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February 20th is National Love Your Pet Day!

February 20th is National Love Your Pet Day! This day focuses on showing love and appreciation for our pets. Whomever your fur baby is, give them some extra time and attention whether it's a lovely walk (which helps us and our dog stay fit) or a snuggle at home (which lowers our stress levels). Pets provide unconditional love and companionship no matter how big or small, young or old they are. So share the love with your pet on National Love Your Pet Day! Enjoy some of our new books about pets too!

As Dave Barry turns seventy--not happily--he realizes that his dog, Lucy, is dealing with old age far better than he is. She has more friends, fewer worries, and way more fun. So Dave decides to figure out how Lucy manages to stay so happy, to see if he can make his own life happier by doing the things she does (except for drinking from the toilet). He reconnects with old friends and tries to make new ones--which turns out to be a struggle, because Lucy likes people a lot more than he does. And he gets back in touch with two ridiculous but fun groups from his past: the Lawn Rangers, a group of guys who march in parades pushing lawnmowers and twirling brooms (alcohol is involved), and the Rock Bottom Remainders, the world's oldest and least-talented all-author band. With each new lesson, Dave riffs hilariously on dogs, people, and life in general, while also pondering Deep Questions, such as when it's okay to lie.

With insight and humor, Dr. Philipp Schott shares tales from the unlikely path he took into his career of veterinary science and anecdotes from his successful small-animal clinic. Dr. Schott brings to his writing the benefit of many years of expertise. Wisdom he imparts on readers includes the best way to give your cat a pill, how to prevent your very handy dog from opening a fridge, and how to handle your fish when it has half-swallowed another. Through these and other experiences, Dr. Schott also learned that veterinary medicine is as much, if not more, about the people as it is the animals. And he will have you laughing and crying as you embark on this journey of discovery with him. 

As a veteran of the Royal Navy and longtime police officer, Colin Butcher was no stranger to dangerous situations. But a career in uniform can wear anyone down, so, in 2003, Colin left the force to start his own private detective agency, specializing in helping reunite people with their missing pets. And yet, despite his hundreds of successes, there were still heartbreaking cases where Colin couldn't find the missing on his own. He knew he needed a partner. When Colin first met Molly, his friends doubted that she would be up for the job. Where Colin was battle-tested, Molly was young and inexperienced. She was willful, wayward, and stubborn. But Colin could tell that Molly was unusually charismatic and intelligent. He decided to take a risk and bring on Molly for training. Yes, Molly is no ordinary deputy, but a black Cocker Spaniel, and this is no ordinary detective agency. Trained by the top canine behavioral experts at Medical Detection Dogs, Molly can find missing cats--who are uniquely skilled at eluding humans--by detecting a unique scent signature, and she has been wildly successful. The work is not always easy. Molly has faced hardships ranging from a near-fatal snakebite to the challenge of winning over Colin's girlfriend, Sarah. But through it all, Colin and Molly share an enduring love and affection. More than a working relationship, Molly is part of the family. Together, they are the Sherlock and Watson of missing pets.

n The Animal's Companion, the acclaimed social anthropologist and author of Red: A History of the Redhead turns her keen eye for cultural investigation toward uncovering why humans have such a strong desire to share everyday life with pets. It's a history that can be traced back to a cave in France where anthropologists discovered evidence of a boy and his dog taking a walk together -- 26,000 years ago. From those preserved foot and paw prints, Jacky Colliss Harvey draws on literary, artistic, and archaeological evidence to sweep readers through centuries and across continents to examine how our relationships with our pets have developed, but also stayed very much the same. Through delightful stories of the most famous, endearing, and sometimes eccentric pet owners throughout history, Colliss Harvey examines the when, the how, and the why of our connection to the animals we take into our lives, and suggests fascinating new insights into one of the most long-standing of all human love affairs.

Ana and Hunter were failed service dogs. Recon was left for dead on the train tracks. Cody was returned to the shelter seven times before he turned two. To most, these dogs were unadoptable. Unsalvageable. Irredeemable. To retired gym teacher and grandma Wilma Melville, they were the heroes America needed. While volunteering as a canine search-and-rescue handler during the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, Wilma saw how ill-prepared the country was to respond to disasters. Then and there, beside her loyal Black Lab, Murphy, she made a pact, singlehandedly founding the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation (SDF) and beginning a journey that would change the face of search-and-rescue in America forever.But even Wilma could not predict how desperately her idea would soon be needed. With 9/11, the scope of disaster response in America changed in an instant, and people across the country realized how crucial these dogs were, launching the SDF to a national stage. In this gripping, heartwrenching story, Wilma and writer Paul Lobo trace the paths of the amazing animals, firefighters, and volunteers who brought Wilma's dream to fruition. They recount struggles and triumphs as the dogs and their handlers face off with hurricanes, bombings, and other staggering disasters. Along the way, we witness the unshakeable bonds that develop between humans and these remarkable dogs.

One in six dogs go missing at some point in their lives, leaving bereft owners to search high and low, hang missing posters, check shelters, and hope for good news. But amid these grim statistics, countless happy endings are forged. Tails wag again. Best friends are reunited. In Where the Lost Dogs Go, Susannah Charleson, author of Scent of the Missing and a trusted chronicler of the human/animal bond, dives headlong into the world of missing dogs. The mission to reunite lost pets with their families starts with Susannah's own shelter rescue, Ace, a plucky Maltese mix with a mysterious past who narrowly survived months wandering lost. While Susannah formally studies animal behavior, lost-pet search tactics, social media strategies, and the psychology of loss, Ace also steps up for training. Cheerful and resourceful, Ace has revealed a nose for the scent of lost pets, and together they help neighbors and strangers in their searching. In Where the Lost Dogs Go, readers take to the streets beside Susannah to bring home a host of missing pets. Along the way, Susannah finds a part of herself also lost. And when unexpected heartbreak shatters her own sense of direction, it is Ace--the shelter dog that started it all--who leads Susannah home. Inquisitive, instructive, heartrending, and hopeful, Where the Lost Dogs Go pays tribute to the missing dogs--and to the found--and to the restless space in between.

We keep dogs and are kept by them. We love dogs and (we assume) we are loved by them. We buy them sweaters, toys, shoes; we are concerned with their social lives, their food, and their health. The story of humans and dogs is thousands of years old but is far from understood. In Our Dogs, Ourselves, Alexandra Horowitz explores all aspects of this unique and complex interspecies pairing. 
As Horowitz considers the current culture of dogdom, she reveals the odd, surprising, and contradictory ways we live with dogs. We celebrate their individuality but breed them for sameness. Despite our deep emotional relationships with dogs, legally they are property to be bought, sold, abandoned, or euthanized as we wish. Even the way we speak to our dogs is at once perplexing and delightful. In thirteen thoughtful and charming chapters, Our Dogs, Ourselves affirms our profound affection for this most charismatic of animals--and opens our eyes to the companions at our sides as never before.

In Doctor Dogs, author Maria Goodavage explores the ways in which service dogs are evolving to help medicine. From dogs who can interact with technology to dogs that can detect cancer, from dogs who can help people with autism to those who protect people during hallucinatory episodes, Doctor Dogs is a fascinating look into the way dogs are able to change our lives for the better.

Extraordinary Dogs portrays more than fifty working dogs, along with the police officers, firefighters, veterans, and other trained volunteer handlers who serve side-by-side with them. Their moving stories and beautiful photographs are an unprecedented glimpse at Comfort Dogs and Search and Rescue Dogs, along with bomb-detecting TSA dogs and canine ambassadors from across the United States. Extraordinary Dogs is both a portrait of what love, hope, courage, and heroism look like in their purest forms and a tribute to the eternal and impactful bonds we forge with our furry friends.

The year of the dogs by illustrator Vincent J Musi

From a labrador that likes opera to a tooting bulldog, Vincent Musi chronicled the character and personality of everyday dogs and compiled them into one gorgeous and captivating book. Discover the stunning collection of photographs that shows the majesty, playfulness, and joy that is man's best friend: As a National Geographic photographer, taking pictures of lions, tigers, and bears was a regular day's work for Vincent Musi, but in 2017 he gave himself a new challenge: dogs. Using the same lighting and photographic techniques he uses for his National Geographic photography, Musi spent a year shooting portraits of dogs and compiling them into a book complete with all of the tail wags, wet noses, and dogs of all shapes and sizes.

Hannah Shaw, better known as Kitten Lady, has dedicated her life to saving the tiniest felines, but one doesn't have to be a professional kitten rescuer to change lives. In Tiny but Mighty, Hannah not only outlines the dangers newborn kittens face and how she combats them, but how you can help every step of the way, from fighting feline overpopulation on the streets to fostering unweaned kittens, from combating illness to combating compassion fatigue, from finding a vet to finding the purrfect forever home. Filled with truly heart-warming tales of real kitty rescue!