudlin. I loved living their life vicariously. Thank you, Bob Tarte, and please keep on sharing!

Laugh out loud funny.I am currently reading the sequel"Fowl Weather"and it is just as good.Bob,put pen to paper and give us more.

I will be one of the few dissenting opinions here. While the author certainly lets us into his life with honestly and humor, the fact that nearly of his pets treat him and his wife with what appears to be contempt makes this entire book seem like 3 hours of looking at a car wreck. And while a normal, well-adjusted life wouldnt make an interesting book, I lost sympathy for the author and his wife when some of their pets deaths were due to lack of proper maintenance of their housing. In addition they seem to have some sort of weird co-dependency with the most abusive animals such as the older parrots, enduring much pain for little return and yet insisting on always replacing them so the level of abuse stays the same, while treating the few animals that actually return love on a regular basis as somehow less important.

If you want to spend three or more hours looking at car wreck then buy this book.

I'm not normally a nonfiction reader, but Bob Tarte's Fowl Weather is a great book to break away from the fiction habit. This book will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will restore your faith in the human race to know there are people out there (besides yourself) that truly care about, and nourish, God's creatures. Bob Tarte and his wife, Linda, go above and beyond in their nurturing of wild, and not so wild, animals. Bob relates his adventures with them in a funny, honest and totally involving manner. From Moobie, the white, picky cat, (who I loved) to Stanley Sue, the endearing parrot, to Bertie, the bunny, Bob writes about all of his pets with intelligence, humor and obvious affection. - Lisa, the Librarian

I thought Enslaved by Ducks was wonderful. I didn't see how a sequel could match it. But Tarte has come through with something just as funny if not more so. I could barely go to sleep at night worrying about how he was going to resolve his next dilemma. What else could go wrong? Apparently, anything and everything. Tarte's writing is exceptional. I truly think he could find a discarded potato chip bag on the side of the road and create a page-turning story out of it. NPR recently reviewed this book in their "Under the Radar" feature on their website.

If you have only one textbook about birds on your bookshelf, choose this one. The text is easy to understand, and the illustrations are remarkable. It is now available in a less expensive paperback version, also available at Amazon.com.

This book is excellent for ornithology students and backyard birders alike. It has many detailed illustrations of the skeletal, muscular, and other internal systems of birds in general. The text gives general information on each system and then more detail on specific parts. I especially like the sections at the end on binocular use and study skin preparation

This is a great overall look into the evolution and biology of birds. I'm using it as a prep for some ornithology and biology courses at university. The book goes through evolution, systematics, biology, physiology, etc. I highly reccomend it for anyone needing to do some brush up work, or as an introduction to many of the topics I've mentioned above. I think it should pretty much be a standard for anyone interested in birds...Hooray for this manual!

"Inspired Aquariums" was a joy to read and look at, the photographs of each aquarium was amazing. I found many ideas for aquariums to use for my own aquarium. Instructions were good but was more for the advanced aquarist, which I'm not. All in all it was a good reference book for my
library.

I thought this was more of a book about building aquariums.
It is a book with very nice photos, of very fancy aquariums in expensive places.
Not much help for the average homeowner.

This book is an awesome general overview for those that are researching a big budget build.
It is not a reference guide for someone researching specific reef, planted,community fish aquaria info.
There are many other books that serve that purpose.
You will see many aspects of aquaria installed in some very unique situations by a great team who do this everyday from their facility in Houston.

When I first started to read this book, I thought that it was only for the wealthy, since it deals largely with huge custom-made tanks in built-in cabinetry, or how to work an aquarium into your blueprints. It even refers to a 72-gallon aquarium as "small". But the principles of design and maintenance can apply to the more modest sizes of aquaria too.

If you are new to the hobby, it'll help you decide between freshwater and marine, and then whether you want live plants or live coral. It'll help you choose an aesthetically pleasing location for your aquarium and help you aquascape the interior.

I found the plant section to be especially helpful, even though it was a brief overview. In its description of the major plant groups, it mentioned which ones can get by with less light, or without a CO2 system, or with little pruning. And it didn't put me to sleep like the plant sections of other aquarium books.

The last section, entitled "Case Studies", is really cool. There they take some of the tanks pictured in previous sections and give you all the stats on aquarium size, exactly what filtration was used, lighting, livestock, etc. They also give tips on coordinating the aquarium with the surrounding interior design.

The only negative things I can say about the book are about some misplaced and repeated captions. Also, I would have liked to have seen some aerial-view sketches of aquascaping floor plans, showing plant and rock placement.

P.S. If you are not going to hire an aquarium installation and maintenance service, then you need to complete your fish education with one of the Complete Idiot's Guides by Mike Wickham.

This book contains many high quality pictures of various aquariums fixture designs. It covers all types of aquarium ranging from fresh water, marine, planted to coral tanks. The knowlege this book provided is broad but scattered and simply not comprehensive enough for advanced aquarist. It is equally confusing and incomplete for the beginner aquarist. It describes VERY LITTLE on everything ranging from the fixtures, filtration system, lighting, the livestocks on both marine and fresh water aquariums. To some extent this book is a disappointment and a waste of paper. For example, one clearly can not depend on the 4 pages information provided by this book on choosing marine fish. This book could have some values to interior designers or architects who wish to incorporate an aquarium in his/her design.

Yeah, it's film centric but much of the information is great for digital too. If you are a wannabee, hobbiest nature photographer like myself, this is a great read.

All of John Shaw's books are great. There is some overlap between them as he goes over the basics but they are all worth a read for any aspiring nature photographer.

I learned a lot about exposure, composition, and lighting from this book, but it definitely is a "pre-digital era" publication, so if you're looking for anything specific to digital photography, better check elsewhere. Would seem to me that Mr. Shaw or a digital photographer could bring the equipment section (now titled "Equipment and Film") up to date by at least contrasting film and digital issues--here digital is not mentioned at all. The section on lenses, while very well written, loses pertinence since the majority of DSLR shooters are using cropped sensors. The reader is left to figure out the focal length equivalents to make sense of Mr. Shaw's sage advice.

Don't get me wrong, this man knows landscape photography, and the chapter entitled "The Landscape as Design" is like poetry: "First you must find a visually interesting subject. YOur goal is to present this subject to your audience in a pleasing composition..." He goes on and really hits the target in terms of what separates a good photograph from a great one.

This book is worth owning, I just wish it reflected more about how most people are shooting today, with digital technology!

This is a pretty good basic book with some great examples. I gave it only 4 stars because there are some other great books out there on Landscape Photography which I liked better than this one. John Shaw is a good author to explain the basics and sometimes you see him repeat what you read in the earlier chapters, for me I like it because it kind'a reminds you and you can remember it. This is important for the final shoot out day. ** Close-Ups in Nature ** is another great book from John Shaw and I love the theory and examples in this book.

This book influenced my outlook for the wide angle lenses, the use of Velvia, and polorizing filters. I now use all three liberally. Thanks John Shaw

This is very nice book with wonderful pictures and very practical advices.
I will recommend it to all semi-prof photographers and amateurs as well.