Like a concerned puppy mother I searched for a holistic ...
935664
STAY AWAY from this product. Like a concerned puppy mother I searched for a holistic approach to treating my dogs epilepsy.

For one month all seemed fine. But then it got to the point where he would scream in pain for no reason. His legs became weak and he could no longer jump. He stopped eating and drinking as much.

I called the company only to hear there is ETHANOL And A LOT OF IT in this product but it is listed NOWHERE On the product. THIS IS OUTRAGEOUS. The customer service associate said it so casually as if I should have known because "it is used in a lot of products these days". My mouth too, dropped to the floor.

Now as a mother of an epileptic dog I am not trying to give my dog GASOLINE In order to cure him. The fact that it isn't listed on the bottle speaks volumes about the company and the casual attitude taken when reporting this made me feel sick. STAY AWAY. Just no.
4504001
This entertaining story is more than the story of two border collie pups from the same litter.  I loved reading about May (nicknamed Maybe before she was chosen for training as a sheep herder) and her path to becoming a working dog, and I was close to tears from both sadness and laughter reading about Sky and Carol's need for a service dog. However, the book's underlying theme is revealed in the title.  Carol and Denise discuss how our dogs are descended from wolves, and how some of the instincts and behaviors have been inherited or retained, and bred into today's Border Collies.  In anecdotal form,  Carol and Denise, the breeder, alternate chapters describing their experiences with Sky and May.  I was fascinated by Denise's observations of the puppies and their personalities, how they develop, learn to socialize with other dogs, learn to bond with people, how they communicate.  I was a little heartbroken to learn of Carol's Crohn's disease, and her need for a service dog, but recognized many things in her narration as I also have a chronic condition and my dog behaves in many ways like Sky or Flash.  My dog is sensitive to feelings, wonderful with children, and when I am not well he presses his little body next to mine and will not leave me.  He also communicates with his eyes...and he is funny, so many things rang true as very familiar in a warm, happy way.  (However, this may not be surprising as this was my first dog and I raised him with Carol's book, Mother Knows Best).  This is a breezy read with a lot to offer, an excellent book for anyone looking for their first dog and for a breeder (no matter what breed you want, you want a breeder like Denise), anyone who has special relationship with their dog, anyone who has a disability, and just anyone else who wonders what dogs think and wants a feel-good read!

The only complaint I might have is wanting to know more about Border Collies and their care?  After all those swims did they smell?  Do they shed?  Do they swallow toys and socks?  Denise did mention about being careful with puppies who like to jump and to watch out to protect those young bones, but I would have liked a little more of that.  However, that would have encumbered the story, and I will have to find these things out on my own.  Carol is a great writer, and she really put herself on the line in her intimate story.  Denise has proven herself to be a writer as well as a breeder and herder.  I can't help but wish to know more of Sky and May in the future.
157376
The puppy shredded my wallet on Sunday afternoon. It was raining and not all the contents of the wallet were in the dog's stomach. It just was not usable and I still had all my ID's and credit cards. I wanted to replace it with something slightly smaller so when I went to Amazon.com, I looked first at the wallets that had measurements listed and then looked at the enlarged features so that I could judge whether or not they fit my needs.
Most of the wallets with measurements were not pretty to me and none of them came in red. I learned later that I should have checked the availability of the colors listed before I set my heart on the red wallet. The black wallet I decided upon is exactly what I wanted when I started looking through some 250 styles. It just is not red.
 After I received my lovely black wallet, I told my sister about it and I am now ordering a duplicate for her birthday at her request. She wanted a red wallet, too. Guess what? Hers will be black as well.
4372781
Thanks!  My (non internet using) mother has been looking everywhere for this.  I was a hero when I found it online in seconds.
4507284
not what I expected but I liked it.  It was different.  I was disappointed in how the chronic health issue either was glossed over by the author if veterinarian consult was sought or very disappointed that neither the owners (especially the one that was a small animal veterinarian) or big German trainer didn't recognize the need for diagnostics
3312535
This is Very infantile, seems to be a lot of anger. No where could I find anything related to this person being Native American. I did Google her after purchasing some books. I was shocked to see and read what I did. Someones got a screw loose. When I did a Google search. I was very surprised to see what I had found. Looking at the conditions of these animals that were supposedly taken. I could tell you its for the best interest of the animals .
4845246
"Your sole purpose is to enrich the lives of your new owners."

I'm walking into this review with the hope and assumption that there is a second book and hopefully this is a series. There is quite a bit of information in Perfected that can be expanded on and the ending left questions that I'm truly wanting answered. The blurb says that if you enjoy Selection and Chemical Garden that this one is similar. I have both of those on my to-read list, but I haven't gotten to them yet so I can't help answer that question.

The Good

I couldn't sit this book down. There wasn't a lot of action going on, but the pacing and questions I had about where this book was headed left me wanting to read every bit of it as quickly as I could. The writing is done very well, flowing smoothly, and I enjoyed being in Ella's innocent mind for the narration.

What truly sucked me in though was the philosophy involved. The world is an exact replica of my own America, and yet legislation has been passed in which people are now genetically engineered, raised to be obedient, raised to be pleasing, and sold to the highest bidder among elite citizens. These 'pets' are trained to believe that being a pet is a privilege; however, when Ella joins her new family, she soon realizes that being a pet to the world outside means little more than being a dog. For example, there are conversations about walking her and whether she needs a leash, micro-chips and chains installed, and talks of 'spaying'. IT WAS DISGUSTING. I was so revolted by how some characters legitimately thought this was fine, that I had to see if she could get the better of these ridiculous people. I was behind Ella the whole way, through the growth she experienced in finding out what makes HER happy, that I was yearning for her to overcome her circumstances.

Her family seems likable enough at the start of the story. The congressman that becomes her 'master' has helped pass the legislation which allows these rich families to own pets. He has some secrets up his sleeve. His wife is exceptionally unhappy about having a pet at all. Their two kids, Ruby and Penn have differing opinions of Ella being there as well. For Ruby, she is a friend to play with. For Penn, she is an embarrassment on the family at first. Later, he becomes more sure that she has a personality hidden under all the 'yes sirs', and he helps to bring that out of her. Life for Ella takes a turn for the worse, and the story-line picks up a lot after that. Claire is a daughter of their's that shows up later that just confused me.

The Bad
The main huge mystery of the story, I had figured out pretty early on as I'm sure most of the readers will. The secret is made into a pretty big deal, mentioned over and over again, so I'm surprised that it was so easy to ascertain.

While I was rooting for Ella the whole time to make it through in one piece with her own happiness found, I couldn't help feeling icky for reading about people as pets. They have to do whatever their 'masters' say, so there is some mention of people touching her with intentions that definitely do not seem innocent. Which brings to mind all of the owners with all of these pets, making me realize that some of them certainly aren't being appropriate with these girls. I want to see them all PAY for treating people this way.

The Romance
Penn helps Ella so much by introducing her to things she has never experienced. Their journey from him hating her to being so sweet and assisting was nice to read. They have some good romantic moments, all innocence and fanciful. It's a forbidden romance so it makes it more interesting.

Conclusion
A thought-provoking read that is well-written and flows smoothly. I turned page after page to get to the conclusion which left me with more questions although it was concluded. I am sincerely hoping there is a follow-up for this story. Recommended.

*Sent for honest review.. Originally posted at http://jcbookhaven.blogspot.com/2014/07/arc-review-perfected-by-kate-jarvik.html and given 3.5 stars
4217697
Animal Madness is an exploration of the mental abnormalities of the animals around us and how they resemble and are treated like human mental illnesses. I thought the book was interesting, particularly the discussion of nineteenth and early twentieth century accounts of the mental problems of animals and how they mirrored the understanding of human mental health at that time. Some of the descriptions of the more extreme cases of mental illness in animals and how they were treated were also intriguing. The story of the author's Bernese mountain dog and his battle with untreatable anxiety was particularly heartbreaking.

Reading this book, it becomes clear that human management (and mismanagement) of animals has a big impact on their mental health. However, maybe because I work with an animal welfare organization, that's not exactly news to me. I wish the author had focused on more extreme cases of mental illness in animals, because I was underwhelmed with some of her examples--the behaviors that she describes are so common as to be unremarkable to anyone who works with animals on a regular basis. For example, she describes the behavior of an orphaned donkey that she bottle raised when she was a child--he bites frequently and unexpectedly, is hostile and aggressive toward other animals, and is fascinated with people. And that's about what you might expect from an animal that wasn't properly socialized to other animals as a baby (and, according to the author, was also weaned too soon). In fact, I have a cat with similar (less severe) behaviors, probably because she didn't get enough time with her mother/litter mates as a kitten. Is she "disturbed," as the author labels the donkey? I have a hard time seeing her that way, although her personality is more difficult than that of my other cats. But if my cat is mentally ill, so are a lot of other dogs and cats out there.

That aside, the book is a worthwhile read for anyone who is interested in the topic of mental illness in both the animals around us and in the human animal.

An ARC of Animal Madness was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
2328215
This book is not about:

* An irresponsible mom leaving her child alone
* A smart loving dog who does funs things with a baby while mom is away
* Unsafe conditions in the home

It's about the crazy imagination of a mother thinking what would happen if she left her dog and baby at home alone.  (For all we know, we don't know if someone else was really at home babysitting.)

When I read this book, I like to see it from the mother's point of view as she is out doing her errand.  These are the things she is thinking what could go on if this were to happen.  Suspend your believe here a little. the pages with words really did happen and the pages without words, never did or never could happen.  (I don't know too many babies who can ride on the back of dogs or swim in a fishing pool.  I don't know too many dogs who can wash babies and tidy up after a messy room.

The focus should not be on the dog or the baby.  The focus should be on the crazy mother with the crazy imagination!

But let's say you had to leave your trusted rot home with YOUR baby, wouldn't your imagination be quite similar too?  That is what makes this book great.
3266557
This book is geared towards moms who struggle with anxiety. I bought this with different expectations, after reading the first couple chapters I realized this book wasn't really what I needed for spiritual life and encouragement as a mom. I'm sure many moms who struggle with constant worry, anxiety, and fear would benefit greatly from reading it.
1746410
This is the first time I have every written a review on Amazon, but I feel compelled.  I am relatively certain that many folks are looking for some encouragement after dealing with a diagnosis and the pain and fear that ensues. This book started me on my journey to wellness after being diagnosed with RA last April.  I have done quite a bit of reading, both in book form and online and have reviewed many YouTube videos on point, as I am sure many of you have.  This book, along with "The Infection Connection" and "Biological Medicine: the Future of Natural Healing" gave me hope and a call to action.  I thank the author profusely and feel that her work comes from a place of compassion and a desire to heal others. I understand there are profit motives involved in publishing books and selling supplements, but for me this book came at a pivotal time in my life and started me on a journey toward healing.  I admit feeling quite overwhelmed after reading this book and the other two I mentioned above. Overwhelmed to the point of tears, truth be told. But instinctively, I deeply believe in the body's ability to heal and I felt I needed to take all necessary steps.  I started with gut health and changing my diet.  I immediately lost 60 unwanted pounds over the course of six months.  I personally did not notice any particular food causing my symptoms, but since my weight loss was so dramatic after years of wondering why I could not lose weight, I have stayed off gluten, dairy, sugar and caffeine.  It has been a year and I do not miss these things, except for the obvious convenience of eating them since we are completely surrounded by these "food" items.  Because I was so overwhelmed with all of the possible underlying causes, I pursued treatment by functional and biological medicine doctors.  I was diagnosed with heavy metal toxicity - mercury, lead, cadmium, aluminum, etcetera. My biological medicine practitioner told me that mercury also causes intestinal permeability. I tested positive for leaky gut as well. My treatments include the dietary protocol outlined in this book, with supplements, and chelation therapy supervised by a functional medicine physician.  My traditional rheumatologist believes that there is a lot to the intestinal permeability theory, so that was also reassuring.  After one year of the dietary protocol and about three months of chelation treatments, my symptoms have dissipated considerably.  I hiked a portion of the Bright Angel Trail at Grand Canyon this week with no issues!  My rheumatologist plans to reduce my medication by 50% at my next follow up.  Be persistent in your healing journey.  Only you can make you well.
3366710
I was looking for a more informative book about what has been learned about animals and spirituality. Parts of the book I skipped over due to the role of the "Blue Angel", and suggesting the reader to pray to the "Blue Angel". There is poetry dispersed throughout the book of the author's pets. Comforting words, but I was looking for more research based information.
1419904
This book has made me want to find other books on this. I'm more witchy than new agey so I haven't really heard of this until I started to buy up the HayHouse basics that caught my eye for whatever reasons. While it says "basic", it felt far from basic. it was easy to understand like a 101 book but i felt it went pretty deep. I do not do mediation nor wish to, if you fall under this as well, you may find yourself skipping a few pages here and there as the writer included meditation-based exercises for you to try. I skimmed them but they held no use for me.
861063
I felt the tone of this book to be fairly condescending. The authors keep reminding the reader how most parents are terrible communicators, but lucky for you were are here to save your relationships. I happen to be a very effective listener and communicator, and this book came on my radar because the way I speak to my child triggered a friend to say, "I head you active listening, you must have read PET" I had never heard of the book but just figured clear communication with a focus on understanding and valuing others would lead me to success in my life. Given my love for learning and a growth mindset I thought, I'd love to be better. So I bought the book. While it has been validation get to hear I've been doing it right, and a good reminder that it's worth the extra work I put into listening and interacting with others, I struggled to see what next steps I could take to improve my parent effectiveness. Furthermore the tone of the book left me generally annoyed.
2188560
I was excited to read this book, because in my head I was thinking that this book would cover a species-appropriate diet for dogs.  I understood that this wasn't a book on raw feeding, but I thought that the diet would be covered and this book would become a great reference in my blog.

I was wrong.

I knew that I wasn't going to be a fan when I read the authors response to a person requesting endorsement for dog treats that would help improve a dogs behavior.  When I countered with the suggestion that if we tried putting our foot in our problematic dogs butt every now and then, we would achieve a much higher rate of reliability and focus than any treat would achieve a much higher rate of reliability and focus than any treat would, regardless of its ingredients, I thought he was going to have a stroke.  Yeah, Id have a stroke too if someone suggested that I beat my dog to inspire better behavior.  This statement impacted my enjoyment of the entire book.

Granted, I don't think dog treats are the answer to a poorly behaved dogs, but physical abuse?  I don't think so.

Yes, dogs are descendent from wolves, but they're not wolves and I don't think they should be raised as wolves.  I believe we can learn a lot about our dogs by observing wolves; I also think we can learn a lot about our dogs by observing our dogs (and other dogs).

Im not a dog trainer.  Im raising four dogs (two sets of littermates) who are well behaved and loved.  I don't use physical violence to keep them in line.  We have a hierarchy  my boyfriend is alpha, Im next in line, then the dogs have an order as well.  We keep our dogs happy through confident leadership, consistency, and exercise.  I believe that if we want a dog that behaves well, we should work with a professional dog trainer.  Dont resort to treating them like wild animals.

The information in the book about wolves and pack behavior was interesting.  I wish there was more correlation between how wolves behave versus how dogs behave (beyond the author's dogs).  And I wish that there was a more clear direction for the book - it read like a very long blog post rather than having chapters and sections that provided a preview of what I would be learning.

This book is disappointing, because based on what I've read about Bryan Bailey, he's a renowned animal behaviorist who has done a lot of great work with dogs.  If you can make it through the long paragraphs sharing stories that have nothing to do with dogs and quotes by Indian Chiefs, youll only find little snippets of information that, in my opinion, go too far.  The author makes a great point that as a society, weve gone from treating dogs like dogs to treating dogs like furry humans  I disagree that we need to offset this by treating dogs like wolves.

Finally, I will admit that had I not had such a visceral reaction to one statement in the book, I may have better enjoyed the book or better understood Bailey's message.

I received a copy of this book free of charge in exchange for my honest thoughts.  However, I purchased a copy of this book for my Kindle Fire so that my review could stand.

My 2-star review is reflective on my enjoyment of the book, my reaction to the statement "if we tried putting our foot in our problematic dogs butt every now and then" (mentioned above), and the lack of consistency and direction of the book.
311002
Really? 25 wonderful pages about peace, kindness and good health...and then they spring "God within me is my power" on you on the last page? YUCK. There are few things that irritate me the way sneaky religious messages do. Especially when I unknowingly paid for them.

I'm doing my best to raise my 3-year-old son to be a kind, gentle, generous, confident and thoughtful person. I want to help him learn critical thinking skills, and help to put those to use. I want to expose him to a wide variety of concepts and beliefs, without claiming any as unequivically correct or true - allowing him to choose which to adopt. I want to teach him HOW to think - not what to believe.

When I was a child, I remember asking my mother if she believed in God. She wouldn't tell me whether she did, or not - and she said her beliefs were her own, and my own beliefs were for me to decide. In retrospect, that's one of the greatest gifts she gave me: the responsibility to study religion - and politics, and other subjects such as art - and make my own choices, decide on my own preferences. My parents exposed me to a wide variety of religions, political views, and other ideas - but they never told me which was "right".

I thought this book would fit well in our library of classic stories and modern books that hold ideas that we can study and discuss together.

Most of the book is sweet and uplifting, with lovely illustrations accompanying "I am free to be me"; "I am safe"; "I am forgiving"; "I have a place of stillness within me".

Then the final two pages: "I am blessed"...ok, maybe...followed by "God within me is my power."

Grr. Really? If this was going to be a religious text, couldn't they have said so in the book's description somewhere? I wouldn't have purchased it...and this is what gets me about religions that proselytize. Their members draw you in with subterfuge - chat you up on the subway, or while out riding on a bike path, wanting to be "friends"...then after being creepily friendly for 20 minutes, they invite you to bible study meetings.

Or they write and illustrate and SELL sweet, uplifting books ostensibly about being a kind, gentle, giving person...and at the end they sneak up and inform you that you're not actually making your own choices. The "truth" is you're specially chosen and blessed by God and his power is inside you so apparently you weren't actually making your own choices after all...WTF?!?!

No, thanks. I want my son to be responsible for his own actions and his own choices, rather than attributing them to some "God" puppeteer. He should learn to be kind and gentle and generous, wanting to ease others' suffering because he's an empathetic person - not so he can rack up points and get into heaven (while, presumably, those who don't share his beliefs will go to hell or something.)

In the end, I tore out the last two pages; minus those pages it's a sweet book that I happily read with my son.
4369085
My two year old German Shepherd/Rottweiler mixed dog had his first seizure last December.  After another seizure episode this week, he has now been diagnosed as an "idiomatic" epileptic and will require seizure therapy for the rest of his life.  As an owner of a now "special needs" dog, I have sought out to educate myself regarding his condition.  I came across this book in my search but have found it to be a disappointment.  The author does not solely focus on canine seizures and spends too much time discussing alternative therapies, alternative diets, other medical conditions, etc.  The theme of the book focused more on "bucking" everything my vet has told me (I have every confidence in my vet and the staff at MedVets in Ohio) in favor of alternative therapies, diet, etc.  I was looking for practical information regarding treatment, epileptic drugs, drug reactions, what to expect, etc. but this information was covered (briefly) in a few chapters (Chapter 4, 6, 7, & 10 for a total of 34 pgs).  The remaining 8 chapters (and 120 pgs) were of little benefit as they were devoted to ""Dealing with Loss", "The Doctor-Client Relationship," Normal Canine Structure & Function," Dietary Therapy," "Alternative Therapies," "Additional Health Concerns," etc.  I was slightly hesitant to purchase this book based on the fact that (per the "About the Author" section) Ms. Levin is a RN by education; her medical background is as a registered nurse.  Although she states that she managed an ophthalmic veterinary clinic, but I don't see how running a vet clinic (a business) qualifies her to author a book regarding canine epilepsy.  After purchasing this book, I can see this is the case.  The majority of the book did not provide me any useful information and I will be continuing my research on canine epilepsy elsewhere.  If you are looking for canine epilepsy resources, I would only recommend a cursory review of this book via your local library.  In my opinion, it was not worth the purchase price.