 Book review from the Orange County Register on "It's a Dog's Life"
Book addresses the tough questions for pet owners
A veterinarian's book examines many aspects of dog ownership.
By MARYANNE DELL
The Orange County Register
You've gotta love a book that tackles that age-old question all dog owners eventually ask: "Why do dogs eat their own crap?"
Those of us who surround ourselves with canines and have made careers out of studying them have asked this and other probing questions because, despite our vast knowledge of things canine, we don't know the why of them.
Neither, it turns out, does author Justine A. Lee, a veterinarian who's also a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Emergency Critical Care (that means she went to school even longer than your typical vet), because, well, some of these questions have stumped all kinds of experts for years.
Lee is honest about that, and her answers to these and other questions are highly entertaining and right on.
No subject is ignored, from food to health to behavior, in this paperback. Kudos to Lee for mentioning behaviorists, vets and trainers in one breath as three separate entities – they are. Many vets have no business offering advice on training (yet they do). Just like many trainers have no business calling themselves behaviorists (yet they do).
While Lee writes with a light pen, she's nonetheless serious and, something I appreciate, gives credit where it's due.
She may not brush her dog's teeth very often ("I'm honestly lucky if I brush JP's teeth more than once a month ..."), but she doesn't hold herself up as an icon for reality ("I'm going to ask that you 'do what I say and not what I do' and brush your dog's teeth!").
Nor does she insist on writing as if the answers are all coming from her. She happily cites vets, trainers and others in explaining best current thinking.
Her subjects range from simple to silly to serious. With a personal, pleasant writing style, Lee makes the book not only entertaining but also educational – and a must for every dog owner's shelf.
And you've also gotta love a woman who dedicates her book to her pit bull JP, "the best dog ever, for teaching me that success isn't measured by society, but by the joy of a tail wag ...."
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