Showing titles in Pets & Animal Care

Never believe that life in a tiny Spanish mountain village is predictable. Vicky and Joe have finished fixing up their house and look forward to peaceful days enjoying their retirement. Then the fish van arrives and, instead of delivering fresh fish, disgorges the Ufarte family. The peace of El Hoyo is shattered. Packed with badly behaved humans and animals, irreverent humour and sunshine, this audiobook will make you laugh out loud.

Effective communication is key to strong relationships, and this is especially true with our dogs. This book is a must-have for anyone who spends time with dogs, teaching you to understand their unique language through illustrations and clear explanations. It covers recognizing individual communication styles, interpreting emotions from body language, identifying signs of stress and discomfort, understanding canine interactions, and spotting warning signs and aggression.

Chic and I; or, The practical training of a dog for the gun was published by Leonard Goodwin in 1896 under the pen name of Ben Hur. It is a delightful book with insights into both dog training and bird hunting at the close of the nineteenth century in America. This book is especially unique because it is set in the American West at a time when most of the bird hunting literature was focused on the romantic traditions of ruffed grouse hunting in New England, Appalachia, and the Northwoods.

In this inspiring book, best-selling author and "Dog Whisperer" Cesar Millan uses decades of experience to reveal the many ways that dogs and people can enrich each other's lives, sharing eight essential life lessons imparted by a group of very special dogs he's trained over the years. From his roster of celebrity clients to his reality television series, Cesar Millan is America's most sought-after dog behavior expert. In this affecting book, he shares eight heartwarming stories about the dogs that have inspired him the most.

Happy dog. Happy owner. A dog with behavioural issues is an unhappy dog. And likely has an unhappy owner. But the good news is that, at heart, every dog is a good dog. Every dog wants to behave well for you and make you happy, but whether they're being diverted by fear, stress or uncertainty, something is stopping them. Enter: the Dogfather. Having worked with more than 5,000 dogs - from Great Danes to Chihuahuas and everything in between - he has seen every behavioural issue going, whether it’s aggression, house destruction, refusal to obey commands or extreme anxiety.

Finally home from London after his wartime service in the RAF, James Herriot is settling back into life as a country vet. While the world has changed after the war, the blunt Yorkshire clients and menagerie of beasts with weird and wonderful ailments remain the same. But between his young son, Jimmy, trailing him around copying his every move, stubborn farmers refusing to try his ‘new-fangled’ treatments and a goat that has eaten 293 tomatoes, Darrowby is far from quiet. And with another baby on the way, life is about to get even more chaotic.

In this illuminating book, brain scientist and horsewoman Janet Jones describes human and equine brains working together. Using plain language, she explores the differences and similarities between equine and human ways of negotiating the world. Mental abilities—like seeing, learning, fearing, trusting, and focusing—are discussed from both human and horse perspectives. Throughout, true stories of horses and handlers attempting to understand each other—sometimes successfully, sometimes not—help to illustrate the principles.

Dogs are one of the most popular companion animals, and many of them go through life confident and happy with the world around them. A significant number do not - the scared dogs, the anxious dogs, the ones that are terrified when approached by another dog, person, or a whole range of possible things. These dogs react to the causes of their fear in a range of ways, all of which combine to make what are called "reactive dogs", the ones that cannot cope and have to find a way to tell us.

Cats have been popular household pets for thousands of years, and their numbers only continue to rise. Today there are three cats for every dog on the planet, and yet cats remain more mysterious, even to their most adoring owners. In Cat Sense, renowned anthrozoologist John Bradshaw takes us further into the mind of the domestic cat than ever before, using cutting-edge scientific research to explain the true nature - and needs - of our feline friends. Tracing the cat’s evolution from solitary hunter to domesticated companion, Bradshaw shows that cats remain independent, predatory, and wary of social contact.

Shortlisted for the British Book Awards, Biography of the Year, 2007.
Is it possible for humans to discover the key to happiness through a larger than life, bad-boy dog? Just ask the Grogans....John and Jenny were just beginning their life together. They were young and in love, with a perfect little house and not a care in the world. Then they brought home Marley, a wiggly yellow fur ball of a puppy. Life would never be the same.

Amit Patel is working as a trauma doctor when a rare condition causes him to lose his sight within 36 hours. Totally dependent on others and terrified of stepping outside with a white cane after he's assaulted, he hits rock bottom. He refuses to leave home on his own for three months. With the support of his wife, Seema, he slowly adapts to his new situation, but how could life ever be the way it was? Then his guide dog, Kika, comes along....

Whether treating dogs, cows or sheep, Yorkshire vet Julian Norton has come to recognise and appreciate the very particular ways in which healthy and happy animals express their well-being and contentment. Lambs will skip and gambol, cows will ruminate placidly and the gentle sounds and soft curious facial expression of alpacas or llamas are enough to lift the spirits and warm the coldest of hearts. Here in All Creatures, Julian tells the stories of each of the eight species he has the good fortune to care for every day.

Niall Harbison is a dog hero based in Thailand. He spends his days feeding, caring for and rescuing the many street dogs he comes across. With every rescue there’s a story. Like the sweet gentle McMuffin who was found with many tumours and hours from death, only to be nursed back to health. She now lives with Niall and is a popular member of the pack. Then there is King Whacker – who escaped a vicious attack and is now ruling the nest living up to his name as the king of the all good dogs. And who could resist the puppy eyes of little Rodney.

After more than nine seasons as television’s Dog Whisperer, Cesar Millan has a new mission: to use his unique insights about dog psychology to create stronger, happier relationships between humans and their canine companions. Both inspirational and practical, A Short Guide to a Happy Dog draws on thousands of training encounters around the world to present 98 essential lessons.

Cats are an enigmatic species and their behaviour is subtle and difficult to read. Because of this, it's not always easy to understand what they need from us and our relationship with them can suffer as a result. Included in this book is information on how cats communicate through body language, vocalisations and their secret language of scent. Deciphering this information helps us understand what they are trying to tell us, including when they are feeling unwell, when they are stressed or when they are feeling perfectly content.

When speech-language pathologist Christina Hunger first came home with her puppy, Stella, it didn't take long for her to start drawing connections between her job and her new pet. During the day, she worked with toddlers with significant delays in language development and used augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) devices to help them communicate. At night, she wondered: if dogs can understand words we say to them, shouldn't they be able to say words to us? Can dogs use AAC to communicate with humans?

Living with a reactive dog can accidently create a reactive person and a cycle of negative experiences begin. There is an answer though! With understanding comes positive change. It might not have always been this way; perhaps walking once triggered positive emotion. Maybe we were happy until something specific happened; for example, we met someone with an unfriendly dog that attacked ours or made them really scared. We, too, could have felt scared, then that fear grew over the next few walks, until we felt it the moment we saw another dog in the distance.

This modern classic of nature writing by the author of The Once and Future King was an inspiration for and featured in Helen Macdonald's prize-winning H Is for Hawk. "No hawk can be a pet. There is no sentimentality. In a way, it is the psychiatrist's art. One is matching one's mind against another mind with deadly reason and interest. One desires no transference of affection, demands no ignoble homage or gratitude. It is a tonic for the less forthright savagery of the human heart."

Some dogs are afraid, or excited, or reactive. Dogs that "don't listen" and "go crazy" don't live the lives we - or they - want. Fired Up, Frantic, and Freaked Out can change that. Simple steps and an accessible, conversational tone from award-winning, internationally-known trainer Laura VanArendonk Baugh CPDT-KA KPACTP make calming the agitated dog not only possible, but pleasant. In this book you'll learn how to achieve change in short, simple training sessions of a minute or less; maximize the effects of natural brain chemistry; know when to call in medical help; and more.

Learn what it means to have healthy biomechanics, the power of mind-set, setting goals, and the most important conversations you need to be able to have with your horse in order to improve the quality of his movement. This book is in-depth enough to explain the concepts yet short enough to easily listen to and remember. It is an excellent introduction to Karen Rohlf and her "dressage naturally" system.