Bringing a new dog into the household should be one of life’s happiest events. The process always starts with excitement and high expectations. Too often, though, it ends in disappointment. The new puppy wakes everyone three times a night, gnaws on furniture, piddles everywhere, knocks the children down. The new adolescent dog is too wild. The new adult dog growls at your neighbors. And where did all this dog hair come from?
Most people spend hours researching a new mattress, days researching a new car, and weeks researching a new home or job. Yet for a new dog, a companion for the next 10-15 years, the most they do is visit the nearest shelter or pet shop and buy whatever looks cute and appealing. It’s no wonder they end up disappointed.
Whether you are looking for a purebred puppy or a charming mixed-breed, the type of dog you bring into your home matters. A quiet owner will struggle to keep up with a high-energy labrador mix, for instance, while an active outdoor family will be impatient with a snoozy bulldog. And finding the right kind of dog means becoming the right kind of owner—a task that takes some forethought and planning.
How To Find Your Dream Dog is here to fix the disconnect of dog ownership. It walks you step-by-step through the process of choosing the right type of dog for you—not only exploring the canine qualities that can determine your perfect puppy, adolescent, or adult dog, but also assessing your lifestyle to make sure you’re a good match for the dog, too. The book also looks at good (and bad) sources for finding healthy and sound pet dogs, gives guidelines for evaluating individual puppies, and warns of some red flags to watch out for during your dog search. With this guidebook in hand, you can be confident that the next puppy or dog you bring home will be the right companion and friend for you for the rest of its days.
Dixie Tenny is a Certified Training Partner with the Karen Pryor Academy of Animal Training and Behavior. During her 30+ years spent working with people and their pets, she has seen again and again how mismatches between dog and owner can create “behavior problems” that never would have happened if the right dog had been matched to the right owner in the first place. She wrote this book to help puppy buyers and dog adopters start out on the best possible foot with their new pet dogs, and stay on that path for years to come.
Book Details:
How to FInd Your Dream Dog
Author: Dixie Tenny
Category: Adult Non Fiction, 139 pages
Genre: Pets & Animal Care
Publisher: Authors Unite
Release date: October 2016
Content Rating: G
Buy the Book: Amazon ~ Add on Goodreads
Author’s Bio:
Dixie Tenny, author of How to Find your Dream Dog realized her author bio was too long and has asked if we would use this shorter version instead. If you have yet to post or you’ve already posted your review or spotlight would you kindly consider changing the bio to this one instead?
Dixie Tenny has been helping people and their dogs find each other and form successful partnerships since the early 1980s. She founded two rescue organizations: Purebred Dog Rescue of Saint Louis in 1984, and Seattle Purebred Dog Rescue, Inc. in 1987. Dixie was the Director of Training for the Greater St. Louis Training Club, Inc., for five years, creating classes and overseeing the work of 40 head and assistant trainers. In 2003 she and another experienced trainer created Dogs Unleashed, LLC. They traveled to clients’ homes and worked with behavior and training issues.
Dixie’s professional credentials include trainer certifications from the prestigious Karen Pryor Academy for Animal Training and Behavior, and the Association for Pet Dog Trainers. Dixie formed her own business, Human-Animal Learning Opportunities, LLC (HALO) in 2013. HALO hosts continuing education seminars for dog trainers.
Dixie has lived with a wide range of dogs over the years including mixed breeds, Australian Shepherds, Welsh and Cairn terriers, and more. While in Seattle, Dixie raised a labrador puppy for Canine Companions for Independence, Inc. (CCI). Currently Dixie lives with a Beauceron and an elderly Papillon, as well as four cats. When not doing things related to animals, she reads widely, enjoys the company of her three grown children, follows baseball and English Premier League football, and travels the world.
Connect with the author: Website ~ Facebook
My review: 4/ 5
It’s true that our choice of dog is going to affect our lives. We had that experience when we got Pablo. Don’t get me wrong, we love him to bits. But while we lived in Mumbai, his life and ours was pretty bad. He was stuck in an apartment with not much stimulation – that’s hard for a big dog like him. And we hadn’t realized that boxers are prone to separation anxiety. For us to go out as a couple, leaving him alone became next to impossible. I guess we resented him and he resented us. That he’s a changed dog now is another story. If we had read this book before that we might not have got him. As hard as it is to imagine life without Pablo, he and we may have been happier. I’ve had dogs almost my entire life. And yet, this book was an eye-opener.
At a time when people are busy returning or abandoning dogs because they don’t realize just what they’re taking on, Dixie’s straightforward writing, will make people think twice. The book helps you to match a dog with your lifestyle. It helps you set realistic expectations about how that cute little puppy that’s calling your name, might turn out to be when she’s fully grown.
I would strongly recommend this book to anyone thinking of getting a dog.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
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Thanks so much for your great review of my book “How to Find Your Dream Dog.” And for your honest story of your own difficult dog adoption. I truly believe that the adoption and basic care of pets should be taught in schools. It’s something most of us do, often many times in our life, but whether we have good guidance or knowledge when we do it is a matter of luck. I hope my book helps some of your readers find their dream dogs, and give dream homes to some lucky pets.
Well, in my opinion dogs are as good as babies only. They have to be raised just like we do for our kids. Thanks for the review Corinne.
Oh I agree! Ours totally rule our home, Geethica.
This is a topic I can honestly say never crossed my mind.I feel its sad to keep a dog stuck in small homes where even humans feel suffocated.Maybe one day when I have a backyard I will keep a dog.For now I have fish in an aquarium.My only pet.This book sounds perfect for my plans in the future.Will read it before buying a puppy.A very important topic!
An interesting concept. I still think dogs find us not the other way around. Your Pablo is so sweet. I don’t think he could ever resent you both.
Yes, like how we do exhaustive research for home and car, we need to do for dogs as well. It makes sense. This would be an interesting book for all the dog lovers.
What an excellent book! I have had dogs since Day 1 & know there is no equal joy than to have your own. But i have also learnt that as i have grown and changed as a person (slowed down), I am unable to keep up so much. & therefore, awareness is key to a happy life for both – the pet & parent.
Great review and certainly informative. What a great subject for a book!