Unlike most canine massage books which usually filled with long text and/or illustrations, this book is rather thin—109 pages long but not in any way lack of quality or pertinent content. Personally, I think manual book such as canine massage should be concise with easy-to-follow steps and explanations, and that’s what the authors did. It is a no fluff book and can be put to immediate use after an hour read.

Although the book clearly states it is a guide book, it’s more than that—a quarter of it is workbook, consists about two to six questions each related to the topic that just covered. Some of the questions are not targeted to the massage experience with your dog per se, rather it questions your massage experience on yourself. For example on the chapter on strokes: vibration,

Practice on your thigh by starting with a compression stroke. Hold briefly and then begin to let your hand tremble. Imagine that you are tricking the muscle into relaxation! How did it feel?

For most of us, inexperience dog owners/therapists, may not know how much pressure should be employed when working on our dogs; so by doing on ourselves we have the first-hand experience of our own “medicine” and also to gauge the comfortability of different pressure and stroke.

One of my favorite sections of the book is chapter eight: Common Dog Group: Their history, stress areas and massage emphasis (seen on the right). It a brief overview of what are the common injuries (stress areas) of 77 dog breeds and the antidotes (massage emphasis) to decrease the chances of injury should the dog perform more intense and strenuous activities than his normal routines.

I understand perfectly why this section may not be of a greater value to owners with only one dog—or a few dogs of the same breed—where the dog’s daily routine is confined to four-walls activities with bare minimum physical exertion. The least you could get out of this 7-pages is a better understanding of your dog breed’s stress areas (that if you haven’t know it yet) and the massage emphasis for him to enjoy the many benefits of massage therapy even if he is a couch potato.

As to why I like this section isn’t because I have two different breeds under my care rather I see it as an added benefit for my clients. Of course, not all the dogs that come for their regular grooming session are performance dogs but I’m certain 60% of them are doing some sort of moderate exercises daily. So it wouldn’t hurt to give all of them (almost…as some of dogs aren’t accustomed to being touched in a structured and rhythmic movement) a 3-minutes massage therapy as a thank-you service.

Regardless, this book is a must-have for any dog owner (be it canine performance enthusiast or laid back pet parent) who is into holistic therapeutic treatment of a stressed or “sick” dog.

I would like to leave you with this beautiful phrase extracted from Linda’s bio.

The truth is, my dogs don’t know the meaning of petting because all touch has become massage. My dogs continue to teach me about temperament, strokes, timing, ambience and scents as well as when or where to stretch them.

I couldn’t agree more, the true teacher is our dogs. This book is the fundamental guide to canine massage. With regular practices and attentive awareness to our dogs’ responses, only then we can fully appreciate the art of canine massage.

On the same note, Linda has an audio book (Giving Back: A Guided Canine Massage) that is pretty much similar to the book. When I received the complimentary copies of the book and CD, both were sold in Amazon. The CD was sold in a downloaded MP3 format at $0.99 (which I think it was a steal), lasts about 27 minutes.

I don’t know what is the deal now, Amazon carries only the book.

Updates: For more information about the book and CD or even courses on canine massage conducted by Linda Jackson, please visit her websites: http://www.centreforacupuncture.com and http://www.caninemassagebook.com

While we can only do so much to reduce the noise level produced by the clippers and dryers without over-compromising our productive, it’s almost impossible to reduce the noise made by our furry customers—barking, howling, and whining.

Most days, even during peak hours, we are able to keep the noise level within acceptable range as we try not to schedule more than two new or “special” dogs—who are unaccustomed to other machinery sounds, humans, and canines—together but, sometimes circumstances don’t always comply. And when this happens, situation can get a bit tense not just for my groomers’ concentration but even cause those well-mannered dogs to misbehave. If we just keep tolerating it and allow the noise level to escalate things can get very dangerous for every beings as many sharp, hot, and electrical objects are within close range.

Now you’re wondering why my grooming salon drama has anything to do with this book review. In every sense, it does. Just this last month, my co-partner and I decided to look for creative ways to help ease our furry customers’ anxiety problems.

Having read Joshua Leed’s The Power of Sound and listen to Sound Body, Sound Mind, I’m quite familiar with his work—topnotch sound quality—and we decided to get Through a Dog’s Ear with a starter CD to test it out on our four-legged customers. Lo and behold, it worked miraculously, within minutes all “problematic” dogs became less fidgety be it they were on the grooming table or in the kennel or in the dryer, or in the tub.

I’m not saying that the music completely eliminated all anxiety behaviors at a touch of turning the CD on. As the book clearly states…

This music is specifically designed to calm your dog and help abate behavioral issues.

I always knew certain classical music work wonders for dogs base on my personal experience. Whenever I need to rejuvenate from my hectic work schedule, I play the piano. Unquestionably, I would have my faithful audience lying near enjoying my piece and before long I would have Kiki and Zody in a sedated state. Having said and to paraphrase from the book, not all classical music is the same.

Dog needs simple sound spectrum that requires the least amount of neurological processing. The more complexity in the music, the more energy required to decipher it. Likewise, the simpler the sound, the greater the relaxation response.

In the starter CD, there are two tracks. The first track consists of four selections from Through a Dog’s Ear Vol. 1 & 2. While second track also consists of four selections from the Music for the Canine Household and Driving Edition. The total duration is about 44 minutes.

To better understand how to incorporate the music into working with your dog’s behavior issues, the book is a must-have before you buy the standalone CDs. Just on chapter 9 alone, Leeds lists the necessary guidelines to tackle common behavior issues like separation anxiety, aggression, thunderstorm anxiety, fireworks, excitement with visitors, house guest, boarding, driving with your dog, stressful time from the humans in the family. He also gives suggestions on how to use the music as part of integrative modality when dog/human on recovery from illness or surgery, and euthanasia and hospice.

Through a Dog’s Ear is a very well-written short literature, only 125-pages, comprehensible, engaging, and light (wish I could say the same for The Power of Sound).

To say we were impressed by result is an understatement. Our salon has always been known to use holistic approach to pamper (so as this blog’s tag line, if you haven’t notice ) our furry clients, so without much consideration we went ahead and ordered all 4 CDs series. We play vol. 1 & 2, household, and a few other simple classical music throughout the day or as often as my groomers could bear. Our pet taxi driver plays the driving edition CD when fetching our customers. So when they arrived at the salon, they would be calm and hopefully look forward to be groomed. In addition, all our furry customers are “treated” to 10 minutes of pure listening before they are taken to the grooming area.

It’s been three weeks since and it’s still working miraculously. We even have pet parents complimenting our choice of music play in the salon and how welcoming the ambiance feels. When told how the decision came about, that’s when they begin to piece together the change of their dog’s behavior when in our salon. Upon recommendation, most all of them bought the combo set. We’re planning to sell these CDs in our salon.

Give Through a Dog’s Ear a try even if your dog doesn’t have any anxiety issues. Who knows, you may even enjoy the music just as much as your dog does.

With a title like this “10 Secrets My Dog Taught Me”, you probably think is another how-to book. On the contrary, it isn’t so. In fact, this book is neither fiction nor non-fiction, but it’s definitely a very insightful and pleasurable read. And not mentioning is humorous too.

When we read many books about dogs (instructional or informational), most dog owners don’t usually follow through the steps that were layout before heading to the bookstore to get another one. I confess; I do it occasionally. I understand being an avid reader doesn’t qualify me from exemption. So when I saw the thickness of this little book, naturally I pick up a few more books which held my interest, I was determine to do just that – read, done, and next.

Geez, I couldn’t be more wrong than to judge its content by its size. Though it’s presented in a narrative manner but at the end of each chapter, Carlo summed it up in point-form for recap – kind of like the moral of the story is….

I’m going list a few pointers which I think are very beneficial for three different stages of dog ownership – soon-to-be, novice and old-timer.

• Why is it so crucial to gather as much information about the breed behavior before taking the plunge? (Looking at both the breeders and owners perspectives)
• How some breeders “accuse” you (especially to novices) of an animal abuser/neglect before the verdict? If you’re thinking that this book will list a bunch of questionnaires that breeders ask from buyers, then you’re in the wrong book. Even it doesn’t, I fear not. Any diligent and experience breeders still have ways to scan you. You can lie, but you can’t fool breeders.
• If you’re getting another dog as a companion for your current dog, what you think is suitable may not be as sound as you think? Personality crushed? But whose?
• What may seem so trivial to dog owners may no be so for the dogs?
• Dogs do communicate with humans! Did you really try to listen to your dog? This book shows us love and patient in dog’s viewpoint.
• Dealing with the unpleasant emotions when your dog going through his senior age and/or illnesses.

Although I finished this book in one afternoon (uninterrupted), the stories still fill me immensely even after I read it five weeks ago. I think this is a good sign for me not taking my dogs for granted. Wouldn’t you agree?

Book Review Rating: 4 paws out of 5

10 Secrets My Dog Taught Me : Life Lessons from a Man’s Best Friend – $7.59

This book is short, sweet, and to the point. This is a must-read for anyone with a dog. Doesn’t matter what breed, age and size, you have to get this book! You will never look at your interactions with your dog (or spouse or child or boss) in quite the same way again. Fun and entertaining explanation too.

Never mind about my dog ear pages, now it comes in audio. Needless to say, I got that too. I store it in my ipod, and listen while I’m on the treadmill. Now you know why this book is the grand daddy of all my dog behavior training books.

Pryor’s delivery of the information is an easy and fun read. I highly recommend this book not just for humans who shares their life with four-legged companions but also for parents, married couples, and CEOs.

Want to hear two chapters of this audio book online?
Click here and hear it for yourself.

Book Review Rating: 4 1/2 paws out of 5

Don’t Shoot the Dog! Book – $12.00

Don’t Shoot the Dog! Audio – $26.95

It’s arranged from the least important to the most worthy read of this book. For this Designer Dogs book, I managed to come up with 7 most important points. Not bad huh? Some books I’ve to struggle to come up with just 3. So here you go…

What I like most about Designer Dogsk?

• #7 It tells why designer dogs are gaining more popularity. So you can source out the most common designer dogs to weave out those fly by night breeders.
• #6 What are you exactly paying for that special price tag? Some designer dogs can cost twice as much as a purebred. So knowing what you are getting for your money is worth the second thought.
• #5 What you should and should not get a designer dog? This is extremely helpful for those who are getting designer dog for the first time. With my years if not decades of experience with dogs, I still find some gold nuggets in this book on how to selecting a good designer dog.
• #4 The difference between the first generation and generational designer dogs and why it helps you to redefine your decision and selection.
• #3 What are the questions you should be asking? Most importantly what are the usual claims made by unscrupulous breeders that might fool you in getting a designer dog.
• #2 What are the common health issues you should be aware of. That way, I won’t be taken by surprise and incur unnecessary medical bills.
• #1 Where to find registered designer dog breeders? Nothing I stated above can have more importance than finding reputable breeders be it purebred or crossbreed. In a perfect world, all puppies are healthy. Unfortunately, things don’t happen this way. As much as we want to show compassion and nurse our recent purchased “sick” but adorable puppy to good health (if it ever will), most of us aren’t “veterinary” trained to do so. For the sake of the puppy and you, it’s wiser to return to the breeder. You never know, you might actually save the puppy’s life. And because they are registered breeders, they’d understand the situation and willingly to replace you with another one of your preference if they’ve have any. If not, they will put your on their waiting list. Don’t we all potential dog owners need this kind of reassurance?

Book Review Rating: 4 paws out of 5

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Designer Dogs – $5.48

Special Note: The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Designer Dogs is no longer in print (but you still can buy secondhand ones), an alternative to this book is Designer Dogs: Portraits and Profiles of Popular New Crossbreeds (ILLUSTRATED). This book doesn’t cover in-depth as Bonham did, but you won’t be short changed as it is filled with beautiful illustrations of designer dog breeds. Also, if you know what designer dogs you are looking for, you might want to try the Designer Dogs Set 7 series. These books (Age: 9 – 12) cover very basic information, so you’ve been warned.

• Simple and Understandable English – not bombard you with too many technical terms that have you looking up the dictionary more often than you’d read the book itself.
• Useful and Practical Information – which you can carry out the tasks with ease. Rather than put the blame on your dog for his lack of comprehending your command.
• Concise Explanation – without having you to read two pages just to get that ONE message stink in.

Some of the book reviews I may list them from the least important read to the most worthy read of the book (in descending order). Some I will just give you a brief description of the book. How I do my review on books about dogs is very much depending on how the book is presented and also how much time I have available.

Periodically, I’ll update this page once I finish my latest read. One thing I’ve to tell you though, I won’t always put up books that consider a good read, I may even put up books that I think you should avoid wasting your time and money on.

It would be extremely helpful to other readers if you could contribute your thoughts on my reviews on books about dogs in the according comment section. It is always nice to hear different point of view be it good or not so good. I’m very sure this will benefit everyone including myself.