Can I pat that Dog?

It seems topical at the moment with the recent dog attacks and poor treatment of some of our furry friends, to remind everyone that there are ways to treat dogs, train dogs, act around dogs and more to the point not to act around dogs. Some of this of course is still not going to help in the situations where the dog attacks for no apparent reason, although having been brought up around animals all my life, my personal opinion is that good training in a loving home can go a long way.

Can I pat that Dog (Susan McLaine) is in Rodney Libraries children's non fiction collection. It is a perfect book to read with your children to make them aware that dogs are not toys and may not be happy all the time.

Another book which has just arrived in the library is Why is my Dog doing that? (Gwen Bailey) This is on the adult non-fiction shelves under 636.7 (where most of the dog training and education books are). An easy to read and very visual book to help you interpret the dogs behaviour.

There are plenty of books on training dogs for work, obedience, agility or simply as a friend for the family. Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan is very popular at present with How to Raise the Perfect Dog but there are many options so either check the catalogue under Call Number 636.7, do a subject search under Dogs or ask one of the librarians.

New puppies are part of the scene for some of us here at the Warkworth Library. Lisa has become a grandmum for little Maisie (a lovely white fluff ball who is going to present many challenges as it has just been discovered she is deaf). And a new Guide Dog puppy arrived for Christmas for our Library friends Gareth and Kate. Veda has already had his first visit to the library but will be invited along to meet everyone, hopefully before the end of term one (or you might have met him at the Warkworth Show). That's him in the photo and as you can see he has some ears to grow into and is a bundle of energy at the moment.