Moments With Baxter: Comfort and Love from the World's Best Therapy Dog (Hardcover)

~ Melissa Joseph (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

'Baxter's inspirational story reminds us how dogs can teach us to live fully in each moment, even if that moment may be our last.' --Cesar Millan, professional dog trainer and star of Dog Whisperer

'A testimony to the powerful connection between pets and people.' --Joe Camp, author of The Soul of a Horse and creator of Benji

Moments with Baxter is a collection of touching, true stories about the poignant connection between Baxter, a 19-year-old therapy dog, and the hospice patients and their families to whom he brings comfort and love. During the last four years, Baxter has helped hundreds of patients ease out of their lives with dignity and peace. His uncanny intuition and almost human responsiveness demonstrates the unique and inextricable bond between human and dog. 36 true and touching stories of canine/patient connection.

Interior photography by Dennis Bussey.

About the Author

Baxter comforts patients at San Diego Hospice and Palomar Pomerado Hospital in San Diego, where he lives with his owners, Melissa Joseph and Dennis Bussey. Originally from Jackson, Mississippi, Melissa Joseph is an adjunct teacher of writing and literature who adopted Baxter when he was two years old. Her husband, Dennis Bussey, took the photographs in the book while volunteering at San Diego Hospice and the Institute for Palliative Medicine.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 223 pages
• Publisher: Sage Press (June 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0981881300
• ISBN-13: 978-0981881300
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,431 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #1 in	Books > Health, Mind & Body > Death & Grief > Hospice Care
  #5 in	Books > Home & Garden > Animal Care & Pets > Essays
  #12 in	Books > Science > Medicine > Physician & Patient

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comfort Only a Furry Friend Could Give, August 11, 2009

By	Rebby (Illinois) - See all my reviews

From the time I was a child, I had a deep connection to animals. Over the years, I've found them to be my friends, confidants, counselors, and most of all, my family. Being an avid animal lover drew me to Melissa Joseph's Moments With Baxter: Comfort and Love from the World's Best Therapy Dog. I couldn't wait to get started on this book once I saw Baxter's sweet face staring at me from the cover. Before I knew it, I had finished the book, as well as half a box of tissues.

Each chapter deals with a different experience Baxter had while working as a therapy dog. The overall theme of this book is how animals can be comforters in our greatest time of need. We are introduced to dozens of people who benefited from the love that a little dog can give. The accounts are incredibly sad, as the reader can always feel death looming nearby, but they are also uplifting and inspiring in a way I did not expect.

Melissa Joseph is able to capture that unique connection that therapy dogs establish with their patients. Her writing is very simple, but eloquently so, in that she makes you feel the moments as if you were actually there. The book is accompanied with bright, colored photographs of Baxter with the people he helped. One of my favorites is of Baxter in his red wagon, next to a woman whose last wish was to see the latest Harry Potter movie with her furry friend in the theater.

The stories were all special in their own ways, but some left me feeling unsatisfied. Not at all because Melissa Joseph wasn't doing her job; in fact, it's the exact opposite. Her storytelling skills made me want to know more about these people. I'm aware this book is focused on Baxter and his encounters, but I couldn't help but think about the lives these people had before fortune landed them in hospice. I found this particularly surprising because I'm not a big fan of biographies of any kind, but something about this book made me want to dive into these people's histories.

This book is wonderful, to say the least. The stories are touching, the pictures are captivating, and all proceeds are donated to related charities. It doesn't get much better than that. I would recommend this book to everyone, especially animal lovers and those dealing with death and dying. Trust me, once you stare into Baxter's eyes, you won't want to put the book down.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 36 True Tales of an Extraordinary Therapy Dog, June 17, 2009

By	Reader Views "www.readerviews.com" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

Reviewed by Olivera Baumgartner-Jackson for Reader Views (6/09)

If you've ever owned a pet - or as I prefer to say, only half-jokingly - if you've ever been owned by a pet, the stories from this wonderful book will not surprise you. They will - and they should! - delight you and inspire you, but I bet any "pet parent" will nod and smile while reading about the amazing healing and comforting powers of Baxter, the miracle worker among service dogs.

All of us should pause for a moment and take a really good look at the way most pets interact with us - with pretty limitless patience, gentleness and devotion, unparalleled by anything one could routinely find among humans. They expect little in return, and they keep lavishing their attention on us and giving us so much joy. In the past I've read numerous studies about the beneficial influences of animals on ill people and I've experienced the calming and steadying effect a devoted pet has on me. The absolutely beautiful "Moments with Baxter" by Melissa Joseph takes those observations of mine several steps further. Through a series of thirty-six true stories of Baxter's interactions with terminally-ill patients at San Diego Hospice the author paints a wonderful portrait of a truly miraculous health worker who just happens to be a canine. Baxter is a certified therapy dog and his ability to comfort and ease the suffering of the patients at the hospice is absolutely phenomenal. As wonderful as the stories are, it was the photographs that truly stole my heart. Although Baxter is over 19-years-old now, he has a sweet, innocent face of a puppy and incredibly kind eyes. Now that he's older, he actually has the look of a well-loved and appropriately "worn" teddy bear or one's favorite blanket. The more stories I read, the more I was in awe of Baxter's innate ability to find just the right way to approach any of the diverse and always difficult situations. Even under the toughest of circumstances, where the trained human health professionals were at a loss of how to ease the patient's suffering, Baxter seemed to find just the right approach.

Written with immense compassion, warmth and respect for privacy and dignity of those involved, "Moments with Baxter" by Melissa Joseph is a book that could teach us a lot about the extraordinary bond between humans and animals as well as a number of valuable lessons about dealing with pain, suffering and death. I feel certain that those readers who will find themselves inspired by Baxter's story, and who might want to become involved in similar ministry together with their canine companion, will find the concluding chapter on Therapy Dog Team Training very helpful and informative. "Moments with Baxter" is a book that is both heart-wrenching and heart-warming and I would decidedly recommend it to all animal lovers as well as anybody who might be dealing with issues concerning terminal illness.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Baxter, July 15, 2009

By	Constance I. Freed (Mobile, Alabama) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is an excellent read. Have a tissue ready. You will laugh and cry at the same time.