Looking to learn about interesting animals? Or need help training that brand new puppy your kids wouldn't stop begging for? You've found the right spot! If you don't see the right book here, please feel free to submit an order for it or ask for help!
Banner Message
Please note that online availability does not reflect stock in store!
Please contact us via email or phone for immediate stock information.
Animals
A quirky look at some of the most unusual garden animals ever kept in Britain, from crocodiles to wombats
Perhaps one of the less known facts about the Pre-Raphaelite artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti is that he kept wombats in his garden at Cheyne Walk, London, to whom he and Christina addressed poetry (he also kept zebu - a type of cattle). This is just one of the stories in this entertaining book, which brings together two great British pastimes: animal husbandry and the garden.Taking the reader on a journey from the armadillos owned by merchants in the City of London in the eighteenth century and nourished on garden earthworms, to Queen Charlotte's zebra, which was accommodated close to her house at Buckingham Gate and renowned for its nicotine-fueled filthy temper, here are quirky tales of animals in the garden through the centuries.
In early 1861, as he prepared to move into the White House, Abraham Lincoln dreaded telling his two youngest sons that the family's beloved pet dog, Fido, would not be accompanying them to Washington. Lincoln was afraid the skittish dog wouldn't survive the long rail journey, so he decided to leave the mutt behind with friends in Springfield. Abe & Fido tells the story of two friends, an unlikely tandem who each became famous and died prematurely. It also explores the everyday life of Springfield in the years leading up to the Civil War, as well as Lincoln's sometimes radical views on animal welfare, and how they shaped his life and his presidency. It's the story of a master and his dog, living through historic, tumultuous times.
With delightful photographs, Jenna Woginrich chronicles the life journey of three chickens (Amelia, Honey, and Tilda) from fluffy, newly hatched bundles to grown hens laying eggs of their own. Following their progress from day to day and week to week, you'll learn everything you need to know to be successful in raising and keeping a happy, healthy flock. Topics covered include understanding chicken behavior; housing and feeding requirements; hygiene and basic health care. Both entertaining and educational, this highly accessible book provides just the right amount of information to get started and enjoy the pleasures of keeping backyard chickens.
Let your dog lead the way to adventure! Grab your four-legged best friend and start making the most of every day, and every dog year. In Adventure Dogs: Activities to Share with Your Dog--from Comfy Couches to Mountain Tops, author Fern Watt teams up with canine experts to offer more than 50 surprising new ways to strengthen the connection you share with your dog. Captured in vibrant, full-color photography, activities range from simple to epic. What would make your dog's bucket list of must-see and -do adventures? Find out together as you uncover your pup's special interests and skills using this adventure book. Follow your pup into a world of herding, sniffing, playing, howling, and walking! From hiking a mountain or taking a smell walk in your own neighborhood to training like a Navy SEAL or practicing doga poses, Adventure Dogs has an activity or experience for every breed, personality, energy level, age, and dog parent. Our Dogs remind us that great adventures don't always require a passport--there are tons of wonders right outside our front doors. Perfect for dog lovers, armchair travelers, and active pet parents alike, Adventure Dogs reveals inspirational and practical ways for us humans to understand, appreciate, and live in the moment with our furry companions. - PRACTICAL ADVENTURES: Features more than 50 real, everyday activities to engage with your dog in scientifically-backed ways. With a range of prices, activity levels, and time investments, there's something in this animal activity book for everyone and every pup.
- BACKED BY RESEARCH: Author Fern Watt traveled and did her own research with her rescue dog, Bette. She's also consulted renowned scientists and behaviorists (Alexandra Horowitz), bestselling dog-book authors (Seth Casteel), Instagram-famous dog owners (@tunameltsmyheart), and people who have expanded the limits of what we thought dogs could do, whether it's surf, skateboard, paint, do yoga, run for mayor, or graduate from an Ivy League school.
- INSPIRATIONAL LOCATIONS: Features pet-friendly destinations (hotels, beaches, dog parks, hikes, and more!) around the United States and abroad.
- OVERFLOWING WITH IDEAS: Watt consults a range of experts to add stories, tips, and photography to the book. The result is a vibrant collection of voices and perspectives.
- BACKED BY RESEARCH: Author Fern Watt traveled and did her own research with her rescue dog, Bette. She's also consulted renowned scientists and behaviorists (Alexandra Horowitz), bestselling dog-book authors (Seth Casteel), Instagram-famous dog owners (@tunameltsmyheart), and people who have expanded the limits of what we thought dogs could do, whether it's surf, skateboard, paint, do yoga, run for mayor, or graduate from an Ivy League school.
- INSPIRATIONAL LOCATIONS: Features pet-friendly destinations (hotels, beaches, dog parks, hikes, and more!) around the United States and abroad.
- OVERFLOWING WITH IDEAS: Watt consults a range of experts to add stories, tips, and photography to the book. The result is a vibrant collection of voices and perspectives.
Not much can be said with certainty about the life of Claudius Aelianus, known to us as Aelian. He was born sometime between A.D. 165 and 170 in the hill town of Praeneste, what is now Palestrina, about twenty-five miles from Rome, Italy. He grew up speaking that town's version of Latin, a dialect that other speakers of the language seem to have found curious, but--somewhat unusually for his generation, though not for Romans of earlier times--he preferred to communicate in Greek. Trained by a sophist named Pausanias of Caesarea, Aelian was known in his time for a work called Indictment of the Effeminate, an attack on the recently deceased emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, who was nasty even by the standards of Imperial Rome. He was also fond of making almanac-like collections, only fragments of which survive, devoted to odd topics such as manifestations of the divine and the workings of the supernatural. His De Natura Animalium (On the Nature of Animals) has a similar patchwork quality, but it was esteemed enough in his time to survive more or less whole, and it is about all that we know of Aelian's work today. A mostly randomly ordered collection of stories that he found interesting enough to relate about animals--whether or not he believed them--Aelian's book constitutes an early encyclopedia of animal behavior, affording unparalleled insight into what ancient Romans knew about and thought about animals--and, of particular interest to modern scholars, about animal minds. If the science is sometimes sketchy, the facts often fanciful, and the history sometimes suspect, it is clear enough that Aelian had a fine time assembling the material, which can be said, in the most general terms, to support the notion of a kind of intelligence in nature and that extends human qualities, for good and bad, to animals. His stories, which extend across the known world of Aelian's time, tend to be brief and to the point, and many return to a trenchant question: If animals can respect their elders and live honorably within their own tribes, why must humans be so appallingly awful? Aelian is as brisk, as entertaining, and as scholarly a writer as Pliny, the much better known Roman natural historian. That he is not better known is simply an accident: he has not been widely translated into English, or indeed any European language. This selection from his work will introduce readers to a lively mind and a witty writer who has much to tell us.
Now you have your puppy, the clock is ticking and you need to meet three more Developmental Deadlines before your puppy is five months old.4th Developmental Deadline - Socializing Your Puppy to PeopleYour Most Urgent Priority is to socialize your puppy to a wide variety of people, especially children, men, and strangers, before he is twelve weeks old. Well-socialized puppies grow up to be wonderful companions, whereas antisocial dogs are difficult, time-consuming, and potentially dangerous. As a rule of thumb, your puppy needs to meet at least one hundred people before he is three months old. Since your puppy is still too young to venture out to dog parks and sidewalks, you'll need to start inviting people to your home right away.5th Developmental Deadline - Teaching Bite InhibitionYour Most Important Priority is that your puppy learns to inhibit the force of his bites and develop a "soft mouth"; before he is eighteen weeks old. Whenever a dog bites a person, or fights with another dog, the single most important prognostic factor is the degree of bite inhibition and hence, the likelihood and seriousness of injury. Accidents happen. Someone may tread on the dog's paw, or a child may trip over the dog while he's gnawing a bone. A dog may snap and lunge at a person when hurt or frightened, but if the dog has well-established bite inhibition, it is unlikely the dog's teeth will puncture, or even touch the skin.6th Developmental Deadline - Continuing Socialization in The World at LargeThe Most Enjoyable Priority of dog ownership is to introduce your well-socialized puppy to the world at large. Your dog will only remain sociable and confident if he continues to meet and greet at least three unfamiliar people and three unfamiliar dogs every day. Meeting the same people and dogs over and over is not sufficient. Your dog needs to practice meeting, greeting, and getting along with strangers, not simply getting along with old friends. Regular walks with your dog are as essential as they are enjoyable.
Prolific and widely renowned, Eileen Myles is a trailblazer whose decades of literary and artistic work "set a bar for openness, frankness, and variability few lives could ever match" (New York Review of Books). This newest book paints a kaleidoscopic portrait of a beloved confidant: the pit bull called Rosie. In 1990, Myles chose Rosie from a litter on the street, and their connection instantly became central to the writer's life and work. During the course of their sixteen years together, Myles was madly devoted to the dog's wellbeing, especially in her final days. Starting from the emptiness following Rosie's death, Afterglow (a dog memoir) launches a heartfelt and fabulist investigation into the true nature of the bond between pet and pet-owner. Through this lens, we witness Myles's experiences with intimacy and spirituality, celebrity and politics, alcoholism and recovery, fathers and family history, as well as the fantastical myths we spin to get to the heart of grief. Moving from an imaginary talk show where Rosie is interviewed by Myles's childhood puppet to a critical reenactment of the night Rosie mated with another pit bull, from lyrical transcriptions of their walks to Rosie's enlightened narration from the afterlife, Afterglow (a dog memoir) illuminates all that it can mean when we dedicate our existence to a dog.
"An important and timely message about the biological roots of human kindness."
--Desmond Morris, author of "The Naked Ape"
Are we our brothers' keepers? Do we have an instinct for compassion? Or are we, as is often assumed, only on earth to serve our own survival and interests? In this thought-provoking book, the acclaimed author of "Our Inner Ape" examines how empathy comes naturally to a great variety of animals, including humans.
By studying social behaviors in animals, such as bonding, the herd instinct, the forming of trusting alliances, expressions of consolation, and conflict resolution, Frans de Waal demonstrates that animals-and humans-are "preprogrammed to reach out." He has found that chimpanzees care for mates that are wounded by leopards, elephants offer "reassuring rumbles" to youngsters in distress, and dolphins support sick companions near the water's surface to prevent them from drowning. From day one humans have innate sensitivities to faces, bodies, and voices; we've been designed to feel for one another.
De Waal's theory runs counter to the assumption that humans are inherently selfish, which can be seen in the fields of politics, law, and finance, and whichseems to be evidenced by the current greed-driven stock market collapse. But he cites the public's outrage at the U.S. government's lack of empathy in the wake of Hurricane Katrina as a significant shift in perspective-one that helped Barack Obama become elected and ushered in what may well become an Age of Empathy. Through a better understanding of empathy's survival value in evolution, de Waal suggests, we can work together toward a more just society based on a more generous and accurate view of human nature.
Written in layman's prose with a wealth of anecdotes, wry humor, and incisive intelligence, "The Age of Empathy" is essential reading for our embattled times.
--Desmond Morris, author of "The Naked Ape"
Are we our brothers' keepers? Do we have an instinct for compassion? Or are we, as is often assumed, only on earth to serve our own survival and interests? In this thought-provoking book, the acclaimed author of "Our Inner Ape" examines how empathy comes naturally to a great variety of animals, including humans.
By studying social behaviors in animals, such as bonding, the herd instinct, the forming of trusting alliances, expressions of consolation, and conflict resolution, Frans de Waal demonstrates that animals-and humans-are "preprogrammed to reach out." He has found that chimpanzees care for mates that are wounded by leopards, elephants offer "reassuring rumbles" to youngsters in distress, and dolphins support sick companions near the water's surface to prevent them from drowning. From day one humans have innate sensitivities to faces, bodies, and voices; we've been designed to feel for one another.
De Waal's theory runs counter to the assumption that humans are inherently selfish, which can be seen in the fields of politics, law, and finance, and whichseems to be evidenced by the current greed-driven stock market collapse. But he cites the public's outrage at the U.S. government's lack of empathy in the wake of Hurricane Katrina as a significant shift in perspective-one that helped Barack Obama become elected and ushered in what may well become an Age of Empathy. Through a better understanding of empathy's survival value in evolution, de Waal suggests, we can work together toward a more just society based on a more generous and accurate view of human nature.
Written in layman's prose with a wealth of anecdotes, wry humor, and incisive intelligence, "The Age of Empathy" is essential reading for our embattled times.
Based on the positive training methods of Ali Canova and Joe Canova, two of the top agility competitors in America, this book will get you and your dog started in agility training. This author makes it easy with her step-by-step approach, footing diagrams and course illustrations, and beautiful full-color photographs. The unique method from proven champions strengthens the connection between any dog and his owner, and success is guaranteed for any breed, from Miniature Poodle to Border Collie. Every step has a specific drill that improves fitness and shapes behavior. Whether you want to compete on an agility team or simply have fun in your backyard, this is the only guide you'll need for a lifetime of satisfaction.
Alex & Me is the remarkable true story of an extraordinary relationship between psychologist Irene M. Pepperberg and Alex, an African Grey parrot who proved scientists and accepted wisdom wrong by demonstrating an astonishing ability to communicate and understand complex ideas. A New York Times bestseller and selected as one of the paper's critic's Top Ten Books of the Year, Alex & Me is much more that the story of an incredible scientific breakthrough. It's a poignant love story and an affectionate remembrance of Pepperberg's irascible, unforgettable, and always surprising best friend.
Alex & Me is the remarkable true story of an extraordinary relationship between psychologist Irene M. Pepperberg and Alex, an African Grey parrot who proved scientists and accepted wisdom wrong by demonstrating an astonishing ability to communicate and understand complex ideas. A New York Times bestseller and selected as one of the paper's Top Ten Books of the Year, Alex & Me is much more that the story of an incredible scientific breakthrough. It's a poignant love story and an affectionate remembrance of Pepperberg's irascible, unforgettable, and always surprising best friend.
When ecologist Carl Safina and his wife, Patricia, took in a near-death baby owl, they expected that, like other wild orphans they'd rescued, she'd be a temporary presence. But Alfie's feathers were not growing correctly, requiring prolonged care. As Alfie grew and gained strength, she became a part of the family, joining a menagerie of dogs and chickens and making a home for herself in the backyard. Carl and Patricia began to realize that the healing was mutual; Alfie had been braided into their world, and was now pulling them into hers.
Alfie & Me is the story of the remarkable impact this little owl would have on their lives. The continuing bond of trust following her freedom--and her raising of her own wild brood--coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a year in which Carl and Patricia were forced to spend time at home without the normal obligations of work and travel. Witnessing all the fine details of their feathered friend's life offered Carl and Patricia a view of existence from Alfie's perspective.
One can travel the world and go nowhere; one can be stuck keeping the faith at home and discover a new world. Safina's relationship with an owl made him want to better understand how people have viewed humanity's relationship with nature across cultures and throughout history. Interwoven with Safina's keen observations, insight, and reflections, Alfie & Me is a work of profound beauties and magical timing harbored within one upended year.
When ecologist Carl Safina and his wife, Patricia, took in a near-death baby owl, they expected that, like other wild orphans they'd rescued, she'd be a temporary presence. But Alfie's feathers were not growing correctly, requiring prolonged care. As Alfie grew and gained strength, she became a part of the family, joining a menagerie of dogs and chickens and making a home for herself in the backyard. Carl and Patricia began to realize that the healing was mutual; Alfie had been braided into their world, and was now pulling them into hers.
Alfie & Me is the story of the remarkable impact this little owl would have on their lives. The continuing bond of trust following her freedom--and her raising of her own wild brood--coincided with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, a year in which Carl and Patricia were forced to spend time at home without the normal obligations of work and travel. Witnessing all the fine details of their feathered friend's life offered Carl and Patricia a view of existence from Alfie's perspective.
One can travel the world and go nowhere; one can be stuck keeping the faith at home and discover a new world. Safina's relationship with an owl made him want to better understand how people have viewed humanity's relationship with nature across cultures and throughout history. Interwoven with Safina's keen observations, insight, and reflections, Alfie & Me is a work of profound beauties and magical timing harbored within one upended year.
The perfect guide to the birds of the midwestern United States and central Canada, from the #1 birding website AllAboutBirds.org
The All About Birds Regional Field-Guide Series brings birding enthusiasts the best information from the renowned Cornell Lab of Ornithology's website, AllAboutBirds.org, used by more than 21 million people each year. These definitive books provide the most up-to-date resources and expert coverage on bird species throughout North America. This dynamic guide is the perfect companion for anyone interested in the birds of the midwestern United States and central Canada. The guide offers fascinating details about the birds around you, useful bird ID tips, and handy bird-watching information. It presents full accounts of the 221 species most commonly seen in these regions; beautiful photographs of male, female, and immature birds, as well as morphs, and breeding and nonbreeding plumage (so you can ID birds all year long); current range maps; and so much more. The midwestern USA and central Canada edition of All About Birds is easy to use and easy to share. This volume features the following states, provinces, and territories: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin, western Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, central Nunavut, and eastern Northwest Territories.
The classic multimillion copy bestseller
Delve into the magical, unforgettable world of James Herriot, the world's most beloved veterinarian, and his menagerie of heartwarming, funny, and tragic animal patients. For over forty years, generations of readers have thrilled to Herriot's marvelous tales, deep love of life, and extraordinary storytelling abilities. For decades, Herriot roamed the remote, beautiful Yorkshire Dales, treating every patient that came his way from smallest to largest, and observing animals and humans alike with his keen, loving eye. In All Creatures Great and Small, we meet the young Herriot as he takes up his calling and discovers that the realities of veterinary practice in rural Yorkshire are very different from the sterile setting of veterinary school. Some visits are heart-wrenchingly difficult, such as one to an old man in the village whose very ill dog is his only friend and companion, some are lighthearted and fun, such as Herriot's periodic visits to the overfed and pampered Pekinese Tricki Woo who throws parties and has his own stationery, and yet others are inspirational and enlightening, such as Herriot's recollections of poor farmers who will scrape their meager earnings together to be able to get proper care for their working animals. From seeing to his patients in the depths of winter on the remotest homesteads to dealing with uncooperative owners and critically ill animals, Herriot discovers the wondrous variety and never-ending challenges of veterinary practice as his humor, compassion, and love of the animal world shine forth. James Herriot's memoirs have sold 80 million copies worldwide, and continue to delight and entertain readers of all ages.
Twenty years ago, St. Martin's Press published a volume of memoirs by an unknown Scottish veterinarian named James Herriot. Its title was "All Creatures Great and Small."
Within a year, the book had become recognized as a masterpiece. In the two decades that have followed, James Herriot has become one of the most universally loved authors of our time.
Now, as we celebrate the publication of "Every Living Thing"-- the country vet's fifth book of memoirs-- St. Martin's is proud to reissue the book that started it all. Its pages, now as then, are full of humor, warmth, pathos, drama, and James Herriot's unique, richly justified love of life. His journeys across the Yorkshire dales, his encounters with humans and dogs, cows and kittens are illumined by his infinite fascination and affection, and rendered with all the infectious joy of a born storyteller.
As one reviewer wrote," If you ever loved a friend, human or otherwise, this is the book for you."
The classic multimillion copy bestseller
Delve into the magical, unforgettable world of James Herriot, the world's most beloved veterinarian, and his menagerie of heartwarming, funny, and tragic animal patients.
For over thirty years, generations of readers have thrilled to Herriot's marvelous tales, deep love of life, and extraordinary storytelling abilities. For decades, Herriot roamed the remote, beautiful Yorkshire Dales, treating every patient that came his way from smallest to largest, and observing animals and humans alike with his keen, loving eye.
In "All Creatures Great and Small," we meet the young Herriot as he takes up his calling and discovers that the realities of veterinary practice in rural Yorkshire are very different from the sterile setting of veterinary school. From caring for his patients in the depths of winter on the remotest homesteads to dealing with uncooperative owners and critically ill animals, Herriot discovers the wondrous variety and never-ending challenges of veterinary practice as his humor, compassion, and love of the animal world shine forth.
All Dogs Go to Kevin is a humorous and touching memoir that will appeal to anyone who has ever loved an animal or lost hours in James Herriot's classic veterinary stories. You can't always count on people, but you can always count on your dog. No one knows that better than veterinarian Jessica Vogelsang. With the help of three dogs, Jessica is buoyed through adolescence, veterinary school, and the early years of motherhood. Taffy, the fearsome Lhasa; Emmett, the devil-may-care Golden; and Kekoa, the neurotic senior Labrador, are always by her side, educating her in empathy and understanding for all the oddballs and misfits who come through the vet clinic doors. Also beside her is Kevin, a human friend who lives with the joie de vivre most people only dream of having. From the clueless canine who inadvertently reveals a boyfriend's wandering ways to the companion who sees through a new mother's smiling facade, Jessica's stories from the clinic and life show how her love for canines lifts her up and grounds her, too. Above all, this book reminds us, with gentle humor and honesty, why we put up with the pee on the carpet, the chewed-up shoes, and the late-night trips to the vet: because the animals we love so much can, in fact, change our lives.