Customer Reviews

It's a Dog's Life...but It's Your Carpet: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Your Four-Legged Friend

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you love dogs, It's a Dog's Life will make you smile, laugh, and help you understand your canine friend's quirks better. If you don't own a dog but think there might be one in your future, this book will help you understand what this 'dog thing' is all about.

The book is broken down into light, engaging Q&A sessions organized into various overarching themes: topics include,
- Do I /really/ have to brush my dog's teeth?
- Why does my dog drag his butt on the ground?
- My dog's tongue is 5X bigger when he's exercising. How does it all fit in his mouth?
- What's a labradoodle?
- How do I crate train my dog?
- Is table food really bad for dogs?
- When can I start running with my puppy?

There's a good amount of humor and amusing anecdotes, but with reference to plenty of scientific and factual content as well-- I found the balance between humor and science very satisfying.

This is not a long, narrative novel. This is an engaging (and often amusingly tongue-in-cheek) book about doggie quirks you can pick up and read for five minutes at a time, and learn something new about your pooch and how to better take care of him/her.

In the end, I thoroughly enjoyed this book- and I suspect most dog lovers would too.

This book is hilarious and really informative about dogs at the same time. Anyone who loves dogs or knows a dog lover will enjoy this book.

This is a great gift for all my dog-lover friends! Hilarious. Congratulations to Dr. Justine Lee for a fantastic book!

This is the most entertaining book on dogs I have ever read. The author covers everything I could think of (most that is not in other books). There were also things I never would have thought to ask covered that were just amazing little facts. On top of being full of great information, the book is really funny. Several times I had to stop reading, look over at my dog, and just laugh. I hope to see more from this author. A second book by her will be purchased without a second thought.

I attended one of Dr. Lee's lectures a couple of years ago and it was great!!! Then one of the Vets I work for told me about this book after meeting Dr. Lee on a trip. As a Veterinary Technician I have LOVED this book. It is an easy and light hearted read yet filled to the brim with the typical questions I receive from clients daily...... and there are answers too!!! This book will definately be recommended to my clients. I am a little worried though as to how I am to maintain my composure in an exam room when one of these questions are posed and all I can think of is the quirky humour in this book. ABSOLUTELY hysterical. 4 paws up!!!
Brandy

I got this book for my sister in law for Christmas. She laughed so hard she almost peed her pants! She couldn't put the book down and had all of us laughing out loud. Then she took it to work to read to her coworkers. It was a hit. I'm very glad I bought it.

If you do, you should definitely read this book. It's funny and insightful, full of real life stories from a veterinarian and a lifelong dog person Justine Lee. There are many other books out there that take a very informative approach to dog ownership. This one is also very informative, but it is so much more.
Why does my dog lick his b***s? Why does he shake his leg when I scratch his belly? If you ever wondered about these things, this book is for you. And unlike with the more scientific books, this one is hillarious.

Since purchasing this book...I have not been able to read it...Why...because my wife can't put it down!!! It really does explain all of those little things that a dog does! It is funny and entertaining. It covers things you have always wanted to ask...and things that you never even thought of asking. Can't wait for the next one to come out!!!

This book is so well written, in a style combining solid information that can be used in everyday situations with "laugh out loud" humor that kept me wanting to continue reading long after I should have gone to bed! The author has such a unique style, simple and easy to read, drawing the reader in with great questions and answers. At the same time, she keeps the reader informed about serious issues and I found myself wishing the book would somehow magically "add pages" as I got closer to the end! I would recommend this to any pet lover, and will keep it and read it again! (My sweet Golden Retriever, Rosie, enjoyed the parts I read out loud to her as well!)

I would have given this five stars, but some of the information was trivial rather than helpful and some of the answers to the more important questions were quite brief and I thought could have gone into a bit more detail to truly be helpful to dog owners.

The one that really bothered me was the question about the invisible fencing. "Can I use invisible fencing for my human pets (i.e. the kids)?" She obviously answers saying that you can't use invisible fencing for children and then she goes into more detail about what invisible fences are and how they work. She indicates that there is still the "rare" dog who can break through an invisible fence and goes on to say that you should get a reputable, veterinarian-recommended brand if you do decide to get one.

From the research I've done on invisible fences, it sounds as if it's more than just the "rare" dog that will ignore the pain of the invisible fence shock to chase after a squirrel, a cat, or a female dog in heat. Also, some dogs have VERY high pain tolerances, so the shock isn't going to affect them as much as it will other dogs. Maybe I'm just thinking of terriers here, but since I have terriers, I know that invisible fencing would not keep them in if they see something they want badly enough.

Also, I have seen other information where some dogs have been so scared and traumatized by being shocked by the invisible fencing that they have associated the shock with going outdoors and these dogs will refuse to even leave the house for fear of further shocks.

Ms. Lee also neglects to mention that your dog is not safe from other dogs or animals attacking it or possible unplanned matings if you have a female dog. Invisible fences also will not protect your dog from humans coming onto your property and either stealing your dog, or a child coming to play with your dog and getting bitten.

Considering how paranoid Ms. Lee seemed to be about people stealing her pit bull, I was really surprised she hardly mentioned any of the negatives with invisible fences.

The part of this book I did really like and found helpful is "'When Dogs Attack' . . . how do I escape?" She does have nearly two pages of information on this topic and explains how best to survive the attack (try not to scream or whimper--sets off prey instinct, decide which part or parts of your body you'd rather lose, NEVER run--another prey instinct trigger . . .).

I also found "What's the easiest way to break up a dogfight?" very helpful and thorough. I have six small dogs (Miniature Pinschers and Rat Terriers) and they get into scuffles on occasion. She mentions the only thing I have found to work--dumping a huge amount of water on both dogs. She also indicates that in the ghettos of Philadelphia, grabbing the attacker's back two legs swiftly and flipping them up in the air. That gives you a few seconds to separate yourself and your dog from the attacker. She mentions carrying doggy mace (which I didn't even know they made) and also throwing your dog up on top of something elevated if you are near such a surface. She mentions tossing your Chihuahua into a garbage can since that would be safer than holding him or her over your face and at least your doggy wouldn't get mauled. If you have an aggressive dog however, good luck because I doubt these tips would work.

She does also give some tips on how to handle other people if you're out walking your dog-aggressive pooch on leash and someone else's off-leash dog approaches yours. This information was very helpful because my daughter has an animal aggressive Rat Terrier whom she always keeps on a short leash next to her, but other people let their dogs off leash and roam. At least she felt better knowing that if someone else's dog comes up to her and get attacked by her dog that it would likely be their fault and not hers since she was obeying the state leash laws and the other person wasn't.

Overall, some information was interesting, some was helpful, some was just a little gross (lipstick?), but although I didn't agree with everything, I was entertained and did learn a few things. I would recommend this as a fun read to any dog owner/dog lover.