The Angell Memorial Animal Hospital Book of Wellness and Preventive Care for Dogs [Hardcover]

Darlene Arden (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 5, 2002

A world-renowned animal hospital shares its total-care program for dogs

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"Angell Memorial's reputation in the animal world is unchallenged, and who better to tell their story than one of the best dog writers in the business. . . . A perfect combination and a must for this important bookshelf."
--Betty White, actress, author, and animal welfare activist

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Angell Memorial Animal Hospital boasts an innovative and authoritative staff and a reputation second to none. Now for the first time, Angell Memorial is teaming up with an award-winning journalist, Darlene Arden, to offer its unprecedented preventive care program to puppy and dog owners everywhere in this comprehensive, user-friendly book, The Angell Memorial Animal Hospital Book of Wellness and Preventive Care for Dogs.

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Too often dog owners wait until a pet is struck with an illness to seek out veterinary advice. The importance of implementing a program that prevents illness from occurring is key to a happy and healthy pet.

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Topics covered include:

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• Dentistry, grooming, and nutrition .
• Emergencies, surgery, first aid, and vaccinations .
• Training and behavior .
• Caring for middle-aged and advanced-aged dogs .

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Angell's unique preventive care handouts and brochure pages (offered for the first time to the general public) are also included. Now, through this book, readers and their veterinarians can create a preventive care program that mimics Angell's to fit the individual dog and lifestyle.

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Editorial Reviews

Review

must-read and must-have for any dog owner who cares enough ... to provide [his pet] with the very best care possible -- The Herald News, February 2003

From the Back Cover

The medical profession has long recognized that implementing a wellness program of preventive health care helps humans lead healthier, longer lives. Now the veterinary community has recognized the same benefits for our dogs. There's no question that our dogs provide us with unconditional love. They serve many roles: companions, service and therapy pets, members of the family. They help lower our blood pressure and keep us on an even keel. There's no doubt that keeping them healthy will help them live longer and happier lives, and the key to successful and cost-effective pet care is to protect pets against infectious diseases and other avoidable maladies before they occur.

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Implementing a preventive-medicine plan, much like preventive-medicine and wellness plans for children and adults, is key to avoiding illness, accidents, and malnutrition. The Angell Memorial Animal Hospital Book of Wellness and Preventive Care for Dogs is the first book to discuss the importance of having a pet wellness plan and to offer the opportunity for owners everywhere to re-create Angell's preventive-care program in their own homes.

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Established in 1915 by the venerable Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, Angell Memorial Animal Hospital was one of the first institutions to implement a wellness program for dogs. Considered one of the most notable and prestigious facilities serving the animal kingdom, this Boston-based hospital is dedicated to providing the best possible medical and surgical care to animals and to advancing the practice of veterinary medicine. Its veterinarians specialize in surgery, radiology, cardiology, dentistry, internal medicine, ophthalmology, oncology, nutrition, dermatology, and more.

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Drawing from the expertise of Angell Memorial's chief of staff, Dr. Paul Gambardella, and the director of the Wellness Program, Dr. Douglas Brum, this book shows you how to design, implement, and maintain a complete wellness program for your dog in collaboration with your own veterinarian. In jargon-free language, award-winning journalist Darlene Arden explains how you can put the famed hospital's unprecedented techniques to work for your dog.

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This invaluable resource addresses:

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• Dentistry and grooming .
• Nutrition .
• Emergencies and first aid .
• Preventive parasite control .
• Solutions to common puppy problems .
• Training and behavior .
• Problems of middle-aged and senior dogs .
• And more .

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By thinking and planning ahead, you can help increase your dog's life span and overall health and happiness.

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"Angell Memorial's reputation in the animal world is unchallenged, and who better to tell their story than one of the best dog writers in the business. . . . A perfect combination and a must for this important bookshelf."
--Betty White, actress, author, and animal-welfare activist

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In this readable and practical book, award-winning author and pet expert Darlene Arden puts all the benefits of Angell Memorial's pioneering pet wellness program in the hands of pet owners everywhere."
--Karen Pryor, behavior biologist and author of Don't Shoot the Dog and Clicker Training for Dogs

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"Darlene Arden isn't just another pet book author--she knows her stuff. The Angell Memorial Animal Hospital Book of Wellness and Preventive Care for Dogs gives you ammunition to ask the right questions no matter where your veterinarian happens to be. This book is like the hospital itself and is more than cutting-edge medicine--it has heart."
--Steve Dale, host of "Animal Planet" radio show and a senior columnist for Pet Life magazine.

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Angell Memorial Animal Hospital recognized the importance of wellness early on and was one of the first institutions to initiate a wellness program for pets. The hospital's esteemed staff of veterinarians explains how you can put Angell Memorial's renowned, medically proven formula to work for your dog. You'll also learn how to customize the plan to fit your dog's individual needs. Discover how to help your dog lead a longer, healthier, and happier life. You--and your dog--will be glad you did!

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See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill; 1 edition (December 5, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0071384898
• ISBN-13: 978-0071384896
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,050,619 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

A Certified Animal Behavior Consultant, Journalist, Author, Learning Facilitator in Kutztown University's Dog Training and Management Certificate Program and frequent media guest, Darlene Arden's passion for helping animals live longer and better lives shines through in all she does. Whether she's writing books or articles, speaking to breed clubs and other animal-related groups, attending veterinary conferences to increase her own knowledge and as a presenter, or interacting with individual pet owners, her goal is always the same -- to enhance the lives of dogs and cats. In her "spare time" she is a World Canine Freestyle Organization Judge, Referee, and Advisory Board member and she produces and hosts a local cable television program. Find her on the web at: www.darlenearden.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top of My Must Have Dog Books, January 19, 2003

By 

Jerri-Lynn Morrison (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Angell Memorial Animal Hospital Book of Wellness and Preventive Care for Dogs (Hardcover)

If I was only going to have one book on how to care for my dog, this would be it, because it encompasses all the essential issues of having a dog in your life. There is a checklist of the basic supplies needed for a new dog. There are descriptions of the many diseases and parasites dogs can contract, and the vaccinations and titers tests that prevent some of them. She explains thyroid disease, pancreatitis, urinary stones, and many other diseases and their treatment. She discusses obesity, and makes the point that in our quick-fix society, many people, when there dog comes to them for attention, throw them a cookie, when playing with them would often be a much wiser choice.

Some of the issues covered in the training section are on introducing dogs to children, and the supervision by adults needed. She explains some of the different dog sports. There are wonderful, detailed instructions on how to teach basic dog manners - leave it, sit, down, stay, come, loose-leash walking, wait, crate training, housetraining, and more.

The first-aid section covers many emergency issues, including a list of poisonous plants, a checklist for a doggie first aid kid, how to take your dog's temperature, what to do if prevent your dog suffering from heat stroke, which can be life-threatening, and what to do if it does happen - most importantly to give the dog a cold bath, wrap them in a cold wet towel, and get them to the nearest vet as quickly as possible.

I love how the book is laid out, with little greyed in area "tricks of the trade" throughout the book, and I love that there are frequent titles over sections so I can quickly find a topic I'm interested in. I also love the quick summaries at the end of each chapter, and that there are lots of point-form checklists, and charts. There are adorable drawings throughout the book, where the teachers, nurses, doctors, etc. are also dogs.

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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Your Best Friend's Best Friend, July 18, 2004

By 

Alan Alford (Sudbury, MA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Angell Memorial Animal Hospital Book of Wellness and Preventive Care for Dogs (Hardcover)

= Your best friend's best friend
Reviewer: Alan Alford from Marlboro, MA USA
Every loving breeder, who has ever sold a dog, has worried over whether she's given the new buyer everything he needs. This marvelous reference work from Darlene Arden will put to rest the concern of such breeders. The Angell Memorial Animal Book of Wellness is a "must" gift to accompany every puppy to its new home, and deserves a prominent place in every dog owner's library. It certainly has one in mine, where it's kept close enough for instant help each time one of my beloved pets shows the slightest sign of distress. In just the few short weeks since acquiring it it has brought me comfort on two occasions, and caused me instantly to take off to our veterinarian in a third. In 14 well-researched, easily read, heart-warming chapters, from Puppyhood, through the Middle Years, to the Senior years all dog-lovers dread, the author "holds the hand" of the dog owner through every possible medical concern and, in finale, comforts him in the final chapter of every human - canine love bond, "Saying Goodbye." This is one of the rare book investments that will earn, continuously, a return of its cost. I'm glad I found it.

Alan Alford

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent resource for anyone who loves their dog, January 19, 2003

By 

"katefulker" (Durham, NC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Angell Memorial Animal Hospital Book of Wellness and Preventive Care for Dogs (Hardcover)

As a breeder of Labrador Retrievers, I am perenially seeking and seldom finding books that I can wholeheartedly recommend to my puppys' new families. Most books have serious flaws, some recommending outdated and questionable ideas or composed in unreadable jargon. This book has none of those flaws. In fact, the author contains inset definitions of terms that will help the reader translate other books. This book contains state-of-the-art veterinary medicine by some of the top specialists in the world. The author doesn't talk down to the reader but still somehow manages to explain the most up-to-date and important issues in caring for dogs.

Most importantly, this book deals with wellness and preventing problems, a concept that has been at the forefront of human medicine and is only now reaching veterinary medicine. Beginning at puppyhood, the book takes the reader through the innovative program designed by Angell Memorial Hospital to enhance canine health into old age.

I was particularly pleased with recommendations related to socializing and training dogs. Not a word of aversive training was mentioned in this book. This positive reinforcement approach will truly mean that the puppy develops into a mentally healthy member of the family.

I loved the illustrations too. Just adorable. I'll be recommending this book to every puppy family I have.

Kate Fulkerson, PhD
HighGarth Labradors