Doc Halligan's What Every Pet Owner Should Know

by Karen Halligan

Book Overview

For the more than 73 million dogs and 90 million cats in the United States, Doc Halligan's What Every Pet Owner Should Know is the go to book for their owners and caregivers in need of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0060898607
• ISBN13: 9780060898601
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Length: 324 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

...guide for new animal owner's!

Interesting book! Information covers everything from dog's nose to tail. This book should be offered as a guide for new animal owner's! Doc Halligan writes in the vernacular, making the book easy to read for everyone! Ann

A must book to read if you want to be a good parent to your dog!

This is really the best book to read if you are about to own your very first dog! The advice and information in this book will make you the ideal parent to your pet. I owned 3 dogs as a child: a German Sheperd, a Cocker Spaniel, and a Saint Bernard. I loved my dogs, but it was really my father who was taking care of them. He was the one brushing their teeth, taking them to the vet, feeding them etc... My sole job was to play with them. As such, I had no information on how to care for a pet before reading this book. None of our previous dogs were spayed or neutered. My father always felt spaying or neutering a dog is cruel and unjust. If a dog could speak, he would say, he would beg you not to spay or neuter him/her. This belief stuck in my mind, and when I bought my very own first dog (a bullmastiff), I asked for it not to be spayed. However, this book convinced me otherwise. The author says that you would be doing your pet a favor by spaying or neutering him/her. She gives all the reasons why, among them: your dog will be less aggressive, live longer, and will be more caring of you and pay more attention to you. A dog in heat will ignore a burglar and run out of an open door to mate! Dogs mate together not to have a family, like we do, but because it is a chemical and biological process. A dog can mate with his own mother, father, son, daughter, sister, brother, auntie or uncle. They have no sense of family like we do. By spaying or neutering your dog, you are releasing your dog from this chemical and biological process, thus freeing your dog from its stress. As a result, your dog will live much longer! (`Stress causes premature death even in humans.'). Though the book is full of information, this piece of information was the most important to me. You guessed it, my dog was scheduled for spaying. Another important piece of information is the kind of food to feed your dog. As a child, we fed our dog from our meals, including cakes and chocolate. The author cautions against this. Chocolate in large quantities can kill your dog, and other table foods can cause serious diseases to dogs. Bones should never be given to your dog. Bone fragments can cause internal bleeding! Dogs should only eat pet food! Make sure it is from a reputable company and that it has not expired. Avoid giving your dog pet foods sold in grocery stores. Another important piece of information was concerning a dog's dental hygiene. A dog with good teeth lives much longer than a dog with bad teeth. Some bacteria that live in decayed teeth can cause serious heart problems! The book is full of information and great advice that it would obviously be impossible to name them all in this review. Some important topics are: prevention pays, neglect costs; how to talk to your vet; avoiding the emergency room blues; traveling with your pet; disaster awareness and preparedness; seasonal disturbances; and health insurance. After reading this book you will be ready to be a great parent

A Wealth of Information for Pet Owners.

Doc Halligan has written a gem of a resource for pet owners; whether you own a cat or a dog, "What Every Pet Owner Should Know" is just that. A book of common-sense, basics that each pet owner needs to know in order to raise a healthy, happy pet. Drawing on her years of experience as an ER and Animal Shelter Vet, Doc Halligan shares her wisdom on such topics as: *Your pet is what he/she eats. *Dental Disasters *The Battle of the Bulge *Preventive pet care *How to Talk to Your Vet *Avoiding the ER Blues Dr. Halligan provides an indespensible reference for maximizing the benefits of pet ownership. My only complaint is that I feel she should have written one volume for dogs, and another for cats in order to tease out the information that is germane to each specie.

My Dog bible- this book has saved me thousands!

This is one of the best books out there. It is very thorough, informative and detailed. I could not put it down, took it on our family vacation last month and I learned so many things that will benefit our 2 dogs which are like our kids-A must have for everyone, and a great gift, I bought a few for friends and co-workers and they love it too!