And The Winner Of The Book "Dogs Of Courage" Is...

Well, it's not terribly suspensful, is it? We only had one comment to enter to win this wonderful book, Dogs of Courage: The Heroism and Heart of Working Dogs Around the World by Lisa Rogak, so we won't even ask the mysterious Random Sequence Generator to choose our winner...

The lucky blogger is...our pal Gizmo from Terrier Torrent! Let's all put our paws together in a round of applause for our lucky winner, Gizmo! The pooch even left quite the eloquent comment on our post abou why he (and his Parental Unit) would like to read this book-so thanks Gizmo!

And by the way...check out this picture of Gizmo-we think he could be my brother!

P.S. Stay tuned for another book review and giveaway coming in the next few days: Underwater Dogs by Seth Casteel. It's a runaway bestseller and for good reason!

And tomorrow, look forward to our review of  toys and apparel from PetSmart's new line, Luv-A-Pet, plus some new cat toys from Martha Stewart-sold exclusively at PetSmart.

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Dogs Of Courage: Review and Giveaway!

We're thrilled to bring you an opportunity to win a copy of this terrific book, Dogs of Courage: The Heroism and Heart of Working Dogs Around The World by The New York Times best selling author, Lisa Rogak. By the way, if you want a fascinating glimpse into the freelance writers' life, check out Ms. Rogak's website.  And make sure to enter to win a copy of Dogs of Courage at the end of this post!

You already know what fans we are of working dogs-those many thousands of canines around the world that selflessly devote their lives to helping humans, well, be better humans in one way or another. And this book covers the spectrum of working dogs under a broader moniker: "Dogs of Courage", that includes every possible category from police dogs to therapy dogs to "plain old" civilian dogs of courage and even celebrity canines that have entertained us over the years. 

The book is super organized among the categories with vivid, real-life examples of each type of working dog and a focus on one very special canine that represents each category. The book also includes glossy color photographs of working dogs in action that make the stories pop. But Rogak also explores the "why" and the "how" of these courageous canines' working lives, and puts each story into meticulously researched historical perspective. We particularly enjoyed the tale of Sigmund Freud's dog, Yofi, who helped the famed psychiatrist assess his patients' emotional health, and whom he loved dearly: "One can love an animal like [Yofi] with such extraordinary intensity, the beauty of an existence complete in itself, " Freud wrote to a friend.

What Dogs of Courage does is give you "private"access to the lives of working dogs the world over and the human lives they've touched. Our best guess is that you'll flat out love each of the stories in this book and enjoy reading them many times over.

Now on to the giveaway of one copy of Dogs of Courage: The Heroism and Heart of Working Dogs Around the World!

This giveaway will run from today, Friday January 11, through Saturday January 26, 2013 at 8:00 pm EST, so you and all of your friends have plenty of time to enter! The one winner will be chosen by computerized random drawing and announced on the evening of January 26th.

Here are the requirements to enter: No anonymous comments, please!

1. Sign up for our e-mail blasts and newsletters-see very top of left sidebar for the sign-up form.

2. Give this giveaway a shout-out on your Twitter or Facebook page by using the buttons below this post-easy!

  3. Comment on this post and indicate in your ONE comment that you'd like to enter this giveaway.

Note: if you choose to enter, please promptly check back to see if you won and if you're the lucky one, please send us your home address ASAP

                                        Good Luck!

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"What's A Dog For?"

Cool illustration by Peter Ourmanski, courtesy of  The New York Times

In fact, that's the title of yet another new book about dogs: What's A Dog For? The Surprising History, Science, Philosophy, and Politics of Man's Best Friend. and it looks like a winner to us. As stated in this recent NewYork Times book review, the book is "both a survey on the latest research on canine cognition and a memoir of his [the author's] years with his Lab mix, Stella. The author, executive editor at New York magazine, was curious to know "why so many of us bond with dogs and why dog ownership is on the rise."

Have dogs become more like humans? Are humans living more isolated lives and need some form of physical companionship, i.e., a warm body? Our best guess is that this book answers these questions and more in a thorough and entertaining way. With any luck, we'll be able to do a review and giveaway at some point soon-paws crossed!

Speaking of book reviews and giveaways, we've got a real treat coming up: On Friday, we'll review and begin our giveaway of a copy of the amazing book, Dogs of Courage by Lisa Rogak, so stay tuned!

And...we've got a book giveaway going on right now-thanks for reminding us to remind you... that it's not too late to enter to win an autographed copy of Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend: www.boccibeefs.com/2012/12/rin-tin-tin-life-and-legend-review-and.html

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