pet connection

Yes, I’m in charge of shameless huckstering here on the Pet Connection blog. Look, folks, we have pets to feed! Buy our books!

Besides, I honestly wouldn’t recommend them if I weren’t proud of them.

For the stocking-stuffers, you can’t beat “Do Cats Always Land on Their Feet?” and the New York Times best-seller “Why Do Dogs Drink out of the Toilet?” You can get either of them on sale at Amazon for a tick over $10, or both for $21. Dr. Marty and I had a lot of fun writing these, and they’re even educational, in a spoon full of sugar kind of way. For each book, we interviewed more than 50 experts.

For example, in trying to find out how dogs can walk on snow and ice without getting their toes frozen off, we went to the person who knows more about dogs and cold weather than anyone, Dr. Stu Nelson, chief veterinarian for the Iditarod. And for resolving the controversy over whether cats have a bone in their penises (well, male cats, anyway), we tapped Dr. Gilbert Burns, associate professor of anatomy at Washington State University College of Veterinary Medicine (by the way: Yes, they do. It’s small, but it’s there!).

Dr. Marty scored another top-seller in 2006, with his “Fitness Unleashed!: A Dog and Owner’s Guide to Losing Weight and Gaining Health Together.” Written with Dr. Robert Kushner, a top obesity expert of the caring for people variety, this human-dog approach to getting fit is great for anyone with a New Year’s resolution to get healthy for good. Dr. Marty is also co-author of all the pet books in the “Chicken Soup” series. You can find them all in our bookstore. The first, “Chicken Soup for the Pet-Lovers Soul,” is the fastest-selling pet book of all time.

If you want something of a more reference variety, you can always get one of my own “… For Dummies” books. “Dogs For Dummies” was given the President’s Award by the Dog Writers Association of America for being the best writing on dogs the year it came out, and “Cats For Dummies” (co-authored with internationally renowned veterinary cardiologist Dr. Paul Pion) was named one of the Top 100 advances for cats in the 20th Century by Cat Fancy magazine (plus the Cat Writers Association named it the best work on nutrition and the best work on feline behavior). They don’t give awards for bird books, but “Birds For Dummies” (co-authored with top avian specialist Dr. Brian Speer) is one of the best-selling bird-care books of all time. All together, my three “… For Dummies” pet-care references have sold more than a half-million copies and been translated into more than a half-dozen languages.

I can’t help being proud of them! You can order any of them here.

Can’t decide? Get a gift certificate from Amazon, and let the people on your gift list pick out what they want. That could also include a subscription to two of my favorite publications: The Bark magazine or Whole Dog Journal (the latter a no-ads monthly newsletter on alternative and complementary veterinary care and no-punishment training).

Finally, have you seen the quizzes bases on our books? Check them out at the University of Woof and the University of Meow. They’re fast and fun! We had some requests for “logoware” based on the sites’ signature “University” look, so I created a CafePress store with everything from mousepads to teddy bears to sweatshirts. So far, I’m about the only person who has ordered anything, but I can tell you the baseball shirt is cute as heck, and the mousepads look fabulous.

Whoops! Now everyone know what they’re getting for Christmas from me!