Animal Garden

Even if we've never had direct contact with one, we will have seen one, or at the very least, heard one. For those of us who live in the Western world, it is more than likely that one sleeps in our house, possibly even on our bed. I'm talking, of course, of the dog. Yet, this animal, which lives alongside 500 million of us all over the world - as an invaluable partner and a trusted confidant - presents us with one great unsolved mystery: how did this relationship - the most complex and enduring of any between human and animal - start in the first place?

The loss of a beloved pet is a hugely challenging emotional journey. When grief takes hold of us, we feel a myriad of feelings, from deep sadness to anger at the unfairness of their departure. Are you struggling with the heartache and loneliness of losing a cherished pet? After leaving, they always take a piece of us with them.

Best-selling author Michael Korda's Horse People is the story - sometimes hilariously funny, sometimes sad and moving, always shrewdly observed - of a lifetime love affair with horses, and of the bonds that have linked humans with horses for more than 10,000 years. It is filled with intimate portraits of the kind of people, rich or poor, Eastern or Western, famous or humble, whose lives continue to revolve around the horse. Korda is a terrific storyteller, and his book is intensely personal and seductive, a joy for everyone who loves horses.

Psychiatric service dog are specifically trained to help handlers with psychiatric disabilities. It can be of great use to people suffering from schizophrenia or post-traumatic stress disorder. Service dog training for psychiatric disabilities is a relative new comer to the world of the handicapped. It involves much more than just providing the comfort and companionship that a regular pet does. These dogs provide tangible lifesaving services for people with mental conditions.

The domestic cat—your cat—has, from its evolutionary origins in Africa, been transformed in comparatively little time into one of the most successful and diverse species on the planet. Jonathan Losos, writing as both a scientist and a cat lover, explores how researchers today are unraveling the secrets of the cat, past and present, using all the tools of modern technology, from GPS tracking (you’d be amazed where those backyard cats roam) and genomics (what is your so-called Siamese cat . . . really?) to forensic archaeology.

In 2006, Kate MacDougall was working a safe but dull job at the venerable auction house Sotheby’s in London. After a clumsy accident nearly destroyed a precious piece of art, she quit Sotheby’s and set up her own dog-walking company. Kate knew little about dogs and nothing about business, and no one thought being a professional dog walker was a good use of her university degree. Nevertheless, Kate embarked upon an entirely new and very much improvised career walking some of the city’s many pampered pooches, branding her company "London's Number One Dog Walking Agency".

Cats are the purr-fect pets: They're relatively easy to care for, a blast to play with, and sure to win the heart of every member of your family with their loving nature - and sometimes sassy demeanor! Cats for Dummies gives you expert insight into everything from cat behavior to what makes each type of feline unique. With this easy-to-understand guide, you'll be able to tackle those tough cat-astrophes from dealing with problem behaviors like scratching the furniture and missing the litter box - all while learning to understand what your cat is trying to tell you.

This easy-to-follow book lets you say goodbye to the embarrassment of calling your dog and getting no response, and hello to recall training that's fun and effective for you and your dog.

An adorable five-week-old rescue kitten slowly learns to trust the woman who saved her. An obsessive cat teaches himself to play fetch and demands it morning and night from his hapless mom - whether she's working, sleeping, eating, bathing, or trying to enjoy some "alone time" with her husband. And Homer, the blind wonder cat himself, returns triumphant in a new story about life and love after worldwide fame.

By the time life had finished hitting Rick Crandall from all sides, he was at the lowest point of his life, both personally and professionally. His wife, Pamela, makes an astute and life-changing suggestion: "Let's get a dog." So begins the story of Emme, a 200-pound Saint Bernard trapped in the body of a five-pound Australian terrier puppy. Soon, Emme and Rick hit the hiking trails around Aspen, Colorado. While she is groomed to be a show dog, it's soon obvious that her heart is in the hills and with Rick, who decides to add more challenging hikes to the mix.

Whenever middle-aged desert tour guide Forrest Bryant Johnson went out on his daily walks into the Mojave, all was usually peaceful and serene. But one beautiful summer day in 1987, Forrest heard a cry of distress. Following the cries, he came upon a small bobcat kitten, injured, orphaned, and desperately in need of help. So Forrest took his new feline friend home for a night.

Bringing a dog into your life can be a rewarding experience, but it can also come with challenges. Transforming Your Dog’s Behavior: Practical Tips and Strategies for Aggressive Behavior and More is a comprehensive guide that explores the psychology behind canine aggression, offers step-by-step training strategies, and provides actionable tips for everyday scenarios.

He's not kept a diary for decades but here, in Dog Days, Andrew Cotter draws inspiration from the great Samuel Pepys; like him, he bears witness to the extraordinary everyday as the world tilts on its axis in our own unsettling era. And so, with Olive and Mabel at his side - actually, dawdling in the long grass or sleeping upside down - Andrew takes a clear-eyed, often hilarious walk through a year that encompasses all of life from the crushingly mundane to the decidedly odd.

How To Train Your Dog with Love + Science presents a modern and science-based approach to dog training, showing how behavior can be changed without coercion and force. Annie Grossman, a journalist-turned-dog trainer, breaks down what positive reinforcement actually is and makes the case that "good dog training" may even be a window into understanding ourselves.

Rethinking Rescue: Dog Lady and the Story of America's Forgotten People and Pets unites the causes of animal welfare and social justice, moving between Weise's story and that of the US rescue movement: from the dog's twentieth-century transition from property to family to the rise of the no-kill campaign to stop shelter euthanasia and the contradictions that hampered those efforts.

With insight and humor, Dr. Philipp Schott shares tales from the unlikely path he took into his career of veterinary science and anecdotes from his successful small-animal clinic. Dr. Schott brings to his writing the benefit of many years of expertise. Wisdom he imparts on listeners includes the best way to give your cat a pill, how to prevent your very handy dog from opening a fridge, and how to handle your fish when it has half-swallowed another.

Michael Johnson thinks he knows a thing or two about horses. Despite the doctorate and a quarter-century in the corporate world, and a career that has taken him across America so many times he no longer needs a map - above all things - he is still a cowboy. The story of one horse and one man and their seven-year spiritual journey together. Along the way, a blue roan colt, an old warhorse, and true horsemen provide Michael with pieces to the puzzle of healing Shine - and at last, a path into the heart of the great gray.

In this homesteading book by best-selling author Norman J Stone, rabbits are in the spotlight. Perhaps one of the most underestimated and nutritional cheap food sources, rabbits have in recent years been on something of a comeback, and quite rightly so in this authors opinion. The humble rabbit is high in protein, low in calories, and only 4.5 percent fat - lower even than chicken! Not only that, it is easy, quick and cheap to rear; and produces meat and fur that can be used by the family or sold for profit - or both!

Horses are sensitive creatures with hearts ten times larger than humans and much more to share with us than meets the eye. Life Lessons from the Heart of Horses offers poignant short stories about the trials and tribulations of befriending horses. Equine expert Kathy Pike brings you on a healing journey that includes lessons a wild horse taught her, how horses teach humans in her equine facilitated learning programs, and personal insights about living off the land and engaging with the dynamics of a herd each day.

This is a book for the enlightened dog owners - a groundbreaking, "whole-dog" approach to raising a puppy, from the halls of one of the most prestigious and pioneering veterinary schools in the world. Nowhere else will readers find this whole-dog approach, a unique combination of training, behavior, and health care.