Customer Reviews

Petfinder.com The Adopted Dog Bible: Your One-Stop Resource for Choosing, Training, and Caring for Your Sheltered or Rescued Dog

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As if providing their lifesaving Internet adoption database wasn't enough of a service to homeless pets, the wonderful folks at Pet ... Finder have now provided an exceptional comprehensive dog care guide.

This book covers all aspects of dog care, with a special emphasis on the needs of the adopted dog. They take a realistic approach to everything, making care manageable. They don't even bother to mention compulsion based equipment or outdated training theories, because the advice they do give works, while building a bond of trust between you and your adopted dog. And they troubleshoot! Too many simpler guides provide only 1 option.

As a bonus, the book is an enjoyable read. How many dog care books are page-turners? What a gifted author!

I wanted to call this book "Perfect," but I can't. The main thing it lacks is a primer on reading your dog's body language - in particular, stress signals. Your adopted dog is more likely to be stressed, and being able to read those signals is critical. So, to make this book perfect, you have to supplement it with Turid Rugaas's exceptional and affordable On Talking Terms With Dogs: Calming Signals. I would also have liked more discussion on choosing quality commercial dog food (get Whole Dog Journal's annual guide).

If your dog has some really entrenched issues that need very specific help, you can buy additional, affordable pamphlets by either Turid Rugaas or Patricia McConnell.

As a pet rescue volunteer, I would recommend this book to any adopter. Most books about preparing for a new dog only deal with puppies and not adults. This book covers topics that are relevant to a rescued dog. It's also an easy read. The medical information is excellent and in language that everyday people can understand. This book should be purchased by anyone who wants to adopt a dog.

This is one of the most informative dog books for the novice dog owner or for someone who is thinking about adopting a dog. Lots of quality advise for experienced dog owners too!

It is written in an easy-to-understand style and well organized. I can find the information I need when I need it.

However I loaned my copy to a friend and hope they return the book - if not, then I will buy myself another copy <smile>

FYI, Mojo is one of my dog's playmates at Camp Gone to the Dogs.

I purchased this book a couple of months after Henry, fox terrier passed away right before Christmas. I attempted to read several books about stray dogs adopted by loving people.
I guess, I wanted to re-confirm the love we shared with him and vice- versa. Henry had been adopted April 2006 from a shelter. People give warning about shelter dogs. I believe they sense humans who are looking for better companionship in their lives as they are.
I started reading this book because everywhere I wandered onto the internet PETFINDER.COM was the main source for these animals. I read reviews from theanimalrescuesite.com too!
Learning the basics is a great start. I found it inspiring from "What to expect from the first 24 hours" to "How dogs operate" to "Walking basics".
A wonderful addition for dog lovers!!!!

Given the great reputation Pet Finder has among my friends who are pet owners I trusted their ability to put out a good resource for new dog owners. I am glad I did. This book was excellent and really told me what I needed to know as a first time dog owner. It gives a lot of great advice on adopting a dog that has been in a shelter or another home (as was the case for me), but can also be very beneficial to someone getting a pet directly from a breeder. This book made me feel much more equipped to deal with the challenges and joys that come with adopting a dog. It also has a lot of good information that is valuable BEFORE you adopt a dog (i.e. deciding what breed to get, what to buy and not buy before you get the dog, etc.) so it is worth a read if you are even considering getting a dog.

That said, you will likely need to consult other books if you're interested in more specific topics like clicker training or cooking for your dog. However, this book gave me what I needed to get started. I would highly recommend it as a gift for a new pet parent. This was an excellent, approachable, and easy read and one that I see myself referring to throughout the life of my dog.

Petfinder.com The Adopted Dog Bible: Your One-Stop Resource for Choosing, Training, and Caring for Your Sheltered or Rescued Dog

All the information from A to Z in one spot! Should be required reading prior to adopting any dog, shelter or not. It could prevent so many problems plaguing dog owners currently. All the information is timely, accurate and written in people-friendly language. Problems are addressed and solutions suggested. Also an excellent resource for specialty areas like pet excercise, behavior modification etc. Highly recommend this book!

This would make an excellent gift, or pick up two copies and keep one for yourself ;o) I'm going to recommend this book to everyone I know. Thank You to the wonderful folks @ [...] for releasing this as it really is your One-Stop Resource for Choosing, Training, and Caring for Your Sheltered or Rescued Dog!

Totally worth every penny!

I'm a total novice at dog training, and I think this book is great. It has great step-by-step pictures, and tells you the correct hand cues and voice cues to give.

Right now, me and my toy poodle (adopted from a shelter of course!!) are still at the "1 star" level--- but that's a huge accomplishment in my opinion! She knows how to jump over my leg, shake, give paw, and now we're working on "peekaboo". I've noticed that each trick seems to be progressively easier to learn---- as my furry baby seems to have caught on to the idea of training!

Not only is this a great way for you and your dog to bond and spend some real quality time together---- it's a great learning experience! For the humans--- learning how to teach, is tough... but so rewarding. For the dog, it can help in ways beyond cute tricks--- I think it teaches them discipline, to look to you as the leader, and in the long run, it will smooth out some bad behavior (like small dog syndrome... which my dog definitely has!!)

My son has adopted two dogs from homeless sherters and thereby save the lives of these animals who did nothing but be born. I bought this book for him and for others who want to save an animal's life, give it a good home, and feel great every day. He learned many things he did not know. When he finishes reading the book, it will be my turn.

Granted, I'm a licensed veterinary technician, so what I think is "common knowledge" may not necessarily be that way. That being said, this book is VERY basic. I just bought it today hoping to find a few new tricks for dealing with separation anxiety in dogs. No such luck.
Its almost as if its the author's PERSONAL "how-to-get-a-dog for someone who's never EVER owned a dog." She tells you were to find a dog, how to figure out what kind of dog you want/need. If you've never owned a dog, this is a good book for you. It also has a bunch of "holistic alternatives" in one of the chapters. Personally, I believe in modern veterinary medicine. And I don't like that she puts all this in the book that is clearly designed for people who have never had a dog. People who have never had a dog need to build a doctor-patient-client relationship with a licensed veterinarian! Should your pet have an emergency, and you've been treating with all these holistic treatments there's a few things that will/could happen: a.) the veterinarian you bring your pet to in the emergency situation has no idea what sort of history your pet has b.) you don't trust the veterinarian fully or feel comfortable because you don't know him/her c.) holistic treatments haven't been working or have actually been harming your dog and thus GREATLY influence the treatment from the veterinarian, and possibly the outcome of the situation.
Then the author goes on through the book to tell you how to take care of your dog, after the ONE chapter on "bringing home your rescue dog," all the way up to euthanasia. This is a book of someone's opinions. My suggestion, call a qualified veterinarian and do some adequate research on your own. Stay away from pet stores - they get puppies from puppy mills, this includes chains. The people that work in chains DO NOT have any veterinary education. If you talk to someone with a LICENSE, you will get good, accurate information.
I apologize for my rant.