Talkin Pets

Award-winning children’s picture book teaches children to count to ten with the help of Gracie, the amazing golden retriever.

April 2013
The Secret Language of Dogs
Stories from a Dog Psychic
Jocelyn Kessler
Dog Whisperer to Celebrity Pets Shows How to Communicate with Your Dog
“I will always be grateful for the insights Jocelyn offered me, in how to help my sweet abused Dainty girl to live her happiest life!” —Carol Kane, Stage and Screen Actress
So often people mutter, “If only my dog could talk. Then I would know what he really wants. I would know what to do!” According to dog trainer and psychic, Jocelyn Kessler, dogs are communicating with us all the time, we just need to pay attention. “Your dog knows when you are getting a common cold even before you start sniffling,” says Kessler. “If you have great anxiety, not only does your dog feel it but she takes it on immediately. And, most of the time it’s because your dog doesn’t want you to feel it.”
Kessler, who has worked with the dogs of entertainment industry professionals, including celebrity actresses Parker Posey, Carol Kane, and Melanie Mayron, explains how to listen to your pet in her new book, THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF DOGS (Hampton Roads, April 2013).
Kessler offers poignant and humorous stories of actual sessions with clients, as well as a step-by- step guide to connect to your animal on your own. She explains how to read the behavioral and energetic traits of your dog, and how to avoid inflicting your own emotional issues onto your pet, along with special advice for helping dogs with medical conditions, rescue dogs, and dogs with behavioral issues.
THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF DOGS brings much needed attention to the value and appreciation of the wisdom of animals, how they live in the moment, and how, by connecting to them energetically, they can guide us to a higher level of understanding who and what we are.
Jocelyn Kessler lives in Los Angeles and works both in California and New York with animals and their owners, including many high profile individuals. Her website is www.jocelynkessler.com.
The Secret Language of Dogs
Jocelyn Kessler
Hampton Roads Publishing
Paperback/ $16.95
ISBN: 9781571746832
April 2013
Available wherever books and eBooks are sold or through Red Wheel/Weiser at (800) 423-7087 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , www.redwheelweiser.com

THE CAT WHISPERER

Why Cats Do What They Do—and How to Get Them to Do What You Want

By Mieshelle Nagelschneider

Foreword by Gwen Cooper

A Bantam Books Hardcover | On Sale: March 5, 2013

Advance Praise for THE CAT WHISPERER

“Full of “think like a cat” advice, Nagelschneider’s work will make for happier human-feline households.” —Booklist

“Pet-owners despairing of getting their cats to behave will find new hope in this comprehensive guide. More than meets Nagelschneider’s goal of guiding owners to the strategies for behavioral and environmental change needed to address issues such as urination outside the litter box and aggressiveness.”

—Publishers Weekly

“I wish I had read The Cat Whisperer before I started filming Must Love Cats. The cats would have liked me a lot more.”

—John Fulton, host of Animal Planet’s Must Love Cats

“The reason people are so mesmerized by house cats is because they are truly miniature versions of lions, tigers, and leopards. In her book The Cat Whisperer, Mieshelle explains in the behavior of the house cat an unprecedented and a most accessible way, with her unique insight into the often misunderstood companion animal that is as wild as we have become civilized.”

—Jordan Carlton Schaul, PhD, Contributing Editor, National Geographic Society and Curator, Orange County Zoo

“Nagelschneider is a wizard at demystifying cat behavior and providing easy-to-follow steps for solving vexing problems. I dog-eared (or should I say cat-eared) so many pages for later reference that my book doesn’t want to close. Living with six demanding cats in a small house, I wish I’d had this excellent guide years ago.”

—Bob Tarte, Author of Kitty Cornered, Enslaved by Ducks, and Fowl Weather

_______________________________________

Who says you can’t train a cat? Just when you thought you had reached the end of your ball of twine, Mieshelle Nagelschneider, one of America’s most popular (and Harvard trained) cat behaviorists, comes to the rescue of perplexed cat owners everywhere with her authoritative new guide THE CAT WHISPERER: Why Cats Do What They Do—and How to Get Them to Do What You Want

(Bantam Book Hardcover; March 5, 2013). In it, Nagelschneider, who has been helping cat owners for over two decades, provides practical and effective strategies for solving every feline behavior problem imaginable—from litter box issues to scratching, spraying, biting, and beyond.

In this indispensible book, Nagelschneider explains that cats, like dogs, can be trained, but they require a different approach. To train a cat you need to understand how the mind of a creature who is not a pack animal works. This keen understanding of the unique way cats see the world—their need for safety and security, their acute territoriality, and their insatiable desire to catch and kill prey—is central to Nagelschneider’s work. In THE CAT WHISPERER, she takes readers step-by-step through her proven C.A.T. cat behavior modification plan, which is a commonsense course of action that can be specifically tailored to each individual cat. These easy-to-implement solutions help transform even the most anxiety-riddled companions into confident, gregarious, and relaxed cats who live longer, happier, and healthier lives.

In THE CAT WHISPERER, cat owners will learn:

· How to harness the power of “friendly pheromones” along with the importance of implementing an all-encompassing behavior plan (her proprietary 3-Part C.A.T. Plan) that covers every aspect of the behavior issue as well as transforming the cat’s environment.

· How to end aggression in multiple-cat households and help their cats coexist peacefully with groundbreaking techniques (including the Nagelschneider Method) based on social facilitation that creates a social glue between a tense multi-cat household that will help cats get along.

· Resolve once and for all the number one behavior issue in cats: litter box issues—even the notoriously difficult “pooping outside the box” issue.

· We are all cat whisperers—some anthropologists now believe we are genetically inclined to read animals well since we have lived amongst them for thousands of years. Mieshelle helps cat owners look at the world through the cat’s eyes to fix behavior problems.

Peppered throughout with stories and also her childhood memoir where cat whispering all began, Mieshelle Nagelschneider’s The Cat Whisperer is both an entertaining read and an endlessly useful resource.

About the Author:

Mieshelle Nagelschneider has worked extensively with thousands of cat owners and vets nationally and internationally solving their cat’s behavior issues. In 1999, she founded The Cat Behavior Clinic, a science-based consulting service that helps cat owners around the world understand and help their furry felines. She has been featured in Animal Planet’s Must Love Cats, Martha Stewart Living Radio, USA Today, Cat Fancy, Real Simple, and Feline Wellness, as well as on Salon.com, Pawnation.com, and NBC’s Petside.com.

THE CAT WHISPERER

Why Cats Do What They Do—and How to Get Them to Do What You Want

by Mieshelle Nagelschneider

A Bantam Hardcover * March 5, 2013

978-0-553-80785-1 * $25.00 * 336 pp

www.catwhispererbook.com

www.thecatbehaviorclinic.com

Fierce Beauty Celebrates Endangered Wild Cats with Stunning Photography

SAN RAFAEL, CA, October 2012 – Fierce Beauty is a vibrant photographic celebration of the beauty, power, and grace of the tigers, leopards, lions, ocelots, and other wild cats that inhabit the Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (TIGERS). This wildlife preserve in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is home to more than one hundred rare animals, from ligers (a hybrid cross between a male lion and a tigress) that stretch nearly twelve feet long to cheetahs capable of running seventy miles per hour.

The intimate photographs in Fierce Beauty showcase these spectacular creatures in a natural setting, revealing their vibrant form and striking personalities and highlighting their significance in the world and the importance of protecting them. The more than three hundred images in Fierce Beauty, which artfully capture playful, tender, and imposing moments with wild cats, are accompanied by essays by such animal-rights luminaries as zoologist and TV personality Jim Fowler and Dakota Zoo director Terry Lincoln, among others, and a foreword by renowned actor and activist Robert Duvall. Discover what makes these animals unique cohabitants of mankind with dozens of exclusive never-before-seen portraits from preeminent nature photographers Tim Flach and Barry Bland.

Fierce Beauty is a treat for wildlife enthusiasts, cat lovers, and photography buffs of all stripes. Proceeds from the book help fund the preservation efforts of the Institute of Greatly Endangered and Rare Species (TIGERS).

Bhagavan Antle is the director of the TIGERS wildlife preserve in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and the founder of the Rare Species Fund, which supports animal conservation projects around the world.

Robert Duvall is an American actor and director, starring in some of the most acclaimed and popular films and TV shows of all time. He and his wife, Luciana Pedraza, are active supporters of Pro Mujer, a nonprofit charity organization dedicated to helping Latin America’s poorest women, and of efforts to preserve endangered species, particularly tigers.

Tim Flach, best-selling author of Dog’s Gods and Equus, is a photographer best known for his highly conceptual portraits of animals. His images of animals are a departure from traditional wildlife photography, and he has been described as “a potent example of a commercially trained photographer who’s now reaching a global audience through the boom in fine art photography.” His clients include the Sunday Times, Cirque du Soleil, Sony, Hermès, and the Locarno International Film Festival. His images have twice been featured on UK Royal Mail stamps, and his fine art prints are represented in London by the Osborne Samuel gallery. Leading organizations and publications, including the Association of Photographers, American Photo, Photo District Annual, Communication Arts, Creative Review, and Design & Art Direction, have repeatedly honored Flach. He is the recipient of the International Photography Awards Professional Photographer of the Year.

Barry Bland is an internationally acclaimed photographer specializing in photography of animals both wild and tame. Barry’s work regularly appears in UK newspapers, including the Daily Mail, the Sun, Daily Telegraph, and Independent. In the U.S. he has been published in the New York Post, New York Daily News, and In Touch and People magazines, and his photos have appeared on Oprah, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Good Morning America, Inside Edition, and ABC and NBC news.

Partners celebrates the diversity of the canine contribution to our species, providing the reader with heart-warming stories of loyalty, perseverance and courage. Written by people that learned to trust their lives to the senses of a dog, and highlighting true examples of working dog behavior, it enables all dog lovers to understand the inborn senses and instincts of their dog, which man can shape to his benefit.

A practical guide to repelling indoor and outdoor pests using organic methods, featuring newly updated information on today’s pest epidemics, such as bedbugs, as well as new online resources for finding beneficial organisms that act as predators for specific pests.

This comprehensive guide is a user-friendly source

for anyone who wants to control pests in the home and garden without heavy-duty chemical warfare. Educating readers on how to make their own all-purpose (and all-natural) pest repellents with simple household ingredients like chile peppers and vinegar, this newly revised edition of Dead Snails Leave No Trails is the perfect DIY solution for conscientious homeowners, apartment dwellers, and gardeners alike who want to be rid of pests and yet kind to the planet.

Chemical insect sprays not only eradicate unwanted creepy crawlers, but also the beneficial insects and animals that perform the essential work of pollinating, breaking down organic matter, and killing pests. To make matters worse, it’s the pests that return first and in greater numbers once the chemicals wear off. A better solution is to use one of the more effective natural means of dealing with them featured in this book, which shares invaluable information and a host of handy tricks to eliminate pests while keeping oneself, one’s family, and the environment safe.

Readers learn how to:

• Use companion planting to attract beneficial insects and animals or repel harmful ones

• Keep four-legged intruders—including squirrels,

deer, rabbits, and skunks—away from prized

vegetables and flowers

• Eliminate ants, roaches, rodents, and other

unwelcome visitors from the home

With a full chapter on how to protect pets from critters like ticks and fleas, and simple DIY organic pest control recipes throughout, Dead Snails Leave No Trails is the most straightforward guide to indoor and outdoor natural pest solutions.

In February 2012, Seth Casteel's photos of underwater dogs stormed the Internet, taking over Facebook and Twitter for a combined 150 million views on social media sites. News outlets from National Geographic to the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, The Guardian, and countless others have featured Casteel’s work. Just in time for the holidays, Little, Brown and Company is pleased to announce the publication of award-winning pet
photographer and animal rights activist Casteel’s UNDERWATER DOGS (on-sale October 23, 2012), a gift book featuring stunning photographs of dogs underwater.
Underwater Dogs is a collection of more than eighty portraits, dozens of which have yet to be seen by the world. Casteel’s work is unique among pet photographers—a new way of looking at an old friend, the water lending a vibrant kind of energy that you can’t look away from. On the surface, it seems to be a simple exercise: a dog’s leap, a splash, and then a wet head surfacing with a ball, triumphant.
But beneath the water is a chaotic ballet of bared teeth and bubbles, paddling paws, fur and ears billowing in the currents. From leaping Lab to diving Dachshund, the water is where a dog’s distinct personality shines through; some lounge in the current, paddling slowly, but others arch their bodies to cut through the water with the focus and determination of a shark.
Casteel captures a new side of our old friends with vibrant underwater photography that captivates the viewer. Each image bubbles with exuberance and life, a striking reminder that even in the most lovable and domesticated dog, there are more primal forces at work. In Underwater Dogs, Seth Casteel gives playful and energetic testament to the rough-and-tumble joy that our dogs bring into our lives.
About the Author: Seth Casteel is an award-winning photographer with a passion for working with animals. His series of underwater dog photographs has brought him worldwide attention, entertaining and fascinating millions of animal lovers. As an established member of the animal rescue community, Casteel has been recognized by Time magazine, the Today show, and the Humane Society of the United States for his efforts, and his underwater dog photographs have been featured in the New York Times, on Animal Planet, and in hundreds of other outlets. He is based in Los Angeles and Chicago and is the proud “dad” to two dogs, Nala the Mini-Labradoodle and Fritz the Norwich Terrier.
###
Underwater Dogs
By Seth Casteel
Little, Brown and Company
On-Sale Date: October 23, 2012
$19.99 Hardcover
ISBN: 978-0-316-22770-4 .

Melissa Confusing and unpredictable human behavior can cause your dog to act out. Learn how to protect your dog and your liability in today’s world. Imagine your reaction if your child’s friend grabs the remote control of the TV you are watching and changes the channel—and then later, does it again. We instantly recognize this behavior as wrong and correct it. When humans break dog rules and they correct us, we ignore our insubordinate actions and default to “blaming the dog.”Former animal officer Melissa Berryman has witnessed how devastating the effects society’s entrenched beliefs regarding dog behavior and temperament can be—that good behavior can be purchased, that an owner’s handling ability doesn’t matter, that human behavior and the situations in which the dog is placed are insignificant. Berryman shows how analyzing situations and contexts can stop the cycle of preventable incidents. Written with humor and compassion, People Training for Good Dogs offers insight into the impact that human behavior and understanding have on our relationships with dogs. By working with core canine social and behavioral drives, Berryman provides owners with sound techniques that focus on safety and can help protect their liability in today’s world.“This is the new Bible for all dog owners. … It will truly help you have the best relationship with yours and all dogs!” —Katie Riopel, dog trainer and host of Katie K9  Visit www.ptfgd.com to order the book and gt more information

DOG SHOW CONFIDENTIAL:
Sneaking in the Back Door of Westminster

By Connie Newcomb



Dog shows are a world unto themselves:  where “bitch” is not a swear word, where a dog can win a blue ribbon when he’s the only entry, where professional “handlers” and ordinary pet owners compete against each other, and where it’s perfectly okay for owners to influence judges through paid advertising campaigns. At dog shows a “champion” (also called a “special”) is not necessarily the top dog, and not nearly as good as a “grand champion,” and there are winning categories called “Best of Winners,” and “Best in Show,” and even “Best of Opposite Sex!”

In her new book, DOG SHOW CONFIDENTIAL: Sneaking in the Back Door of Westminster, Connie Newcomb recounts in hilarious detail how, with the help of friends, trainers, and her very patient family, she went from casual owner of two pet dogs, to dog show expert and amateur handler of many dogs, including two champions. She takes the reader on her road from observer to full time handler, complete with a new vocabulary, a house full of dog equipment, and ten dogs in her home (and bed).

Dog lovers everywhere tune in each year to see what breed will win at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Owners of that breed smile and nod when their breed wins. And though a Chihuahua has never, ever won, Connie Newcomb and her family (devoted Chihuahua lovers) attended the show every year. They’d listen in as the owners and handlers talked “dog show,” understanding next to none of it, and wonder why the dogs had such long, bizarre names, not to mention silly nicknames. There were so many eccentric types and characters at every show, and Connie enjoyed people-watching as much as she loved watching the judging.

And then, in what seemed a blink of an eye, (but really entailed two years of intense training and extensive traveling), Connie Newcomb became part of the club. In February 2011, she walked onto the carpet and under the purple and gold banner of the Westminster Dog Show at Madison Square Garden with Rocky, her champion Chihuahua.

In DOG SHOW CONFIDENTIAL we meet:

• Dog breeders who artificially inseminate their “bitches”
with defrosted sperm, using an ordinary syringe

• Connie’s friend, mentor and dog show carpool driver,
Bette, who traveled to dog shows in an SUV filled with
dog equipment and insisted in arriving hours early, chatting
nonstop about dogs, dogs, dogs.

•Patty Hearst, who arrived at shows in her black Mercedes
accompanied by a handsome, muscular sunglass clad driver/bodyguard.
Sweet and friendly, she showed no traces of Tania the bank-
robbing terrorist, and her dogs won a lot of shows.

• Professional handlers who intimidated the amateurs by tossing
food scraps at their dogs or walking too close to them.

Connie Newcomb owns and handles four champion Chihuahuas, including Rocky, a grand champion and Award of Merit winner at Westminster 2010, and Bill, who is ranked among the top five grand champion point-winners in Pennsylvania (Connie will show Bill at Westminster in 2013), and a Japanese Chin, Yoshi, who was featured in Kate Lacey’s Show Dogs: A Photographic Breed Guide. In DOG SHOW CONFIDENTIAL she deploys a self-deprecating sense of humor and a keen eye for detail to provide a behind-the-scenes look at a society with its own language, hierarchy and complex traditions.

Photo credit for Connie’s headshot is Frank Mitman

“Focusing on important issues such as eating, danger, love, protection, and initial interactions, Slobodchikoff puts the world of animal communication into a realm that readers can readily understand, appreciate, and marvel at. Highly recommended for general readers interested in the complexities of language across species.”—Library Journal

“Intriguing”—Kirkus Reviews

“Con Slobodchikoff has done some fantastic work on animal communication. His research on prairie dog language is mind-blowing.” —Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation

"Nobody could write a better and deeper book about animal languages than Con . . . He writes clearly, persuasively, and with singular authority." —Jeffrey Masson, author of When Elephants Weep

______________________________________________________________________________

CHASING DOCTOR DOLITTLE

By Con Slobodchikoff

______________________________________________________________________________

Imagine a world where humans could talk to animals in their own language. In the original Dr. Dolittle movie, the doctor spoke to his friends in grunts, whistles, and a variety of body movements, such as pawing at the ground. Groundbreaking research has been done teaching animals human language, but what about the other way around?

In CHASING DOCTOR DOLITTLE: Learning the Language of Animals (St. Martin’s Press; November 27, 2012), Con Slobodchikoff, Ph.D. explores the ways in which animals communicate with one another and humans, utilizing the research he has gathered over decades of learning the language of prairie dogs. These charming rodents have a lot to say to each other with a precision that was previously unknown to us. Studies have shown that lizards, squid, monkeys, and a variety of birds are also talking amongst themselves, communicating information about food, predators, squabbles, and petty jealousies.

CHASING DOCTOR DOLITTLE provides readers with numerous examples of animals using language. For instance, prairie dogs have different words for different predators: one word for a human, another for a coyote, and a third for an ordinary dog. In addition, they can use their language to describe the color of clothes that someone is wearing, and say whether the person is tall, thin, short, or solidly-built, and how fast the person is moving. The squid also has a complex language of visual signals, flashed at an incredible speed to a rival or a potential mate. And we all know that humpback whales sing long and complicated songs, but now we are finding that the songs have a grammar, like the kind that school kids have to study.

The implications of animals having language are enormous. This has been one of the last bastions that separated “us” from “them”, but now it turns out that the difference is one of degree, and not the vast intellectual chasm that philosophers have talked about for thousands of years. So far, we know of no examples of animals reciting Shakespearian sonnets, but then again, we are just beginning to scratch the surface and maybe animals have their own equivalent sonnets!

By exploring the language of animals through the pages of Slobodchikoff’s book and even learning to “speak” them ourselves, we can begin to appreciate the basis of our own languages as well as become closer to the other magnificent species who inhabit this planet with us.

CHASING DOCTOR DOLITTLE will engage anyone interested in animals, language, or linguistics.

About the author:

Con Slobodchikoff, Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus of Biology at Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff and Director of the Animal Language Institute. He received a B.S. and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and has been a Fulbright Fellow and a Visiting Professor of Zoology at Kenyatta University in Kenya. He is the author of Prairie Dogs: Communication and Community in an Animal Society (2009) and his work with prairie dogs has drawn considerable interest; Con has appeared on NBC Dateline, ABC World News with Peter Jennings, BBC, Animal Planet, Australian Broadcasting, German-Belgian Television, CNN, and Turner Broadcasting. His work has been in National Geographic, Discover, Best Friends, and Phoenix Magazines, The Boston Globe, Denver Post, and The LA Times, as well as many others. For more information, check out Con’s website at www.conslobodchikoff.com, his blog at www.dogbehaviorblog.com, follow him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/con.slobodchikoff, or on Twitter @drcon.

CHASING DOCTOR DOLITTLE:

Learning the Language of Animals

By Con Slobodchikoff

Hardcover * Animals

$25.99 * 320 Pages

ISBN: 0-312-61179-X

Publication Date: November 27, 2012

Praise for Con Slobodchikoff and His Work:

“With this bold book, biologist Con Slobodchikoff strides into that hushed corner of science where animal communication is studied intensely but the word language is rarely whispered. Just as Donald R. Griffin tried to shake us out of stereotyped thinking about animals and their consciousness, Slobodchikoff asks us to reconsider our definitions of language, what it consists of, and what it does. Amazingly, given the scientific complexities of his topic, he has written an easily accessible book with anecdotes that will cause any dog or cat fancier to take a long, speculative look at the animals in the house.”

—Holly Menino, author of Calls Beyond Our Hearing

"...Slobodchikoff has not feared to spend years in the field quietly observing that which most of humankind has preferred to ignore, or worse; and the results have been a spectacular renaissance in our better understanding of other species....By this long-standing, noble endeavor, Slobodchikoff's breakthroughs have dashed conventional thinking and re-written the pilgrim's guidebook to Earth. His example --both in his books, essays, and person- is an inspiration to the scientific community, and provides one fantastic voyage after another for readers everywhere."

—Michael Tobias, author of Sanctuary: Global Oases of Innocence,

and editor of Kinship with Animals.

"Con Slobodchikoff is a scientist for our time who understands if ecological integrity is to be protected, we must come into a new understanding of our relationship toward all life....What this man knows through years of patient and passionate observation, we need to hear."

—Terry Tempest Williams, author of Finding Beauty in a Broken World

“Con Slobodchikoff has been successfully decoding the language of prairie dogs for many years. His ground-breaking research challenges traditional views of rodents as “lower animals” and stretches the boundaries of our assumptions on animal language. Con is eminently qualified to write a book on animal language, and his work will continue to generate keen interest from the print, radio, and television media.”—Jonathan Balcombe, Author, Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals; Pleasurable Kingdom: Animals and the Nature of Feeling Good

"His book will appeal to anyone who likes animals and wants to know if animals really are capable of using language." —Marc Bekoff, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals

"Dr. Slobodchikoff writes with uncommon clarity and directness, and this will go a long way in persuading readers to take a long, hard look at animal communication."

—William Jordan, Author of A Cat Named Darwin and Divorce Among The Gulls