Pukka: The Pup After Merle - Ted Kerasote

Since the publication of the best-selling Merle's Door, Ted Kerasote has received thousands of e-mails asking two questions: "Have you gotten another dog?" and "Are you writing a new book?" Pukka: The Pup After Merle answers both, in the most heartwarming way. 

Told in the charming voice of Ted's new pup and illustrated with more than two hundred photos, Pukka tells the story of how Ted met the young yellow Lab, recounting the early days of their bonding as they explore Kelly, Wyoming, and the wider world. Walks become hikes and hikes become climbs, their adventures culminating in a rugged wilderness journey that teaches both Pukka and Ted something new about the dog-human partnership. 

Filled with stunning images of the West, Pukka is a love story as well as Ted's take on raising a puppy. It will do pictorially what Merle did with words--show how dogs thrive when treated as partners, while illustrating the many ways that any dog can open the door to our hearts. 

Title: Pukka: The Pup After Merle

Author: Ted Kerasote

Genre: Memoir, Adult Non-fiction

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Publication Date: September 29, 2010

Source: Received from publicist. Many thanks goes to Anna from FSB Media for sending me this book for review. I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review. 

My rating: 4/5

Pukka chronicles the journey Ted takes in picking out a new puppy, the training involved, and the love and companionship bestowed upon both owner, and pet. It is written in Pukka's voice, and it truly is a heartwarming read. Pukka is a cute puppy, and he is remarkably well-behaved. He does get into some mischief on his route to adulthood, but all in all, he is a great pup. This book shows the affection that both man and his best friend can have for one another. 

It is a relatively quick read as it is mainly pictorial, but Pukka's eager voice is heard throughout the book. It also showcases some training tips, and how easily Pukka is trained. From Pukka's visits to the post office, the city, shooting some rapids, and his treks with Ted through the mountains, he is a well traveled dog.

All in all, a cute read. Fans of dog stories will enjoy this one. It is definitely a lovely addition to the pet-lover's collection. Another added bonus is that this book is a "green" read, as it is printed on FSC certified paper. Pukka would approve. 

Scent of the Missing - Susannah Charleson

In the wake of the Oklahoma City bombing, Susannah Charleson clipped a photo from the newspaper: an exhausted canine handler, face buried in the fur of his search-and-rescue dog. A dog lover and pilot with search experience herself, Susannah was so moved by the image that she decided to volunteer with a local canine team and soon discovered firsthand the long hours, nonexistent pay, and often heart-wrenching results they face.

Still, she felt the call, and once she qualified to train a dog of her own, she adopted Puzzle, a strong, bright Golden Retriever puppy who exhibited unique aptitude as a working dog but who was less interested in the role of compliant house pet. Puzzle's willfulness and high drive, both assets in the field, challenged even Susannah, who had raised dogs for years.

Scent of the Missing is the story of Susannah and Puzzle's adventures and of the close relationship they forge as they search for the lost--a teen gone missing, an Alzheimer's patient wandering in the cold, signs of the crew amid the debris of the space shuttle Columbia disaster. From the earliest air-scent lessons to her final mastery of whole-body dialogue, Puzzle emerges as a fully collaborative partner in a noble enterprise that unfolds across the forests, plains, and cityscapes of the Southwest. Along the way, Susannah and Puzzle learn to read the clues in the field, and in each other, to accomplish together the critical work neither could do alone and to unravel the mystery of the human-canine bond.

Title: Scent of the Missing: Love & Partnership with a Search and Rescue Dog

Author: Susannah Charleson

Genre: Adult Non-fiction, Memoir

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

Publication Date: April 14, 2010

My Rating: 5/5

This book chronicles the life of Puzzle, from puppyhood, to training, and ends with her certification for search and rescue. We also get to see the human-canine bond flourish, during the training sessions as well as at home, between both Susannah, and Puzzle. Scent of the Missing takes an in-depth look at what it takes to both volunteer, and train a search and rescue dog. Puzzle is still a mischevious puppy, and we get to see the curious and playful side of puppyhood clash with the seriousness of training.

Puzzle already from birth had the markers for being a service dog. She has an affable nature, and is willing to search. Through many trials and tests, she has honed her skill. Search and rescue is not up to just the dogs though. The handlers have to learn what signals their dogs are sending out, if they are working a trail with no scent, old scent, or fresh scent. They need to know exactly what each twitch of their tail or nose means, and they need to be able to keep up. Search and Rescue is definitely a team effort. It is up to the handler to decide whether or not they are going to respond to certain calls. Some areas are exceedingly dangerous to both the dogs, and the handlers. These teams put their lives on the line to track missing persons, as they track anywhere they are needed. Conditions are almost always hazardous, though in one chapter, one of the extreme calls mentioned was one where the area had to be swept for bombs and cyanide before the teams would be allowed in.

The sacrifice that the teams make is astounding. They pour their time, and money into an occupation that is mainly volunteer, with the hope that they can make a difference and help those in need.

Charleson writes a no-holds-barred account of what life is like for the search and rescue teams. Through her writing, and Puzzle's training, we get a glimpse of what is entailed for those who are in the search and rescue field. The misery, exhaustion, defeat, when cases are still ongoing, and yet, we also get to see the joy, when they successfully find someone, and bring them home.

All in all, this was an authentic representation of the life of the Search and Rescue teams, and it was also a heart-wrenching read. The teams are absolutely dedicated to finding and helping those in need. The dogs are brilliant, and they are phenomenal in their tracking. In the words of Charleson, trust the dog.

Many thanks goes to Julie from FSB Media for sending me this book to review. I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review.

All the Way Home - Mary Suzanne Lopez

ONE WOMAN'S STRUGGLE TO RESCUE HER CHILDREN FROM A FOREIGN COUNTRY

Deep in the rainforests of southwestern Costa Rica, amid the dazzling beauty of orchids and brightly plumed birds, are the lush banana plantations of legendary Coto Valley. Nearby jungles and swamps, teeming with malaria and yellow fever infected mosquitoes, host more than just the huge Coto alligator. Lurking in its leafy shadows are stealthy jaguars, five-foot long iguanas, boas that can swallow a small child whole, poisonous frogs and a staggering variety of venomous snakes, including the most deadly in all the Americas: the bushmaster and its cousin the fer-de-lance. You believe you'll be safe if you just stay within the screened walls of your house high on stilts. What you don't know is that locked inside with you is the most dangerous predator in all of Coto Valley... your new husband!

Title: All the Way Home

Author: Mary Suzanne Lopez

Genre: Adult Non-fiction, Memoir

Publisher: Yorkshire Publishing Group

Publication Date: November 3, 2008

My Rating: 4/5

This book starts off with the author first arriving in Golfito, Costa Rica. She had recently married, and was starting a new life in a foreign country with her new husband. She learned Spanish by the seat of her pants, and illustrates how hard it was to learn, and to communicate with those around her, knowing that there was a language barrier. The people of Costa Rica were quite welcoming, and slowly but surely, she adapted to their way of life. I really enjoyed the Spanish to English translations as it did show her struggle with the language. Especially when certain words were misused. It made for some interesting conversations. I also enjoyed learning about the lifestyle, the people, and hidden dangers that abound in that region of the world.

The book follows the life of author Mary Sue, or Maria, after her marriage to Roberto. She quickly came to realize that he was not the doting, and loving man that she had married. He had a horribly abusive side, and he often could be found assaulting her, or threatening to kill her. He enjoyed collecting guns, and left her with the fear that he would one day use one of his beloved guns on her. She raised three children while married to him, and this story chronicles their lives, as well as their eventual escape from him.

She frequently relayed memories from her past, which made reading interesting at times. The book jumped frequently from the past to the present, to the past again; however, we then learned about integral characters that were around her while she was growing up. The backstory helped accentuate the current state that she found herself in.

All in all, this is a heartbreaking read about her struggle to survive, and her willingness to fight for her children. Her faith became the one stable thing in her life. She had a lot of help from God, and some parishioners from the church she was attending at the time. They helped her escape with her children unscathed. It truly was a remarkable, and eye-opening read.

Disclaimer: I received this book free of charge in exchange for an honest review. Thanks goes to Ryan from Yorkshire Publishing for sending me this copy to review.