Dogs

Review by K. Bonner:

My husband bought this book for our 4 year old (who is famous among everyone we know for being both a book lover and a dog lover), and it is, not surprisingly, one of her favorites. She took it to her pre-K class today, and when I picked her up, her teachers were raving about it! They said that they read it at least three times to the class, and that it was the hit of the day! The fun starts before the book is even opened. The tails of the three dogs on the cover are touch and feel furry, or wag with the pull of a tab. It just gets better from there. This book is packed with a wide variety of clever and creative interactive tricks that are well integrated with the entertaining verbiage. The book is, in fact, clever enough to engage my husband and myself, and our older children; even my college aged daughter is currently petting, pulling and generally getting a kick out of this book as I write this review. I am online now to order another copy as a gift to my daughter’s preschool in her name. Otherwise, she will want to bring this book to school every day for the rest of the year! We highly recommend this book!

Review by C. Chan:

I bought this for my 1 yr old daughter and she just love it – in fact both myself and my husband thought this is one of the best interactive book we have bought out of our hundreds of books! Very sturdy , and very informative ( as it gives you all the names of breed of dogs that have appeared). I have no regret in buying this book at all !

Review by M. Carterette:

After having read this book weeks ago (advanced copy), I was left a little unsatisfied. I’d give it 3.5 stars if could.

It’s more of a cursory glance at canine cognitive ethology rather than a definitive volume, but if you’re looking for a good introductory to canine cognitive ethology, this would be a great starter. The anecdotes are sweet and the science is pretty good, and written in a way that the regular Joe Dog Guardian can read it without breaking his brain.

HOWEVER. There is one VERY glaring “scientific” experiment that I feel she used for a bad conclusion, a conclusion whose inclusion of the flawed scientific experiment betrays the entire premise of the book itself.

In the section on “Hero Dogs” (dogs that have responded to emergencies and saved the lives of their owners and people in general), Horowitz details what she calls a “clever experiment” with dogs where

“owners conspired with the researchers to feign emergencies in the presence of their dogs, in order to see how the dogs responded. In one scenario, owners were trained to fake a heart attack, complete with gasping, a clutch of the chest, and a dramatic collapse. In the second scenario, owners yelped as a bookcase (made of particleboard) descended on them and seemed to pin them on the ground. In both cases, owners’ dogs were present, and the dogs had been introduced to a bystander nearby–perhaps a good person to inform if there has been an emergency.

In these contrived setups, the dogs acted with interest and devotion, but not as though there was an emergency…

…In other words, not a single dog did anything that remotely helped their owners out of the predicaments. The conclusion that one has to take from this is that dogs simply do not naturally recognize or react to an emergency situation–one that could lead to danger or death.” (pp.239-240)

I really don’t understand how she could have come to this conclusion after having written over 200 pages on how a dog sees, smells and relates to its world (the “umwelt” of a dog). She didn’t consider that the dogs knew that their owners were faking? She wrote herself that a dog can sense the most minute changes in a person’s own body chemistry, right down to sensing cancer and other things like an increase in heart rate or adrenaline. A person faking a heart attack isn’t going to have the same body chemistry/physical changes that a person having a REAL heart attack is going to have, so in a sense–there is no faking a heart attack around your dog (believe me, I’ve tried, LOL–it was only playing/testing, but none of my dogs seemed to care if I plopped over in bed, “dead”). Same goes for adrenaline levels when you’re in immediate danger, like when you’re drowning (and I believe this was one of the examples she used just before this horrible “deduction” of hers; a dog saved the life of a child that was going to drown). And if a person was faking being hurt under a particleboard bookcase, I’m pretty sure that the dog could sense that, too.

Anyway. That was the only part of the book that REALLY got me going “Hmmmnnn…no.” Other than that, it’s a good read, but left me wanting more (a whole lot of it sucks you in, but then you’re left with a little bit of an unsatisfied thirst for more science and more talk about how dogs are in the world; the end chapter seemed a little rushed to me, too).

Review by hydrophilic:

I expected to love this book. Unfortunately, it leaves a lot to be desired.

First, there is surprisingly little information in it. The author touches on each subject so briefly that only the most superficial observations can be made. Dog body language gets maybe two pages and includes such revelations as the meaning of a tucked tailed (discomfort and/or submission). Is there a dog owner in the world who doesn’t already know that? Note: if that’s new to you and you own a dog, stop reading this review and find a dog trainer immediately. In the 250 pages I managed to read, I found two things of interest: the description of canine vision, and speculation on a potential flaw in experiments on dog intelligence (to wit: dogs know that humans are great providers of food, so if a dog that gives up on the puzzle in front of him and runs over to the researcher for help, maybe he’s being smart, not dumb).

Second, the author spends way too much time bemoaning human chauvinism. Apparently, all research into animal behavior is done to shore up our belief that humans are the rightful masters of the earth.

Third, the tone of this book is insistently, forcibly whimsical. Sometimes it hits the right note, and I did find myself laughing out lot a few times, particularly at an anecdote about a doberman put to work guarding a collection of valuable teddy bears. Unfortunately, it’s more often grating, and I found myself rolling my eyes at the little vignettes about the author’s dog that start every chapter. It truly pains me to write that, as love between a dog and an owner is such a wonderful thing.

Fourth, the text has some odd contradictions, one which is noted by the reviewer below me. The author also starts one chapter raving about dogs’ almost preternatural ability to understand our intentions — and supports this assertion by noting how easy it is to fool a dog into thinking you’ve thrown a tennis ball.

Finally, I came to the point where I had to put the book down. The author begins to describe dogs’ sense of personal space, which she gets almost entirely wrong. She makes a common mistake in saying that dogs have a much smaller radius of personal space than we do. This may be true of ultra-friendly, well-socialized dogs like many retrievers, but it is *not* the norm. Dogs are in fact extremely concerned with personal space, and much of what we know about their communication involves conveying the boundaries of their “bubbles”.

The final straw was here: “Repeating itself on sidewalks across the country is a scene that demonstrates the clash of our sense of personal space: the sight of two dog owners as they stand six feet apart, straining to keep their leashed dogs from touching, while the dogs strain mightily to touch each other. Let them touch!” This is horribly bad advice. There are a thousand reasons why two strange dogs should not be allowed to greet each other unrestrainedly, first and foremost that lunging towards another dog is actually very aggressive behavior. Dogs have a plethora of signals indicating that their interest is respectful, including look aways, medium-to-low tail carriage, and a sideways approach. A dog that jumps straight up into another dog’s business is socially inept at best, and intending harm at worst.

Instead of this book, I would recommend almost anything by Temple Grandin (who isn’t always right either, but has a fascinating perspective), Turid Rugaas, Karen Pryor, or Brenda Aloff.

Review by G. Reid:

Frontline Plus is the best way to keep fleas and ticks off your dog. It is applied once per month in about 3 minutes. It seems to have little or no side effects on the dog. It has been used for many years on dogs without problems. I checked all products and asked various vets and everyone agrees that Frontline Plus is the best way to keep ticks and fleas off your dog. The Plus even kills the flea eggs.

Review by K. Kirkpatrick:

If you live in a wooded area (particularly in the northeast US), you might want to use Advantix instead. Advantix repels mosquitoes (and Frontline doesn’t), and it also does a better job than Frontline in killing ticks. My dog was on Frontline, but ticks were still crawling all over him. The switch to Advantix has helped a lot.

Review by Sarah E. Morgan:

I have a 10 month old purebred Bichon Frise. Only one of her eyes waters a little. The watering began when she was teething and loosing her baby teeth. Any watering on a pure white dog will stain no matter how much you clean it.

I gave the lowest recommended dose to her on top of her food. Her appetite did not change. (However, the powder does get in her hair- which Bichons have a lot of, so I will sprinkle a little water on top to make it stick to the food better.)After 2 months and 2 monthly hair trims (which is a must for Bichons), my babies eyes are BOTH white now. I am starting to give this to her every other day and try to wean her off of it. So far, the stains have not come back.

BEFORE giving this to your dog I would recommend the following: #1- Check their diet for dyes, beets, or by-products. My dog eats only Innova Puppy Food, so there are no dyes, beets, or by-products causing the staining. #2- Check for stray hairs- My baby has the hair trimmed back from her eyes, so the watering is not irritation. #3- Use only Stainless Steel Bowls- others could have dyes in the plastics.

Review by M. Trama:

This product does work very well, that is why I was disappointed when my dog started vomiting after two weeks of using this stuff. I guess his system could not digest it. His vomit was filled with this stuff. When he first started vomiting I stopped giving him Angel’s Eyes and the vomiting stopped. I gave him Angel’s Eyes again and after a few days he started vomiting again. It is too bad it makes him sick, because it works very well.

Review by Martha Quigley:

Squirrel tells her story in simple, yet powerful language. The images are vivid. It is a testament to the heart of the will to survive, never giving up, and trying to remain optimistic. I would highly reccomend this book for pre-teens, teens, and adults. Some of the best literature out there is Juvenile/young adult fiction. The Autobiography of a Stray is one of those books. Make yourself a comfy bed, turn around on it 3 times and settle down contently to read this book.

Review by Erika Sorocco:

Puppies Squirrel and Bone come into this world in a toolshed behind a summer house. The toolshed already houses cats and birds, even some mice. But there’s always room for another, so Squirrel and Bone, alongside their mother, take up residence in a wheelbarrow inside the toolshed. While food is scarce, and often hard to find, the family is warm, and safe from predators. During their short time in the toolshed, Squirrel and Bone learn the rules of hunting from their mother. But when she disappears one day, after setting out for food, Squirrel and Bone know that they must leave the shed in the hopes of finding a better life for themselves. But when the two siblings are separated, Squirrel must get used to being alone. That is, until she meets up with Moon, another dog who resembles Bone. Over the course of their time together, they meet up with humans – both good and bad – and many dangerous obstacles that stand in their way to make a better life for themselves, but they never give up hope, and keep trucking, dreaming of a day when things will be better for themselves.

I have been a fan of Ann M. Martin for over thirteen-years, since her BABY-SITTERS CLUB days. And, as an avid animal lover, and the proud parent of three handicapped cats that I rescued from shelters, I was ecstatic to stumble upon A DOG’S LIFE. While it will bring a tear to your eye, and often cause you to put the book down for a breather, A DOG’S LIFE tells the brutal life of a stray animal. The abuse they take at the mercy of the hands of humans – both kind and unkind – and what they go through on a daily basis simply to find food. Told in first person – or dog – narrative by Squirrel, Martin has woven a remarkable novel for readers of all ages that will touch the hearts of all, and bring about hope that maybe, someday, all animals will live in peace, and none will be left “unwanted.”

Erika Sorocco

Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper