All About Animals discussion

What do you want to read in 2020? Write suggestions in here.

Secret Service Dogs and Blue Paws.

I thought Secret Service Dogs was very slow. At the beginning of the book they tell you they can't divulge any of the cool stuff they have done for security reasons and pretty much stick to that. There is some good info, but there are much better books out there.

I would recommend What the Dog Knows: The Science and Wonder of Working Dogs byCat Warren on working dogs.

I will add Blue Paws to my list to read in the future.

There are so many great books on dogs, I would need to know what segment they are looking for to recommend.

If you want a good non-fiction on dogs, I enjoyed this one. A scientist employed real scientific testing methods to explore the phenomenon of dogs using some kind of telepathic understanding of where their owner is even when they are not together.
"Dogs that Know when their owner is coming home" I couldn't find it on Goodreads but its here on Amazon:
https://amzn.to/3hTWbKP

if you mean Dogs That Know When Their Owners Are Coming Home & Other Unexplained Powers of Animals by Rupert Sheldrake, I did find it interesting. I especially liked how it talked about when someone started home, then changed their mind or got held up, and the dog would 'know' and relax, and not go back to their place of vigilance by the door where it usually waits until the owner had decided and started to head back home.

Tui, appreciate you recommending a book to me, can you let me know what you like and I can recommend some back? if you look in my list of books, you can see I have them in categories, and if you let me know of a category you like, I can recommend the top books in the category.

I wish we could do have stars to still be able to rank something as good but use it to rank them a little among the same group.

Stephen, I'll certainly look at your list. I have a particular interest in fiction concerning marine animals, but I've probably already read most of the good stuff. I don't read much non-fiction but one that I loved was called "The Ocean is Alive" by a Glenn Edney, who managed to totally convince me that the ocean is a living thing like a person, but his description of sentient marine animals was also of huge interest to me. Now off to check out your book list.

Stephen I had a look at your list and was impressed by the sheer number of books about dogs. I've read a few of them, but you're miles ahead of me on dog books. I've always had a bit of a fascination for that Iditarod race I've heard a bit about. Spotted a book on your list I would like to read. It was "Togo and Leonhard" but could find no mention of an e-book version. I always much prefer to read e-books. But if you have any other recommendations of good fiction or non-fiction about sledding I'd be keen to know which on your list you liked most. I loved the Jack London dog stories.

I actually own 290 books on dogs but haven't read them all yet. I was impressed by the sheer number of them out there. I was disappointed in not being able to find a good list of the 'best' books on dogs. I suspect a lot of those are pushing books for some form of compensation or people just haven't read that many.
The books on the Yukon Quest dog sledding race are as good or better than the Iditarod.
I can see the appeal of e-books, a lot less shelf space to take up :-)
I will come up with some suggestions to read a little later today.
great to have you as a friend!

I loved Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love.

Regarding Totago and Leanhard, I would recommend 'The Cruelest Miles..." much more for ALL the details of the first serum run and everything around it. So much wonderful details.

Here are my top favorites. I keep a spreadsheet of all my books so has an internal rating. I will add notes as much as the number of characters allow.
Dog Man: An Uncommon Life on a Faraway Mountain (maybe don't start with this one, others are 'more' favorite, but still a great book)
Cold Nights: Fast Trails : Reflections of a Modern Dog Musher
Racing the White Silence: On the Trail of the Yukon Quest
Winterdance (this is my first and favorite dogsledding book and I like to read it again every couple of years. )
Woodsong: (By the same author as Winterdance, some amazing stories. Smaller sized book, but great stuff.)
Yukon Alone: The World's Toughest Adventure Race
Lad: A Dog (old book, but like all the current themes that are in all dog books that follow, but written before other ones and almost always with some twist that makes it different.)
Lassie Come-Home (oldie but goodie)
Old Yeller (of course)
The 101 Dalmatians (the original is interesting, not the Disney version)
The Call of the Wild
Tornado (fun little youth book)
Where the Red Fern Grows (classic)
Mr. and Mrs. Dog: Our Travels, Trials, Adventures, and Epiphanies
Born to Bark: My Adventures with an Irrepressible and Unforgettable Dog (in it, in addition to dog psychology aspects he trains his Cairn Terrier up through utility. And Terriers are hard to train, so impressive!)
Merle's Door (amazing story, finds stray dog in the wilderness, takes it home, lives in a neighborhood where dogs can roam free (and mostly don't get hit by cars). If you wanted to skip the last chapter or two when he gets sick towards the end it would be ok with me)
Upland Passage: A Field Dog's Education (love learning how they train hunting dogs from a pup, but ebooks don't give you the nice photos...)
Chaser: Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words (You HAVE to read this one, amazing what you can do with a dog, made me imagine if you put this much attention into a kid...)
Dog Talk: Lessons Learned from a Life with Dogs (My notes say: Great book. Really understands dogs and has insights that are outside of other books. Trains security dogs but lessons apply for all. Very entertaining.)
For the Love of a Dog: Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend
Go Find! Training Your Dog to Track
I & Dog (this book is from the monks of new skate, just pictures and great quotes, good one to request inter-library)
Ready!: Training the Search and Rescue Dog (Kennel Club Pro) (love to dream of training a dog to do this, but don't want to put in a time so want to do a smaller version of tracking playing hide and seek with my dog)
What the Dog Knows: The Science and Wonder of Working Dogs (mostly on training for cadaver dog, but has elements of a good murder mystery)
Chicken Soup for the Pet Lover's Soul: Stories about Pets as Teachers, Healers, Heroes and Friends
A Dog Year: Twelve Months, Four dogs, and Me
Following Atticus (but strangely I didn't like his follow-up book 'Will's Red Coat very much)
Navy SEAL Dogs: My Tale of Training Canines for Combat (different aspects of training which are very interesting)
Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend (so much better than the lassie book. There was a dog before him in the movies 'Strongheart' which I have only found in youth books, but you should look him up to)
So That Others May Live: Caroline Hebard & Her Search-And-Rescue Dogs (Great book, like all on this list should be :-) but you cry when they find kids that weren't found in time....)

These are all my 5's, when you get through them we can talk about the 4.5's :-)

oops, seemed I missed 3 other ones (including the one I previously mentioned)
The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic
The Dogs of Bedlam Farm: An Adventure with sixteen sheep, three dogs, two donkeys, and Me
Judy: A Dog In A Million

So the last one is one of my top favorites. It is about a dog that was a mascot on a gunship in China when WWII started. His owner and him went into a Japanese POW camp, they were able to keep each other alive. Amazing story. Interesting thing is there is two other books on the same story. I own one of them, will get the other, then plan on reading all 3 at the same time, part by part to see which one I like the 'best.' So you can wait until I do that, or just try to read all three with me :-)

Melissa wrote: "I loved Oogy: The Dog Only a Family Could Love."

I like that one too :-)
Not one of my top favorites, but definitely a good read.

Regarding the story of Judy in WWI, I found out what I thought was a third book on it, is only a story in the book, Dog That Saved My Life : Incredible True Stories of Canine Loyalty Beyond All Bounds. So there are only two versions of Judy -
Judy: A Dog In A Million
No Better Friend: One Man, One Dog, and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage and Survival in WWII
So I just have to re-read the first one while reading the second one in the same corresponding story and then can tell you which is better. The first one is one of my favorite stories on dogs, so it will be interested to see how they compare.

Stephen, I looked for the book Winterdance and found more than one called Winterdance or Winter Dance. I assumed you were recommending the Gary Paulsen one?
I really would love to read, after seeing what you said about it, that but there is no e-book.
However, while I was looking I found a children's book called Winter Dance which is about a fox. As an ex-teacher I love children's books. And there is an e-book! YAY! So I will grab a copy of that and let you know how I like it. Have you read it?
I have to first finish "What a fish knows" I'm reading now.

Tui,
You got me on those two, I have not read them.
Not sure why they aren't available on ebook. I found another copy that I already gave away, I will look for another for you :-)
And yes, the one by Gary Paulsen.
There are soooooooo many good books so there are more to read and recommend.
Steve

Stephen,
I found a second-hand print copy of Paulsen's Winterdance for around what you might expect to pay for the e-book, YAY!
Although cheapness is only my second reason for preferring eBooks. The main reason is the enlargeable fonts as I like enlarging the text.
I found it on Fishpond. If I like it, I might buy a copy for my grand-daughter.
I think I'll copy and print your list above as there are more on it I might read once I've got through this lot. Thanks so much for going to all that trouble.

As I get older I can appreciate enlarged text as well, easy for eoac and other letters to look the same. but if I take my glasses off and close one eye off, I can read fine :-)

I hope you love it as much as I did. There are a lot of great books, let's start from the top, the best ones, and work our way down... or at least help with recommendations to do that...

Have a great weekend. The moving van with all our stuff will finally arrive in my new home in North Carolina tomorrow. We got the home June 10th, o only a month without it.

Stephen wrote: "Tui,
You got me on those two, I have not read them.."
Stephen, I found out the probable reason you hadn't read the children's book called Winter Dance. It arrived in my reading device and turned out to be a picture book, intended for say 5 yr olds. Quite pretty but definitely younger than the age group that interests me (and probably you)
I do value a good picture book to read to any very young children who may be around (but there are none here). However, this one did not have enough story to really capture my heart though the illustrations were nicely done.
I prefer a good children's novel, like Gary Paulsen writes for older children, and I think you are the same in that.

If you want picture books, I have a few, I would need to think if any are really worth your money. I try to find all the books I can at thrift stores where I can get them for a dollar or two.

I did really love 'I & Dog' from the Monks of New Skate. There other books are a little dated from today's training standards, but this one was very nice pictures and quotes.

Some books you may want to consider get thru inter-library loan.... others of course you want to keep close so you can see them smiling down at you :-)

Stephen, my 2nd hand copy of Gary Paulsen's Winterdance arrived today in the mail. I started reading it, even though I haven't finished the fish book yet.
It has grabbed me from the start. Thanks so much for the recommendation. Do you know if it has been a book of the month on this group yet?
Also I saw your comments on my Plague Dogs review. I'm sure you would enjoy that book. Another one this group could read if they haven't already done so. I'll check and see if there's an e-book version. the print one is probably hard to get now.
I just found there is a e-book version of Plague Dogs here:
https://www.amazon.com/Plague-Dogs-Ri...

I don't know about book of the month stuff, I only just want to keep recommending the best books on dogs to read.

It helps to know what people like. Dog sledding books are among my favorites. Winterdance is my top favorite, but there is a LOT of great books on the races. Situations where they have to make tough decisions. I will have to start giving you my second favorite. Paulsen also has a little book 'Woodsong' that has stories of dog sledding along with life in the North that has amazing and unique stories. I highly recommend that one too.

I think, 'Cold Nights: Fast Trails : Reflections of a Modern Dog Musher' also had some amazing moments too, but unfortunately I didn't save a lot of notes on it other than it was a great book. Same with 'Yukon Alone: The World's Toughest Adventure Race'

And I know I keep talking about 'The Cruelest Miles: The Heroic Story of Dogs and Men in a Race Against an Epidemic. No other source gives you all the details of that first serum run.

I am going to write my review of 'The Lost Dogs' now on Michael Vick's dogs. Another great book, but not the same excitement as a good book on dog sledding.

I love "I and Dog" from the Monks. I have a similar book, "Zen and the Art of Dog Walking".
My favorite dog book recently, "The Story of Edgar Sawtelle" by David Wroblewski.

Thanks for the recommendation for Zen and the Art of Dog walking! I added it to my list.

I own the he Story of Edgar Sawtelle but as it is a big book, I have shied away from reading it right away. It is in so many people's list of best dog books that I really want to read it. Thanks for bringing it it up. I want to read it so I can compare my thoughts to yours and others.

I have my own personal expression that nothing is cool unless you have someone else to turn to and say, "isn't that cool!" Same thing with books, it is just so good to share the same feeling and thoughts on a book.

Tui wrote: "Stephen, my 2nd hand copy of Gary Paulsen's Winterdance arrived today in the mail. I started reading it, even though I haven't finished the fish book yet.
It has grabbed me from the start. Thanks ..."

Tui, did you finish Gary Paulsen's Winterdance? Want to see if you loved it as much as I did.

Hi everyone! How wonderful to find this group. Well, yes, there are PLENTY of books about dogs. Except that most of them seem to actually be about humans! Or are super schmalzy. I have written a book (a labour of love) and self funded and self published it. I promise it's good. I promise it's uplifting (but not drippy). Anyone who loves dogs, I think you will love it. And 100% of proceeds are going to dog rescue projects globally (all info on nomadthief site and dogsoflondonbook on insta). It's about a group of dogs (and their humans) who meet in Kensington Gardens, London. Please check it out! It's called Dogs of London and you can get it on Amazon. I would love love lovveeeeee to hear what you think of it! Emma (Lewis-Galic, Dogs of London)

Wow! What a great resource this thread is. I too am a sucker for a dog character! Not sure if someone has mentioned it but what about Tomorrow by Damien Dibben - a beautiful book. Also Sirius by Jonathan Crowe is interesting. Re other species: Watership Down is still one of my favourite books of all time, and The Crow Chronicles was enjoyable too, I think it might be a YA book but I found it interesting.

Racing in the rain?

Racing in the rain is a favorite of a lot of people. Some of us thought differently. I thought the dialogue from the dogs perspective was WAY unrealistic and that bothered me. I didn't think the dog acted or talked like a dog. People can like what they want.

Lots of great books out there!