Pet Books

Have u ever been to a horse show and not understood why you pinned as you did? This GREAT book makes it so clear how the pinning is done! As a rider/coach for years I was never even aware of the exact details that judges look at but it's now clear to me that A LOT more goes into judging than most people think. This is GREAT for a trainer who is coaching kids to show or for someone showing. The author gears it toward all levels of riders... not just the top. GREAT BUY!

I did not need to read any farther than the first chapter and realized this was a great book! As a judge, I am always looking for updated information on horses. This book has great pictures that explain many problems of hunters today. It is a must have for all judges and trainers and for all disciplines of riders! Thank you Anna-Jane!

This is a good book for all of us planning on becoming judges. It provides useful information on judging hunters and hunt seat equitation, and provides nice black and white photos as examples. Just the book I needed to learn more about this discipline!

This book explains the many aspects of hunters and Eq. over fences and on the flat. It explains in great detail what the judges want to see and how to get it! I would reccomend this book!

I really liked this book. It has great ideas on how to keep you birds busy!
I have tried many of the ideas and my four birds LOVED them.
I shared the book with my sister and she is planning on ordering one.
Thanks!
Char

If your a beginner to toys and playareas this will be hard to go by; there are NO pictures.

This book categorises parrot personalities and describes 11 types of toys that will suit their individual traits. It then offers ideas for safely making these toys.

My birds seem to be so much happier having a variety of toys that are designed specifically for their needs.

My only gripe is the book provides diagrams for making bird gyms etc, but doesn't give any pictures or diagrams for the home-made toys.

This is a great little book that is well wriiten and fast paced. I really breaks down the types of toys by category and then makes recommendations at a minimum that each parrot should have. They make recommendations whether the toys are homemade or store bought. This book has alot of great ideas for makng very inexpensive but usable toys. I took their recommendations, made a trip to the craft store and made six toys in an afternoon! I saved alot more that the cost of the book in one day. I highly recommend this book!

Well worth the money!! I created a $400.00 play gym for my Macaw with the plans from this book. It took $50 in materials and one day. This book really is awesome for those of us who want the best for our birds and don't have alot of money.

This was a very helpful book for my husband and me as we had just adopted a second-hand parrot and we had not idea what we were doing. This book was recommended by our Veterinarian and we really rely on it. Thank you so much for all the info.

If you're adopting an older parrot, much of the information in breed specific manuals will not be relevant for you, since it pertains to hand fed babies. This book contains information that is specific to parrots that have lost their home for one reason or another. Much of the information is recycled from Mattie Sue's previous books on parrot behavior, so if you've read them and commited them to memory, you might not need to add this one. If, however, you are not an expert on parrots, but simply want to open your heart and home to one of these wonderful creatures, this book will help make the transition smoother for both of you. It will also alert you to potential problems. There is also new information about integrating a new parrot into an existing flock. Personally, I think this book should go home with every bird adopted from a rescue organization.

Please don't let the title convince you this book is only for people with "re-homed" parrots! It also offers valuable information for AVOIDING losing your companion, and what to do if you find a lost companion parrot. Parrots are lost not just to "fly-aways", but to changing life circumstances in their human flock. This book provides practical tips to help keep the parrot in its home even during times of shifting family responsibilities. Then, of course, it also provides important advice for building trust in the "re-homed" parrot. I HAVE HAD A HARD TIME TRACKING THIS BOOK DOWN IN BOOKSTORES, so I am pleased to find it readily available on Amazon.

In THE SECOND-HAND PARROT, Mattie Sue Athan makes a good case for taking on a previously owned parrot as a feathered adoptee. While it is true some adoptees are less than civil, Athan has shown through her own experiences that there may be a diamond in the rough underneath those bristling feathers. (Mattie Sue Athan's experiences with her two adopted Grey Parrots, Bongo I and Bongo II are documented on her web site).

Many pet birds are passed on by owners who are dead, too old, too sick, or move to less accommodating quarters. Many of these older birds need only a short period of getting to know you and TLC to become your best buddy. I've become a believer. Having adopted two Cockatiels two years ago who had terrorized everyone at the animal shelter and had them become two big sweeties I know what a little TLC can do. The sweetest bird I own, however, is a "hand-me-down Conure" with two previous owners. My Conure is also the biggest bird I own and the least nippy. Every morning he says "Give me a kiss" which I happily do with a "Thank-you" as my reward. "Used" birds frequently can talk and have learned cute tricks.

Athan offers all sorts of tips on how to get your birds to comply with various challenges you might offer such as bathing, destroying toys instead of your books, and kissing not nipping when you offer your cheek or stick your hand in their cage. In her section on "The Corrective Environment" she shows how many of the tics the new-old bird learned were brought on by cramped, boring, and/or dirty quarters. It is amazing what a little space and a new toy will do to improve an outlook.

I run a second hand parrot rescue and I must say this book is really on the ball. So many times people don't really know WHY is my bird acting like that, Does this bird hate me etc. This book lends knowledge to the behavior and how to handle a rehomed bird. I recommend this book to anyone considering a pet bird, especially a rehomed one.

Los animales que aparecen son muy pocos y los más conocidos, como el gato, perro, caballo, etc. Esta demasiado aburrido para niños de 1-2 años.
El libro en sí, es de láminas gruesas y duraderas.

I like goats. They are good people, I mean pets. I mean that they are americans, like sheep. I like to refresh my memory about goats, that is why I bought this book. It helped me remember my fun visit with some little boys and girls where I told them about my pet who was a goat. I liked the story, especially the pictures.

If you know how to pronounce the Spanish words correctly, this is a great book for toddlers. I've used it with my Toddler Spanish classes, and even my 4-7 year olds as they are learning to form their own opinions and original sentences in Spanish. I love the simplistic, yet BRIGHT pictures and how wonderfully sturdy the slick pages are.

Use this along with Flip Flop Spanish workbook, and you've got a great combo!

Raising a multilingual child is difficult particularly in our mono-lingual culture. It is all too easy to resort to the English default. As a parent I have to make an extra conscious effort to speak Spanish to my daughter and familiarize her ear with the sounds she will hopefully use one day. In this regard bi-lingual books have been essential in helping me to set aside Spanish-time. I have read this series of board books by Rebecca Emberley to my daughter since she was 3-months old and they are still among her favorites at 15 months. These books are ideal for interacting with your baby and toddler in a multilingual fashion. The illustrations are bright and colorful and the pages withstand repeated vigorous turning by little hands. Each page presents a single word in English and Spanish for added comprehension, yet ideal for short attention spans. Thank you for a wonderful series.

These are a great series of well & simply illustrated books that my son absolutely loves. He knows the spanish words before english (we are primarily english speakers) for so many things, and he learns them here first! My husband has also learned quite a few words from the series as well....

The book is well written and easy to read. The book is set up in a Questions and Answer format. Someone, generally another trainer, submits a problem dog issue and then the author gives her recommendation. The answers sound and use positive dog training methods. However, the answers are brief and only give you a superficial beginning/understanding of the solution. It is a good book if you want an overview of handling several dog issues.

My trainer suggested this book along with several others to help with my fearful dog. I found a few good ideas, but since the book only has a small section on this issue, I did not find it as helpful as other books I have read. If you have a fearful dog, I would highly recommend "Scaredy Dog! Understanding and Rehabilitating Your Reactive Dog" by Ali Brown.

If you are looking for some quick suggestions on several dog issues, this would be a good book. If you want some in depth understanding and suggestions on a specific problem, I would suggest you skip this book.

Jean Donaldson is one of the world's foremost experts on how dogs learn and how to teach them. Her methods are humane, based on the well-studied science of behaviorism, not stressful or harmful to dogs, and very, very effective.

The gems in this book are practical solutions to the everyday problems dog owners face, with just enough information thrown in so that dog owners can understand why their old methods didn't work, why these methods do work, and how to apply the principles to other situations.

Ms. Donaldson's most famous book, Culture Clash, goes into much more detail about the learning theory, how dogs think, and why we so often use the worst possible methods to train them. It is less a "how to" book than a "why" book. For people whose dogs are giving them fits, Dogs are from Neptune is the book to start with. Then, follow up with Culture Clash for a deeper understanding.

As a dog trainer specializing in behavior problems, I often recommend Neptune to my clients and they love it!

And, like all advice columns, sometimes you get an answer to your question, and sometimes you don't. There is a lot of good information on behaviorism buried in the recommendations...but sometimes you have to read about a completely unrelated training issue to find out about things like desensitization and counter-conditioning. If you have the time, definitely read entries on more than just the issue that interests you.

There is also a bit more jargon in here than I thought was strictly necessary - if you don't have the concepts of behaviorism and learning theory down, you probably need to read another book before this one. Try such gems as Sophia Yin's "How to Behave So Your Dog Behaves," which introduces the concepts *first,* then shows you how to apply them. Also check out anything by Patricia McConnell, who not only knows her stuff, but knows how to teach it.

Easy to read, clear and sensible advice given in response to 'real life' scarios and dog problems.

After struggling through The Culture Clash, I found Dogs are from Neptune to be a much easier, more outlined reading experience. The book is organized around problem areas and while much of the training recommendations are repeated, it still gives the reader clear cut, easy to follow training suggestions. I have used the book as a resource guide many times when working with my cattle dog foster dogs and coaching other foster families. Dog owners looking for a quick fix may be dismayed at the amount of training she recommends to solve dog behavior issues. However, I have found her suggestions to work well. I still recommend The Culture Clash as a necessary read along with Dogs are from Neptune, however expect this book to be much easier to follow.

As someone who has cooked for my dog for years now I appreciate the simplicity of the recipes in this book and especially like that fact that the author occasionally shares a meal with his dog. The ingredients are not hard to find and even a dog with allergies can find good food between the pages.

I liked the nutrition information in this book and the recipes have everything for a healthy dog. I found most of the recipes too complicated--I did not want to cook gourmet meals for my dogs. The recipes are for a specific weight. I have two dogs: 50 lbs and 100 lbs. It was hard to make one recipe for both. I took the ideas of the recipes and make my own. I tried taking the fresh veg/fruit in the blender and my dogs did not like it. I cook the fruit/veg together with meat and they look the food!

This book has several recipes in it for different weight dogs. Most of them have some sort of wheat and/or corn products in them. Any of you who are trying to feed your dog good food will know that many dog are allergic to wheat and corn. I tried one recipe for one serving for my 10 pound dog and it made so much that it fed my two 10 pound dogs and my 25 pound dog for 3 meals, and they didn't really like it to begin with.

I found the recipies to be a bit difficult but the book is good and I decided to go raw instead and use an occasional recipe from this book as a special treat for my dogs. It is well balanced without a milloin supplements required (a few in each recipe). I found my dog won't eat rice at all even with something good mixed in my puppy will but the dog will eat whole wheat maccaroni noodles so that in itself helped me. There was a lot of information in this book that I liked and some I didn't but it is a great buy for someone considering cooking for thier dogs.

I bought this book some time ago and use it often. I found it easy to use and very complete. Good recipes for the finicky eater and most importantly healthy for them!! This is not in the book but something to consider as to why we should feed our pets home cooked foods. Before the end of WW2 and the start of commercial dog foods, dogs where fed from the table eating most what we humans eat. Back then dogs lived well into their 20's. Now if they live to 10, 12 years it's concidered old!! Something to think about as we feed our dogs commercial foods and vaccinated the heck out of them!

The fish hobby is made up of two different types of people. Some hobbyists do not really bother to understand their fish, they simply buy replacements when the current ones die. The second type of fish-keeper wants to know as much information as he or she can on the types of fishes they keep. This book would be of most value to the second type.

Sometimes, we mistakenly assume that fish are fragile and that there is simply no way to maintain them at optimum health. But that is not the case. Most fish are quite hardy. They can easily be maintained in the home aquarium if attention is given to their particular needs. Even so, from time to time, our fishes do get sick despite of our care. This book will help you diagnose some of the more common diseases that afflict fishes, as well as some possible remedies.

Some of the procedures in the textbook are simply not feasible for the average aquarists. Most of us do not have access to a laboratory. However, there is enough solutions in the book that are easy enough to follow. I highly recommend this book.

This book is amazing! I absolutly recomend it to everyone I've talked to. Not only does it use casual scientific terms but it does also explain them for anyone that doesn't have a BSc. Great information not only on fish disease, but on maintaining a properly balanced aquarium & preventing diseases from occuring in the first place.

Personally I think it should be a manditory buy with ever first-fish purchase.

I have Aquarium books coming out of my ears. In my quest for knowledge on how to care and treat my freshwater fish, I have purchased books, but most left a lot of my questions unanswered, or were vague on discriptions of fish diseases and/or how to treat. This is by far the best all around book for the Aquarium Hobby enthusiast. It has everything you need to know about aquarium fish, their environment, disease and prevention. The pictures of diseased fish help you pin point the proper ailment, bacteria, and cure. I give this book 5+ stars and highly recommend it to anyone who has aquarium fish.

The book is pretty good for most aquarists as all should have something to help with the diagnostics and treatment of their pets. There's some pretty good photography of various diseases that simplifies the text, and in each section there is a little box of explanation of a point in the text, be it a bacteria type or similar. Where the book falls slightly short in my opinion is in the treatment section. I would not advocate the use of all the chemicals in this chapter and some may well be impossible to obtain for most people. In this case, I would recommend using the book then visiting a professional fish keeper, specialist shop or vet with your diagnosis after consulting the treatment section to see if there is an alternative.

All said and done anything that can help easy diagnosis and lead to the correct treatment of fish disease is a good thing.

I bought this book based on the great reviews here, and have not been disappointed. That said, there are a few deficiencies that drove me back to the web for more information and hence this review.

There is very little information about contemporary brands and their products that can be used to treat fish diseases. Using the book, one can easily diagnose pop-eye (which I was combating in my prize altum angels). But the suggestions are not terribly helpful in finding the right product to treat this affliction. For example, there are 3 or more different drugs under the Mardel brand that all claim to treat pop-eye. Some target gram-positive bacteria, some target gram-negative bacteria, and some are broad-spectrum antibiotics. At the same time, some can be simultaneouly administered with other treatments, some cannot. And so on. It would have been helpful if the book had helped me sort these details out (which I eventually did) and if it had suggested possible courses of action. Even something that lists all common antibiotics and adds a classification chart to go with them will address this concern.

And as one reviewer pointed out, some of the suggestions are beyond the scope of the hobbyist. But let this not detract you from purchasing a guide that will save you time and help you narrow your diagnosis.

i think this is perfect book to get comprehensive knowledge for NAVLE exams,NBVME list of diseases are best discussed in this book i strongly recomend foriegn vets to read this book.
FAISAL ZIA.

A very handy tome of immense value in the stress situation for quick information as well as for in depth study to bone up on latest techniques and those possibly a bit rusty. I can strongly recommend this, it is excellent value. I would want a more updated model though and hope for a new edition soon--I hope the authors are reading this?

A book which explores the small animal Veterinary field, uses simple and clear explainations to many different issues in that field. As a student for Veterinary Medicine in the clinical stage, I open the book very often. the book is very readable and friendly for students which their first language is other than English (unlike many others we all know).

You must have it !!!

After using many different references for the first half of my internship, this is the book I most often reach for now. The information is as user friendly as the 5 Minute Consult (an improvement here), and more up to date. There are many, many helpful tables and figures,and the addition of a formulary in the back is welcome. While no book can provide all the answers, I find 90% of them in here. My only complaint is the coverage of emergency care could be tweaked. In critical care situations, when I need information regarding a particular emergency in a hurry, this is not the book I turn to first.

This book is titled as being for "dog trainers" but is actually geared toward people who are instructing others in dog training. Some good articles, especially one by Jodi Binstead on Bach's ideas on how breeders should raise puppies. Also some good articles on shelter dogs by Sue Sternburg, but her books are more up to date and thorough. If you have a business you may find this book of use, otherwise your money is probably better spent elsewhere -- though there is that excellent acticle on puppies to consider.

I am really enjoying this book. It's chock full of good information for Dog Trainers!!

I'm not an APDT member but I have seen a few of the articles posted
elsewhere. This is a collection of their 'keepers' in print form.
Mycelle Blake is the editor of the book.

I found the book interesting but kept having the one reoccuring
thought - were the authors checked before the article was put in the
book if their thoughts had changed in any way from their original
article? I know that permission to print them in this format had to
have been obtained so contact with each had to occur. Not every
article needed something along these lines. The other thought that
comes to mind is when would you draw the line to say 'check to see if
they still feel this way?' Some of the articles go back to 2000 but
there are one or two as current as 2006.

For example, is Trish King still using abandonment training in
dealing with dog-dog aggression? p. 127 "Dog-Dog Aggression and
Abandonment Training, July/August 2002. After using it for a while
has she changed her thoughts on using it or its effectiveness in
dealing with dog-dog training?

Or another example, is Joan Guertin still usin a "levels" class
system? 'The "Levels" System: Adavance-at-Your-Own-Pace Classes" by
Terry Ryan and Joan Guertin, September/October 2003.

One article really popped out at me - "Recognizing Multiple, Related
Diagnoses for Treatment Success" by Karen Overall September/October
2003. The article went into discussion about thunderstorm phobia,
noise phobia and separation anxiety.

There were several other articles I found interesting, these are just
examples of what came to my mind.

I found this collection of articles by experts to be extremely valuable. It covers the scientific aspects of animal learning and discusses the many approaches to training and running businesses related to pet training. Worth its weight in gold.

Editor Mychelle Blake has done an excellent job of assembling a variety of articles that contain information that is valuable to dog trainers at all levels of experience. The book is nicely organized, divided into sections by topic. Each topic boasts a variety of articles, some more philosophical, some more "hands on." For example, the section titled "Dog Behavior, Training and Modification" contains both a thoughtful article by Dr. Ian Dunbar on the eight criteria for effectively using punishment, along with "Assessing the Alpha Roll" by Terry Ryan; it also contains an article by Emily Keegans that offers concrete suggestions for environmental enrichment.

It is a testament to the wide scope of experience of the authors (as well as the good judgment of the editor) that articles are included that might be outside the average trainer's educational sphere. For example, an article by Dan McNally discusses protection trained dogs, while Jim Barry suggests positive methods for training hunting/retrievers. I found both of these articles fascinating. There is much "how to" to be found in the section on class tips and curriculum, and an entire section devoted to working with shelter dogs. The section on the business aspects of dog training is something that every trainer should read.

All things considered, this book is a great educational value and one that should be on the shelf of all current and aspiring trainers.
- Nicole Wilde, author So You Want to be a Dog Trainer (2nd edition) and Help for Your Fearful Dog: A Step-by-Step Guide to Helping Your Dog Conquer His Fears