Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: dogs

  • Dogs of War

    Dogs of War

    Guardians of the Battlefield: True Stories of Loyalty and Bravery

    Dogs have been used in warfare for thousands of years, with their roles evolving

    from sentry duties to combat and reconnaissance. Nigel Allsopp’s enlightening book ‘Dogs of War’ not only explores the unique attributes of these combat canines, which makes these highly sophisticated and versatile animals (an extension of the soldier’s own senses), but also gives the reader an insight into their bravery, loyalty, intelligence and devotion to their handler.

    To illustrate the characteristics of these remarkable dogs the author has included photos of the handlers with their special military working dog and a heartwarming vignette relating their special attributes, as a soldier, a protector and above all, a mate. It is very obvious from these anecdotes, that the bond between the dog and handler is ironclad; they are never to be treated as mere equipment.

    This is an easy-to-read book, with its individual chapters not only describing how these extraordinary animals were relied upon during conflict in different parts of the world, but also on recognition of their deeds, future impact of technology and the role of the handler. It is evident that the author is passionate about ensuring that the deeds and sacrifices of these four-legged heroes are not forgotten; many of whom fought and died alongside the troops. The reader is left in no doubt of the role of these remarkable dogs in saving lives in times of conflict.

    I highly recommend it to all readers, whether or not they are dog lovers.

  • Dog’s Best Friend: A portrait of an unbreakable bond

    Dog’s Best Friend: A portrait of an unbreakable bond

    Sydney Street Photographer Giuseppe Santamaria, a man who loves and dogs and is beloved by dogs took to the streets of the world to discover through the eye of the camera the unique bond between man and dog that occurs, lasting until the final farewell has been undertaken.

    Over a period of months he spent time simply watching, waiting and capturing the funny, tender, quirky and beloved moments anyone who has ever had a dog in their lives completely understands.

    As never before, with many couples opting out of having children and dogs of all shapes, sizes and breeds filling the gap, dogs are being understood, nurtured and enjoyed simply for being themselves, unique and complex creatures who have their own personalities, characteristics and charm.

    Page after delightful page of stunning pictures captures a moment in time, recording in lavish colour beloved canines out and about undertaking their varied and daily routines shopping, taking a walk, charming all who see them in their latest outfits or waiting impatiently for that stick to be thrown.

    Conversations with owners tell of funny, fascinating and charming snippets of their life with their beloved canine which in his relaxed style, Guiseppe Santamaria has captured to create a gift well worth the giving to one’s self, anyone who has a dog, would love a dog or simply wishes to share a moment in time vicariously in the world of dogs and their friends.

    Dog’s Best Friend: A portrait of an unbreakable bond from renown photographer Giuseppe Santamaria is a coffee table book that will be enjoyed time and time again over many years.

  • My Name Is Gucci: A Dog’s Story

    My Name Is Gucci: A Dog’s Story

    Author Sun Jung has interestingly used Gucci, an ex-shelter dog as the narrator for her latest book. Gucci is no ordinary dalmatian – like cross breed dog; he is a clever, wise dog with thousands of years of life and countless rebirths of names. In his previous incarnations, Gucci has encountered many difficult situations.

    Gucci, the rescue dog has spent his first five years of this life in a shelter in Singapore, wistfully hoping to be adopted. When he had almost given up hope of ever finding a forever home, a young woman who connected with him, after she’d seen him in a dream, relocated him to live in Sydney, where she lived with her partner.

    Through Gucci’s memories of past lives, readers not only explore the girl’s family relationships in Korea and Australia but also the cruelty to which dogs are exposed; puppy farms, dog fights and greyhound racing.

    In present day Sydney, Gucci discovers that certain readjustments need to be made when living in a new country in a high-rise apartment; not everyone loves dogs, and entitled cats can be a problem!

    Some readers may not only find the plotline, which switches between generations, countries and reincarnations a little challenging, but they may also find it difficult to keep track of the assortment of canine characters from different time periods.

    Dog lovers, however will delight in reading the journey, which Gucci and his family experience together.

    The glossary of Korean words at the front of the book is both helpful and a fascinating read; it allows the reader to comprehend the Korean words and to fully grasp their meaning in context. 

  • Dog’s Best Friend: A Brief History of an Unbreakable Bond

    Dog’s Best Friend: A Brief History of an Unbreakable Bond

    Dogs are considered as man’s best friend and in this tell all exposé Dogs Best Friend from Simon Garfield, the dog lover expounds on so very much related to dogs from their very beginning, back well before time imaginable, or so it would seem, to the beloved fur babies of the modern world, in which we now all inhabit; dogs and all.

    He investigates the theory that dogs evolved from wolves early the book which is edifying as this is a subject that has caused much conjecture in scientific realms over many, many years. It would now appear that there is a slight but significant difference in the anatomy of wolves and dogs that make a difference, as in the temperament of the various breeds, but the evidence is still not totally conclusive.

    One thing that is conclusive is that dogs have been interacting with humans far longer than was ever considered, as proven in a series of rock art painting discovered in north- western Saudi Arabia that can be traced back to between 8000-6000BC.

    But onward in this fascinating book of all things relating to dogs, their fame, their infamy and how they have become the beloved of so many, replacing in many, many case children in modern families. Dogs have developed their own fame and fortune thanks to Instagram and many have simply become pampered pooches. Some even have cringe worthy titles which often, when heard out in public make humans wonder, let alone wonder what the poor long suffering dog really thinks!

    The other side to coin is many, many dogs have found the perfect place in life as guide dogs, companion dogs, detection dogs, working police dogs  and so much more as people finally began to understand the abilities of theses  intelligent creatures.  Captured in the pages are some heart-warming stories of dogs that have gone out and done wondrous things in the name of duty, courage and the love of their humans.

    Poets have lauded them, Prime Ministers and Presidents have loved them.  Winston Churchill’s dog, a small brown poodle called Rufus was upstaged by a British Bulldog, often sporting a union jack waistcoat, used in war time propaganda.  Hitler was often seen with a large German shepherd. George W.H. Bush and his wife Barbara’s beloved Millie was painted in portrait on the South Lawn of the White House: the Obama’s dogs Sunny and Bo where in such high demand for photo opportunities they had their own schedules.

    Beloved of most everyone, dogs and their humans create a unique bond that lasts until death, which when a beloved pet passes is often devastating in extreme, leaving behind a gap that is incredibly hard to fill.

    Dogs Best Friend is filed with love, awe and a huge amount of hilarity, often tongue-in-cheek, as the love felt by Simon Garfield for his beloved Labrador Ludo shines through and makes this absolutely perfect book for dog lovers everywhere.

    Not one to be read in a hurry, lest some important detail is missed, Dogs Best Friend is to be enjoyed with your best pal settled at your feet and a good glass of red to be enjoyed in a perfectly acceptable manner.

  • A Dictionary of Interesting and Important Dogs

    A Dictionary of Interesting and Important Dogs

    As any lover of dogs will know, there is far, far more to their canine companions than they ever let you know, after all they need to have a few secrets as they set out to make sure their beloved humans get what life is about from a dog’s perspective.

    In this wonderful collection of trivia, compiled by Peter J Conradi, many of the other lives of dogs and humans is revealed, making this the perfect book to dip into during stressful times, such as we are currently experiencing.

    Who would have though Shakespeare really, really disliked dogs: it seems he did, while the American humourist Ogden Nash penned a collection titled ‘A Introduction to Dogs’ which contains the very telling lines, ‘ A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of.’: oh so very true.

    The Titanic is well known as perhaps the greatest maritime tragedy in modern history. Less is known about the twelve dogs who were also on board this fateful ship, all beloved of their owners and kept in kennels on F Deck. All perished as did their owners; all but one, Rigel, a Newfoundland who swam in front of one lonely lifeboat and barked to prevent the rescue ship Carpathia, running over the top of it in the dark icy waters. This folkloric tale has never been verified.

    Bluey, officially the world’s oldest dog lived to be almost 30 years old, and Byron wrote and Epitaph to a Dog in honour of his Newfoundland, Boatswain who died of rabies in 1808. Byron buried him in fitting style with a tomb larger, as it turned out, than his.

    Underdogs receive a mention along with their interesting history and of course there is Toto made famous in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, and beloved of children and adults alike.

    So much amazing, informative and intriguing history has been gathered in the pages of A Dictionary of Interesting and Important Dogs which will help while away the hours, as once again reading allows us to discover so many wonderful things from the comfort of our favourite armchairs.

    Enjoy some levity as you discover so many things you never, ever knew about dogs.

  • The Wonder of Lost Causes

    The Wonder of Lost Causes

    The Wonder of Lost Causes is a truly heart wrenching story that involves a single mother, her much loved son who suffers from Cystic Fibrosis, and a dog. The story is written in a light style and is understated in the seriousness of all aspects of their life. The introduction of a gentle but pervasive humour lightens the tale, and we see that this family’s values never diminish even during difficult times. For animal lovers, the magic that exists between the boy and his dog will be a special feature.

    When the story begins, we find that single mum, Kate, is a vet, who works tirelessly at an animal shelter. For each dog that comes to the shelter, there is a time period when adoption is possible. After that time has elapsed, depending on space, the dog will be put down if it has not been taken by a family.

    When Whistler comes to the shelter, he is in a pretty poor condition. It is clear he has been illtreated, and bears scars, and sores on his body. Kate’s son, Jasper, comes to the shelter after school each day and knows all of the animals there. An instant connection forms between him and the big, black dog. When someone says, “I wonder what his name is?” Jasper looks at the dog and immediately replies, “Whistler.”

    No one believes that Jasper has communicated with the dog, and his mother explains to him why that can’t happen. However, the two develop a bond that grows all the time. Kate battles Jasper’s Cystic Fibrosis daily and supervises his doses of medication. Some of the medication affects his hearing and his growth, but the small family share so much love that mostly they cope well. There are some humorous moments when Kate and Jasper argue and Kate realises that he is arguing rationally as an adult, and she as the child.

    When the family hear that a reward for Whistler has been posted, they face a great dilemma. Kate knows it will break Jasper’s heart to part with the dog, but he was correct in knowing that Jasper has a special gift and was an invaluable support for a young girl. Things move quite quickly once the original owner is found, and a scenario evolves that suits all.

    Kate writes one chapter, and Jasper writes the next. This adds to the humour, especially when the Mother has a conversation and doesn’t know that Jasper is listening. In the next chapter, he reports that this is how his Mum is thinking and so he plans to change her thoughts. The reader will learn a lot about Cystic Fibrosis, and its devastating effects on the young, although at no time do the pair fall into despair or the story become melancholy.

  • Life on the Leash A novel

    Life on the Leash A novel

    With the long hot days of summer holidays approaching, this is the ideal book to read. Light and interesting, it takes us into the world of a dog trainer. Cora has always had a passion for animals and after a successful career in IT, she has decided to follow her love and help dog owners with their problem pets. The fact that she is a young attractive and gentle woman gets her into some predicaments, but as always, her first consideration is the animals around her.

     Cora has established a client base which keeps her busy, and word of her successes has spread, so she is constantly booking new clients. The interesting diversity of people and dogs, and their problems, needs all of Cora’s learning and skills to stay on top of the issues. She is always gentle and patient though, and often it is the human owners who have the most learning to do. As Cora is single, and only works in raggy jeans and holey unicorn socks, the relationship she is looking for with a man, seems unlikely.

    Along with her daily challenges, the dog trainer has a disgust of a television dog handler, Boris Ershovich, who is rough, and uses choke collars and shock collars to train dogs. At this stage, Cora is invited to audition for a dog handling segment on TV. Her methods would be directly opposite those of Boris and her patience and love (and treats) would change the dynamics of dog obedience. Many people think that Boris’ methods of mastering and controlling animals by fear is appropriate.

    The young woman has such a lot on her plate. Relationships with dogs as well as their owners takes time, and sometimes signals are misread. A couple of romantic liaisons occur, and after having been in a difficult relationship in the past, Cora is not sure of the sincerity of either man. Her dynamic flatmate Maggie is a great help and has sage advice while keeping up the spirits of her friend and their two dogs.

    As the author is a dog trainer and speaker, this lends an air of authenticity to the story and shows a wide range of issues which could face a worker in this industry. She has many simple tricks to pass on but the most overriding necessity is for the dog owner to want and love their pet.

     

     

  • Next Door’s Dog has A Job

    Next Door’s Dog has A Job

    Dogs are incredible creatures and have a natural ability to look out for others. This has been used over recent years to train so many of them for various forms of work, such as Guide Dogs and Support Dogs, which makes many of them very specials dogs, important to their humans in a way that allows so many to be able to live normal lives.

    Gina Dawson and has been involved with support dogs for many years and understands the issues so many people not involved with either guide or support dogs are completely unaware of when these dogs are working.

    She has created a beautiful story around Tom, his Dad, their neighbour Kate and her support dog Bailey, to help educate not just small children, but adults as well, to the importance of these dogs in the lives of so many people.

    Tom is very impressed with Bailey’s lovely yellow coat that he wears whenever he goes out with Kate and wishes his dog Pepper could have one as well.

    His father explains to him why Bailey needs to wear the coat, and why he is so important to Kate. He tells Tom, that although Kate does not look like she has anything wrong with her, she does and that having Bailey allows her to go to work and out in the community

    Tom finally understands why Pepper can’t be a support dog and that support dogs have to be special dogs, trained into their role over a long time.

    He and his Dad see Kate and Bailey at the Supermarket and Tom wants to go up and pat Bailey, but once again his father explains that when Bailey is working, he must not be distracted.

    The text is such that it will appeal to young readers over a wide age range, using simple and easy to understand words and phrasings. Vivienne Da Silva has added her touch to the story with clear, colourful illustrations highlighting each of the points raised and discussed by Tom and his Dad.

    Teacher, Caregiver and Educator notes are included at the back of the book, making it very easy to discuss with groups the importance of Service Dogs and their important role in today’s society

  • WeRateDogs: The Most Hilarious and Adorable Pups You’ve Ever Seen

    WeRateDogs: The Most Hilarious and Adorable Pups You’ve Ever Seen

    For anyone who loves dogs this is a must have as it is full of the cutest, funniest and adorable pictures of lovely ‘fur babies’ doing what they do best, being cute, adorable and dogs!

    Based on the popular social media sensation #WeRateDogs, with our beloved pets hitting a home run every time, complete with the zany captions, which been created by Matt Nelson along with a totally insane point scoring rating based loosely on 10/10 of course, it seriously elevates our dogs to greatness level, which simply underlines something they have always known, but we as mere humans have been a little slow to discover.

    If you are having one of those grey kind of days, pet lover or not, there is a simple dose of happiness to be found on each and every page , whether it be a serious groan at the absolutely awful pun, or an outright laugh when the caption more than fits the image, you will feel better for the journey.

    Designed with a ‘serious’ rating system and ‘unwavering rules’ by the end of the book, or even after a few pages, you will be left with a ‘completely abstract’ understanding of this hard and fast system, which the author of these rules and system has advised is ill-considered and downright ill-advised to question!

    Guaranteed to become a firm favourite, #WeRateDogs should be considered as a seriously ‘feel-good’ book that should be just there when you need a little dose of zany cheer in your day.

     

  • Buddhism for Pet Lovers

    Buddhism for Pet Lovers

    Every pet lover, regardless of what sort of pet they have, will immediately relate to the contents of this latest look at Tibetan Buddhism, how it correlates to our pets and their bonding or influence over us, their humans! It also takes a serious look at the benefits we as humans receive, as well as the lessons often learned, from these beautiful, beloved creatures.

    Anyone who has ever been privileged enough to have a special buddle of fur, feathers or other in their life, including pets as small as hermit crabs and the like, appreciate that extra something they bring to their lives. It is special, it is a bond and it has the power to change often dire events in life with unconditional love – mainly from cats or dogs that give and keep on giving in so many ways, instinctively knowing just the right moment to connect.

    In Chapter one Michie looks at the transition of what were once wild creatures into creatures that are happy to curl up on your lap, greet you with a furiously wagging tail on returning home and bring so much joy into your life, absolutely unconditionally unless of course, you are the proud Human of a cat, who considers you privileged to have them reside in your home!

    This makes for fascinating reading and also sets the stage for the connection to the Buddhist beliefs, which flow on to the benefits of really beginning to understand the special nature of pets and there intuitive connection with humans.

    Throughout the book there are a number of stories relating to the point, which even Science is beginning to recognise and accept, that animals are conscious beings, that in many instances their minds are a great deal similar to the human mind.

    Each of the chapters is woven around one of the underpinning philosophies of Buddhism; Particular attention needs to be paid to Chapter three, Guiding Principles as they relate to how we deal with our pets, what value we place on not only our lives, but also our pets. Cause and effect is also addressed, as is the simple and yet complex matter that ‘pets are not in our lives by chance!’

    Beautiful stories are dotted throughout every chapter of the book, with pets learning to enjoy meditation with you, bring comfort to the sick and terminally ill, deliver joy to the elderly and care and compassion to many to others.

    As further studies are undertaken as to the benefits of dogs in particular, making a huge difference to people with health or disability issues, improving their lives in so many ways,  scientists are fast discovering they bring far, far more into the relationship than what they are trained to deliver.

    Sadly though, pets simply do live as long as humans and there comes a day when a sad goodbye must be undertaken; Michie talks in great detail about the best way we can help our beloved pet through their final days, to be able to say goodbye with love and compassion.

    As always with David Michie’s books, the thread is there to a better and more detailed understanding of the many aspects which make up the Buddhist philosophy, that will help and guide you along your life journey; it is just in this instance, with the care and guidance of those very special friends, those beautiful, sentient beings, our beloved pets.

    A lovely reflection to consider are the words from His Holiness the  Dalai Lama when he says, ‘True happiness comes not from a limited concern for one’s own wellbeing, or that of those one feels close to, but from developing love and compassion for all sentient beings.’