Customer Reviews

The Chosen Puppy: How to Select and Raise a Great Puppy from an Animal Shelter

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I adopted a 8-week-old puppy from Humane Society and being a first time dog owner, this book is very helpful with my raising my puppy. In a month, she will be 4 years old and as a puppy, she was a GREAT puppy and today, as a dog, she is a GREAT dog! The other people have commented to me how well-behaved my dog was when she was puppy. Today, people still tell me how smart and well behaved my dog is.

Well, it's all due to that book.

Carol does an excellent job of explaining a nutshell version of what to look for in a pup and how to start some basic training--and then specifically guides new puppy owners into special considerations for shelter dogs. Her book is easy to read and understand, with simple illustrations that make the training and teaching a puppy seem easy and enjoyable. Carol provides insightful information about things to consider when choosing a puppy in a strange new enviorment of the shelter and how to help that puppy adjust to their new home. One of the few books specifically written for those who want to rescue a shelter dog.

This book offers wonderful, realistic advice about choosing and raising a puppy from an animal shelter. I found it very informative, and recommend it to anyone wanting to adopt a puppy from the shelter where I work.

I don't think this book could be any better. Here's my testimonial...

This book helped us identify a suitable puppy (and not just adopt the first one we fell in love with). The puppy we chose had serious discipline issues, but this book helped us retrain him. He grew to be an exemplary dog. Throughout his life, people asked us who had trained him. They were incredulous that our quiet, obedient, good-natured dog had once been a furniture-devouring, un-housebreakable, barking maniac that had TWICE been returned to the shelter before he was even six months old, and that we had retrained him ourselves. We owe a tremendous debt to this book.

This is a truly impressive book. All of her books have been easily accessible, informative, and entertaining. Benjamin is thoughtful and compassionate about her subject matter.

This book is a gem for anyone who is considering adopting a shelter puppy. It is full of great information that goes beyond what's found in the typical puppy-training book. I wish the auther would've included more information on adult shelter dogs, too. I originally gave this book 4 stars for that omission, but switched it to 5 stars, given that his intent was to provide information on puppies, which he did very well.

Matilda Mae: The Dog Who Needed a Name

This book is good for getting one to adopt, but it is not helpful to exaggerate the statistics or use hyperbole to guilt people into adopting a dog from a shelter. We don't want to do that anymore as these animals just return to the shelter if the adoptor doesn't recognize how needy these older pets will be. You should only adopt when you have the basic knowledge needed to train a shelter dog. Out of 78 million pets in homes today an estimated 3.7 million cats and dogs will wind up in shelters to be euthanized in the United States annually. More feral cats by 2 to 1 than dogs in this total. Also, unlike shelter numbers in the 1960s, there are far fewer puppies being put to sleep today. There is a demand for puppies in many shelters. Many shelters in the U.S. have to bring in dogs from shelters in other parts of the country where shelters are still overcrowded. Thanks to the success of educational programs about spaying and neutering, an estimated 75 percent of owned dogs in the U.S. are spayed/neutered. Shelters and rescue groups also import several hundred thousand stray puppies and dogs from out of the country according to the US government to put up for adoption in the U.S. each year. This brings in new diseases not found in the US for both animals and humans. All of this means that the dogs that you find in animal shelters today are different from the dogs that you once found in shelters.

Many of the dogs in shelters today are there because they are owner turn-ins.
Here is a list from The National Council on Pet Population Study and Policy of the top 10 reasons given by people for surrendering their pets:

Requests for euthanasia because of 1. illness, 2. old age, 3. incontinence (16.1%)
4. Moving (7.3%) (especially soliders going to duty)
5. Found animal (of unknown origin) (6.6%)
6. Landlord will not allow pets (5.3%)
7. Owner has too many animals (4.8%)
8. Cost of maintenance of pets due to job loss (4.1%)
9. Allergies within the family (3.98%)
10. House soiling- unable to house train (3.37%)

This book is a must for anyone looking to adopt a puppy. It is an easy read with humorous entries and cartoon type pictures. I keep it at hand and have used its information constantly.