Customer Reviews

Prairie Dogs (Barron's Complete Pet Owner's Manuals)

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Even if you have never seen a live prairie dog before, this book is an excellent primer on these industrious, energetic creatures. Prairie dogs are increasing in popularity as pets. This owner's manual systematically outlines the essentials about housing, feeding, handling and keeping prairie dogs healthy.
The section on behavior and training includes useful descriptions about their vocal repertoires and how to interpret their meanings. I especially like the many tables and sub-sections such as "do and don't" tips because they provide practical information that you can put to use (and can easily find).
Dr. Vanderlip describes how to keep a prairie dog healthy, and what to look for if they have health problems. As with other books in this series, the illustrations (numerous and excellent quality) and layout make the subject easy to understand and to use as a handy reference. Prairie dogs will benefit from the education that this provides their caretakers!

Phillip T. Robinson, DVM

This is a wonderful, detailed book for raising and caring for Prairie Dogs!
I'm using it as a reference guide for one of their cousins, the Richardson's Ground Squirrel! They have many of the same traits as the PD but they are about half of their size!

This book was easy to read, has cute pictures, and gives you basic information on what things to consider and do before you buy a prairie dog, plus how to care for them after you have purchased. It is very important that new owners have this information since most pet stores selling prairie dogs are not educated in the proper care of these wonderful but demanding pets. It is not the best or the most detailed book I have read on the subject but you don't have to spend hours searching on the internet to find it and it is priced reasonably. For a new owner or anyone trying to decide if a prairie dog is the right pet for them I would highly recommend you purchase this book. For more expereinced owners who have other reference material you won't find anything new in this one and there are a few errors but you get to see more pictures of cute prairie dogs!