Paws & Effect: The Healing Power of Dogs [Paperback]

Sharon Sakson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 9, 2009

Dogs have always been our friends and changed our lives for the better. But they may save our lives as well. Seamlessly weaving scientific research with compelling narrative, Paws & Effect tells incredibly moving stories of beloved pets who have supported their people through periods of ill health and other crises—with miraculous results:

*Little Ben, a Chihuahua who can sense impending epileptic seizures

*Abdul, a Golden Retriever/Lab mix, who was the world’s first service dog and helped his owner by retrieving keys and phones, medicine from countertops, water from the refrigerator, and could even hand in credit cards at the grocery store

*A Dalmation named Trudii, whose obsessive behavior prompted her owner to seek a medical examination that revealed melanoma

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A heartwarming and informative account of the astonishing ways dogs heal humans.”
—Ted Kerasote, author of Merle’s Door: Lessons from a Freethinking Dog


“In a series of interesting, informative, and often poignant stories about real people, Sharon Sakson tells you about how dogs help to heal the mind and the body. After reading this book you may well start feeling that having a dog in home is like having a special kind of doctor in your house.”
—Stanley Coren, author of How Dogs Think and The Intelligence of Dogs

“So meaningful and straight to the heart, Paws & Effect sheds a whole new light on our communication with animals of which many people are unaware. You may listen more closely the next time your dog tries to tell you something!”
—Betty White, actress and author

“The reader will find much that is fascinating and much that is deeply moving in Paws & Effect. There is abundant evidence herein on the marvel of our relationship with dogs.”
—Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of The Hidden Life of Dogs

About the Author

Sharon Sakson earned an MFA in creative writing from the New School. She is a journalist and television producer who has worked for ABC, NBC, and local stations in Baltimore, Chicago, and San Francisco. Sharon is also an American Kennel Club dog-show judge. She lives in Princeton, New Jersey.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Spiegel & Grau; 1 edition (June 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385528566
• ISBN-13: 978-0385528566
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.6 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #89,955 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #34 in Books > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Zoology > Animal Behavior & Communication

More About the Author

ABOUT THE AUTHOR--
Sharon Sakson is a journalist, writer and television news producer who has been involved with purebred dogs for 30 years. She is a judge of Hound and Working breeds. She's bred champion Whippets and Brussels Griffons and she's written four books about dogs. Sharon lives in Princeton, NJ.

Every dog owner knows there is something special about their dog. Our dogs give us love and support, comfort us, and admire us - but do they also help to heal us? That's the question at the center of Sharon Sakson's new book, Paws & Effect: The Healing Power of Dogs. Sharon

Her other books are: Paws to Protect: Dogs Saving Lives & Restoring Hope, Brussels Griffons: A Complete Pet Owner's Manual and Paws & Reflect: A Special Bond Between Man and Dog, co-authored with Neil Plakcy.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

62 of 62 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Had me breathless, December 26, 2007

By 

Maureen "Maureen" (Pemberton) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paws & Effect: The Healing Power of Dogs (Hardcover)

I got this book for Christmas. I didn't intend to read it right away, but once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down. The stories were some of the most well-written stories I've ever encountered, and I read a lot. It turned out to be full of things I never knew; I never knew there is a patron saint of dogs. I never knew the Aztecs believed in the healing power of dogs and raised their own breed. I had heard vague stories about dogs detecting cancer, but this book laid it out and explained the whole thing. Turns out that even though scientists like their airplanes swept by bomb-sniffing dogs, they won't believe those same dogs can tell doctors which sample contains bladder cancer or lung cancer. So doctors like the ones at the Pine Street Clinic don't get funding for their projects, which could save all of our lives!
My family gave me this book because they know my favorite writer is Temple Grandin. She recommends this book. I could see why. It is clearly written, as her books are, and every story is backed up with scientific evidence. Reading about how devoted these dogs are to their owners, how concerned they were every day about telling the owner if they were going to have a seizure or if they detected cancer or even just comforting the owner with their presence almost made me cry. Why do dogs do that? We are not always that nice to them.
If you like dogs, you'll like this book.

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A gem.., December 19, 2007

By 

New Jersey Mom (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Paws & Effect: The Healing Power of Dogs (Hardcover)

Everyone by now is familiar with stories of the amazing powers of therapy dogs: the old person in the nursing home whose blood pressure drops when they pet a visiting dog; the frightened child in the hospital who is willing to endure a painful treatment with a dog by her side; the abused or autistic child that will talk to a dog when they won't open up to an adult. But this book on the "healing power of dogs" goes far far beyond that.

Ranging across time and culture, Sharon Sakson, in her engaging and lively style, tells stories that seem almost too amazing for belief. Except that she documents them with the hardest possible scientific evidence. If you are one of those people who believe that the bond between human and dog is far more profound than the word "pet" can ever convey, then this is the perfect book for you. And even if you're a person who places dogs in the same category as goldfish, but you enjoy a fascinating well-told story, you'll enjoy this book tremendously.

25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous book for all dog lovers, November 28, 2007

By 

Abby Raffles (NJ United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Paws & Effect: The Healing Power of Dogs (Hardcover)

This book is surprisingly good. The new discoveries about dogs are fascinating. I loved the stories about ordinary dogs who love their owners so much they are able to figure out when something is wrong with them, like the dogs who alert to seizures or migraines, and the dogs who detect cancer in breath or urine samples at a rate better than any known test. This book makes you think, again and again, Aren't dogs wonderful? They give us so much. I started reading this book and couldn't put it down. I'm giving it to all my dog loving friends for Christmas. And let's face it, any book recommended by Temple Grandin has got to be good. She is the goddess of all dog writing.