Happy Hound: Develop a Great Relationship with Your Adopted Dog or Puppy [Paperback]

Susan C Daffron (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0974924520 | ISBN-13: 978-0974924526 | Publication Date: November 20, 2006

When you adopt a dog or puppy, you are thrust into a strange new world where you don't even speak the language. In Happy Hound, you'll learn solutions to everyday problems dog owners face. Unlike breed-specific or veterinary books, Happy Hound is tailored to the special needs and issues related to living with a rescued puppy or dog. Many shelters give you a packet of information, but especially at smaller shelters they just can't afford either the time or money to provide a lot of information. Happy Hound is designed to fill that need. Plus, if you've ever read a dog book where you wondered if the author ever even owned a dog, you'll find Happy Hound a refreshing change. The book is filled with sidebars and anecdotes about the antics of the author's gang of four dogs. You'll never be left feeling like your dog is "really different" from anything you've read. Even though every dog is special, no dog is perfect!

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Happy Hound: Develop a Great Relationship with Your Adopted Dog or Puppy is a book that tells you what you need to know to raise a wonderful family pet you can live with for years. Unlike breed-specific or veterinary books, Happy Hound is tailored to the special needs and issues related to living with a rescued puppy or dog.

Unlike many books, Happy Hound doesn't give you hard and fast rules. Like people, dogs have good days and bad days. This book lets you know that it can be "okay" for your dog to sleep on your bed if you want. But it also explains when that might be a bad idea. Happy Hound is filled with practical tips and techniques for the average dog owner. It doesn't deal with competition, breeding, or creating the "perfect show dog." After reading the book, you probably won't suddenly become the world's greatest dog trainer, but you will become a more understanding and informed dog owner.

This book also gives you advice on when it's time to seek professional help. If your dog is doing something that is potentially dangerous, or is exhibiting signs of illness, Happy Hound tells you who you need to call to get help with your specific situation.

Author, Susan Daffron, is not only a dog owner, but has also worked as a veterinary technician and at animal shelters. She has been writing a newspaper column on pet care since 1998.

Dr. Marty Becker, syndicated columnist and resident veterinarian on Good Morning America says, "Happy Hound celebrates the joy and companionship of sharing your life with a rescued dog. It's filled with pet-care information and anecdotes; I found it passionate and practical!"

Happy Hound also gives you information on how to care for your new adopted friend with helpful tips on grooming, bathing, feeding, and keeping your happy hound healthy! The "pet adoption option" isn't always easy. Dogs aren't machines. But Happy Hound will show you how to raise a dog you can live with, understand, and love for a lifetime!

From the Author

My name is Susan Daffron and I wrote this book after years of volunteering at animal shelters. I was frustrated by the lack of pet care information available just for people adopting pets.

This book grew out of newspaper columns I started writing in 1998. I wrote the pet care columns for free just because I was so distressed at how uninformed people were on basic pet care issues. I kept seeing wonderful pets returned to animal shelters simply because their owners didn't have access to good information on care and behavior. The column was extremely popular and grew into an email newsletter, web site, and now books. I hope you enjoy reading Happy Hound and it helps you live a long and happy life with your own happy hound!

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 220 pages
• Publisher: Logical Expressions, Inc. (November 20, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0974924520
• ISBN-13: 978-0974924526
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,461,157 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Susan Daffron is the president of Logical Expressions, Inc., a book and software publishing company in Sandpoint, Idaho.

She has authored 12 books and has a unique perspective on the ever-changing print-on-demand and book publishing industries, with a background in writing, editing, graphic design, and Web site development. She has been in publishing since 1988.

A recognized editorial and self-publishing expert, Susan is the award-winning author of:

* Funds to the Rescue: 101 Fundraising Ideas for Humane and Animal Rescue Groups (ISBN: 978-0-9749245-9-5; LCCN: 2009905962)
* Publishize: How to Quickly and Affordably Self-Publish a Book That Promotes Your Expertise (ISBN: 978-0-9749245-8-8; LCCN-2008910208)
* Web Business Success: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Web Sites that Work - coauthor with James H. Byrd (ISBN: 978-0-9749245-0-2; LCCN-2006909228)
* VeganSuccess: Scrumptious, Healthy Vegan Recipes for Busy People - coauthor with James H. Byrd (ISBN: 978-0-9749245-1-9; LCCN-2006907834)
* Happy Hound: Develop a Great Relationship with Your Adopted Dog or Puppy (ISBN: 978-0-9749245-2-6; LCCN-2006909898)
* Happy Tabby: Develop a Great Relationship with Your Adopted Cat or Kitten (ISBN: 978-0-9749245-3-3; LCCN-2007906436)
* Logical Tips for Mastering Your Computer: Quick Shortcuts, Tips, Tricks, and Techniques to Help You Use Your Computer More Effectively (ISBN:978-0-9749245-5-7, LCCN:2007909558)
* Logical Tips for Mastering Microsoft Office: Quick Shortcuts, Tips, Tricks, and Techniques to Help You Use Microsoft Office More Effectively (ISBN:978-0-9749245-6-4, LCCN:2007909559)
* Logical Tips for Mastering Microsoft Windows: Quick Shortcuts, Tips, Tricks, and Techniques to Help You Use Microsoft Windows More Effectively (ISBN:978-0-9749245-7-1, LCCN:2007909560)
* How to Use PowerPoint 2000 (ISBN: 978-0672315299)
* Microsoft Office Expert Solutions - contributing author - wrote the chapters on Microsoft Word (ISBN: 978-0789703910)

In addition to her books, Susan has written more than 70 national magazine articles, 200 newspaper articles, about 1,200 online articles, and an online software training course.

Susan is also the President and Founder of the National Association of Pet Rescue Professionals (NAPRP) an association that offers tools and information to help people working in humane organizations save more lives. After adopting her pets, Susan became interested in pet care and humane issues.

She is the president of the Small Publishers Artists and Writers Network (spawn.org) which is a nonprofit association that offers resources and information for people working in publishing.

In addition to her writing experience, Susan has more than 15 years of experience as a writer, editor, and designer of magazines, newsletters, books and other book-length documents such as users guides and manuals. She was awarded the Most Valuable Professional designation from Microsoft in 1996 for her expertise in working with long documents in Microsoft Word.

Susan is the co-creator of a writing and creativity program called IdeaWeaver, publishes a publishing newsletter called Publishize, and organizes the annual Self-Publishers Online Conference.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book for real people with real dogs, April 4, 2008

By 

Connie Weiss "Connie" (San Francisco Bay Area) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Happy Hound: Develop a Great Relationship with Your Adopted Dog or Puppy (Paperback)

What a complete joy this book provides!

There are lots of behavior and training books available, and most every one I've read leave me feeling totally incompetent as a pet owner. As much as I follow the prescriptive advice, problems still persist: barking, marking, and terrorizing the cats, to name just a few issues. Susan's clean writing style and total honesty about the ups and downs of finding the right balance in living with a pet conveys the feeling that you're sitting at a kitchen table together having a conversation. She lets you know that she's been there, and that many times it's a trial and error process of finding just the right approach that works for you and your dog.

More details are on my blog: [...]

Connie

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book For Any Rescue Group, February 23, 2007

By 

Sue Kabler (St. Louis MO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Happy Hound: Develop a Great Relationship with Your Adopted Dog or Puppy (Paperback)

Happy Hound by Susan Daffron is a great book for rescue groups to give to their new adopters. It gives the new owners of the rescue dog a very clear insight into the type of "baggage" nearly every rescue dog brings into a new home. This is different from the usual "how to" book that is written on teaching a new dog the desired behavior and manners in their new home. So many times a rescue group has no knowledge of a rescue dogs past so it's difficult to understand some of their puzzling behaviors. Susan's book will help solve some of these puzzles by helping you to understand the possible reasons for these behaviors.

I recommend it.
Sue Kabler
St. Louis Samoyed Rescue

5.0 out of 5 stars Happy Hound, Happy Owner, April 11, 2007

By 

Carol Kinne - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Happy Hound: Develop a Great Relationship with Your Adopted Dog or Puppy (Paperback)

"Happy Hound" is a good book for people living with rescue dogs or any dog, I might add. Using her own dogs as examples, Susan Daffron emphasizes that no two dogs are alike and that different training techniques will be necessary for different dogs. This is an important concept for people who have limited knowledge of breed characteristics and think that because their former dog behaved a certain way and was trained (or not) a certain way they expect a new dog to behave the same way.

"Happy Hound" has helpful advise about feeding, grooming, medical problems, house manners, etc to give readers an idea of the level of commitment required to raise a dog. And last but not least, the author emphasizes that it takes time and patience to raise a dog you can live with.
And, if you can't make a long term commitment for the life of the dog, you should consider not adopting.

I recommend it!

Carol Kinne
Rescue Volunteer in Central NY