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Dog Lovers Book Club - December 2021


Santa is coming and though it's hard to feel upbeat in Australia these days, we'll try to get into the festive spirit with the Christmas 2021 selection of our Dog Lovers Book Club!

With a mix of biographies, non-fiction, dog-friendly travel guide and educational children's books, this is the chance to tune off and forget about our increasingly dystopian society...


A DOG’S WORLD
Imagining the Lives of Dogs in a World without Humans

by Jessica Pierce, Marc Bekoff

From two of the world's leading authorities on dogs, an imaginative journey into a future of dogs without people.


What would happen to dogs if humans simply disappeared? Would dogs be able to survive on their own without us? 

A Dog's World imagines a post-human future for dogs, revealing how dogs would survive—and possibly even thrive — and explaining how this new and revolutionary perspective can guide how we interact with dogs now.

Drawing on biology, ecology, and the latest findings on the lives and behaviour of dogs and their wild relatives, Jessica Pierce and Marc Bekoff — two of today's most innovative thinkers about dogs — explore who dogs might become without direct human intervention into breeding, arranged playdates at the dog park, regular feedings, and veterinary care. 

Pierce and Bekoff show how dogs are quick learners who are highly adaptable and opportunistic, and offer compelling evidence that dogs already do survive on their own — and could do so in a world without us.

Challenging the notion that dogs would be helpless without their human counterparts, A Dog's World enables us to understand these independent and remarkably intelligent animals on their own terms.


Hardcover, 240 pages
Publisher: Princeton University Press, 26th October 2021


RRP: $39.99 at www.booktopia.com.au

MY HERO THEO
The Brave Police Dog Who Went Beyond the Call of Duty to Save Lives

by Gareth Greaves

‘I’d been in so many scrapes with Theo and he’d always saved me. Those days were the hardest of my life so far and … at the darkest point, those big brown eyes and that torn ear where I needed them to be. Right there next to me.’
PC Gareth Greaves first met Theo, a German Shepherd, when he was a nervous 14-month-old puppy. They were instantly inseparable and police dog Theo became the best partner Gareth’s ever had.


During six-and-a-half years of active service, police dog Theo located, tracked and detained suspects leading to more than 200 arrests. In that time, he endured broken ribs and being bitten by assailants as well as being set on fire. From tackling and detaining an arsonist, to protecting Gareth from a gang of men with machetes in an armed robbery, Theo’s bravery knew no bounds. Time and time again he put his own life at risk (often coming close to death) to save others.

Even while off duty Theo has been a rock to his partner, providing emotional support as Gareth learned that some of the hardest battles aren’t always on the front line.

My Hero Theo is the heartwarming story of one man and his heroic dog – and the bond that sees them go above and beyond the call of duty to keep each other safe.


Paperback, 320 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, 5th November 2021


RRP: $24.99 from www.booktopia.com.au

TO CRACK THE WORLD OPEN
Solitude, Alaska, and a Dog Named Woody

by Ward Serrill


From a remote cabin in the rugged rainforest of the Alaskan wilderness, where the untamed landscape tumbles into the ocean, a remarkable yellow Labrador retriever named Woody helped an exile from corporate America seek a fierce freedom.


A young Ward Serrill arrived in Southeast Alaska in 1982, dispatched by his Seattle accounting firm to a remote native village to audit their new corporation. Within a year Serrill had ditched the job, with designs on forging another life up north, a new Labrador retriever puppy in tow. Woody--named after Guthrie--was of champion bloodline and seemed ready for any adventure.

After a stint working with Tlingit elders in the village of Saxman, Serrill was adopted into the clan. Some called him Dleit Yeil, or White Raven. But over time, his connection to the village began to fray as his relationships there unearthed dark aspects of his own family history. Only his friendship with Woody remained unshakable, and it was time to move on.

On the maiden voyage of their dogyak - a specially fitted kayak - Woody and Serrill rounded a point into a half-moon bay with rugged coastline. There, sixteen miles from town on the rough, steep bank, accessible only by boat, sat a small gray house on stilts. In the shadow of ancient spruce and cedars, with a waterfall on one side and the ocean below, he and Woody took up their years-long vigil in the place he came to call Shakri-La.


His experiment in self-isolation helped Serrill to confront the reality and the emotional cost of running away - physically and emotionally - all his life. Looking inward and facing his darkness, Serrill discovered an unexplored region of his heart that offered the true possibility of healing and belonging, made possible by the steadfast devotion of a very special dog.

An extraordinary journey of the heart and soul from the award-winning filmmaker and director of The Heart of the Game, To Crack the World Open is a poignant, adventure-driven Alaskan story of self-discovery, with one of life's most essential relationships - a man and his dog - at its heart.


Paperback, 288 pages
Publisher: Girl Friday, 2nd November 2021

RRP: $29.75 from www.booktopia.com.au

THE BONE RANGER
by Louisa Bennet

Meet Monty, the food-obsessed, naughty, and totally loving Golden Retriever who will do anything for his owner, Detective Constable Rose Sidebottom. 

Of course, as these things go, Monty is no ordinary dog and Rose is no ordinary hooman. He has a super-smart nose and a network of unique informers via wee-mail; while Rose has an uncanny ability to know when people are lying. 

Together they make a formidable team. But Rose is battling anxiety and her boss has put her on sick leave, so there's nothing much going on - until a stranger begs for their help to find a missing person. The case soon becomes a murder investigation, and Rose's boss warns her not to interfere. 

But when dogs also start disappearing, Monty and Rose have no choice and set out to solve it. Louisa Bennet also writes crime thrillers, like Prey, as L.A. Larkin.

Hardback / Paperback, 360 pages
Publisher: Clan Destine Press18th November 2021

Win 1 of 5 (paperback) copies of The Bone Ranger in this week's competition (closing 09/12/21).

RRP: $32.95 (paperback); $39.95 (hardback) from all good bookstores and online.

THE NOMAD'S GUIDE TO TAKING YOUR DOG ON THE ROAD IN AUSTRALIA
A complete guide to travelling around Australia with your dog

by Paul Chai


This is a complete guide to travelling around Australia with your dog and what you need to know before you go.

Travelling with a dog means that everywhere you stop you are not only thinking of where to eat and what to see but trying to understand where you can take your dog too. Dog-friendly attractions, dog parks, dog beaches, dog friendly cafes and bars.


This book helps you navigate your trip and be prepared before you go or while on the road.

Filled with tips from previous travellers with a list of places to visit and camping, caravan and hotels that are available for you to take your fur child. Included are the rules and regulations that come with having a pet on the road. Read how to work within these rules so your holiday is just as rewarding with your dog on the road with you.


Paperback, 240 pages
Publisher: New Holland Publishers, 20th November 2021

RRP: $29.99 available from all good book retailers or online from au.newhollandpublishers.com

BOOK CLUB - KIDS CORNER

THE IMPERFECTLY PERFECT PUPPY

The Unbeatable Spirit of Trixie the Bernese Mountain Dog

by Joann Neve, illustrated by Janelle Edstrom

Trixie was the smallest puppy in the litter. She was the smallest Bernese Mountain dog you would ever see. She was curious and loved being with her littermates. As she grew, it became clear that there was something wrong...she was blind! 

Trixie found it hard, but over time, she learned to live her life with a bouncy happiness that would never waiver. Trixie learned to find her brothers and sisters by sound and enjoyed every moment with them and her owner. One day, her sight returned. As Trixie grew, she had difficulties running, jumping, and climbing, but she never lost her spirit.

The Imperfectly Perfect Puppy is a loveable and endearing story about disabilities and overcoming obstacles. It is the perfect book for parents, teachers, and caregivers of kids 3-9 to start discussions on accepting others and facing challenges. This is the second book in the Life Lessons from Dogs children's series of books.


Paperback, 38 pages
Published: 26th November 2021
For Ages: 3 - 9 years old


Price: $30.68 from www.booktopia.com.au

YOUR FOREVER DOG
by Leslie Yerkes, Randy Martin, illustrated by Traci Harmon-Hay
 
Big Boy is a South African Mastiff who lives wild in the back lot of a manufacturing plant in Cleveland, Ohio. He has no one to feed him, provide water, or care for him. He lives with the constant memory of being beaten by the human who used to own him, before that man brought him to this field and left him to survive on his own.


One day, a young girl and her dog show up with roasted chicken, a smile, and hope. Will that be enough to rescue Big Boy? To move him from his dreary home, living forgotten in some forsaken field? And will he choose to walk away from this unhappy existent and be rescued by a human and her dog?

This is a story of relationships filled with mistrust and doubt, friendship and betrayal, and the flowering of love. It's about choosing to overcome the past and step forward into the future. It's a story of how it feels when someone loves you.

Hardcover, 54 pages
Published: 17th November 2021

RRP: $29.90 from www.booktopia.com.au

AN ODD DOG CHRISTMAS
by Rod Biddulph

Come join the Odd Dog on a festive journey to find the perfect present, and perhaps save Christmas along the way… a brand-new, paw-some story from Rob Biddulph

It’s Christmas, and this Odd Dog is running out of time to find the perfect present for her pal…

But when she meets a new friend who needs helps, she realises that gifts might not be the most important thing about Christmas after all.

A gloriously festive illustrated story about the real meaning of Christmas, from the bestselling and award-winning Rob Biddulph, the creative star behind the viral and phenomenal #DrawWithRob and author of the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize-winning Blown Away!

This is the perfect story for children aged 4+, dog lovers everywhere and anyone who loves Christmas.

Hardcover, 32 pages
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, 27th October 2021
For Ages: 3+ years old

RRP: $19.99 from www.booktopia.com.au

CAT AND DOG EAT CHRISTMAS
by Jonathan Bentley

It’s Christmas Eve, and Cat and Dog’s fridge is bursting with festive food! With their owners away, and Cat and Dog feeling peckish . . . What could possibly go wrong?


Join these two lovable and incorrigibly mischievous pets as they eat their way through Christmas. They’ll need brains. They’ll need bravery. 
And they’ll definitely need food.

Published: 13th October 2021
Hardcover, 24 pages
For Ages: 3+ years old


RRP: $17.99 at www.booktopia.com.au
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