Reviews for Fur Kids: A Life with Dogs

The average rating for Fur Kids: A Life with Dogs based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-06-28 00:00:00 Doug Lott I always wish there were more reviews to the non-fiction books I pick up. I'm totally part of the problem in this scenario since I don't review them very often either so here's my best attempt. The book opens up assuming you do not yet have a puppy. It discusses puppy-mills and pet store puppies, reasons to adopt and signs a breeder is one to trust. I fear most people will not buy a book like this until there's an actual puppy running around so it might be a guilt trip for some readers, but at the same time, it's never too late to educate a person. Maybe your first dog came from a pet store and therefore very likely a puppy-mill. Now you know better for next time. My first dog as a child came from a pet store. I don't regret having her in my life, but I've long regretted the participation in the cycle. The next chapter is about breeds of dogs and types of dogs, what sort of dog will fit into your lifestyle. Again, this might be a day late and a dollar short because I still picture people buying this book post-puppy apocalypse, but it still can do some good. It will give you insight into the dog you do have if you didn't understand the breed you bought at the beginning. The information will help both of you cope better and meld into each other's lives. For those of us, however, who know all this stuff (working dog vs. sporting dog vs. toy breed) it might be boring. It wasn't boring for me... but I am a nerd on an epic scale. There's a lot of information in the book about diet and excercise, about positive and negative reinforcement, rewards systems. I use a clicker because of this book and it works like a charm. (Well, it works almost as well as the sound of the treat jar opening.) I learned that there wasn't much difference between dry food and wet food, that people who feed their dogs strict raw food diets are either misinformed or work exceptionally hard creating a balanced diet. The book also taught me to use 'quit it' instead of 'no' because of the distinctive sounds and because of just how common the word 'no' is in our vocabularies... although he'll ignore quit it whenever he feels like it. I have what you'd call a willfull dog. My childhood dog was not a dog-to-dog sort of dog. She loved people and children, but the only gratification she got from a public dog run was guarding the humans from their own pets so she could get all the love and attention. I know now that it's our fault for not socalizing her more when she was younger. My current puppy is exceptionally well-socalized. (I spend at least an hour at the dog run six days a week with the little bastard.) He also has no fears. Part of this is, of course, his personality. The rest of it is the book teaching me how to handle situations where he was tentative. He's not afraid of lightning or thunder, muscle cars or motorcycles, other dogs or strangers. He sits on the vacuum cleaner when I am trying to clean. The only thing he's currently tentative about is heading downstairs. I'm sure he'll be over that next week just because he's so plucky about everything. I credit this book with 50% of his fearlessness, which will be priceless over the next few years. My puppy credits this book for sending him to the dog run so often he thinks it's his own yard. The only consistent negative complaint: sometimes the authors baby-talked about dogs, which made me question how seriously I should be taking the book. I'm fine with you calling your dog fluff-a-butt, but it didn't fit the tone of this book. Overall, it was helpful and interesting. I grew up with my last dog and everything was decided by my parents. I never thought much about dry food vs. wet food etc etc. It was good for a first time solo owner.

Review # 2 was written on 2007-12-26 00:00:00 Nicola Sicilia It's a book about Brittanys! It's a real heart-tugger (if you love dogs).