Loyalty, Dogs and Kids

Loyalty, Dogs and Kids...

How do you explain loyalty to children?

Is loyalty important in computer games?

Does loyalty have a place in the world outside?

Is it a virtue?

Does it bring trouble and problems? 

Or Is it rewarding?

Does loyalty have a 
beginning and an end? 

Where can a child find examples of loyalty that they can experience and understand? 

In stories? In daily life?

Dogs offer a wonderful way for a child to understand loyalty.

Dogs are the embodiment of loyalty and a story with dogs can illustrate loyalty...

Suppose it is long, long ago… a sister and brother, are on a journey that will take them home. They have stopped for the night and are sleeping at a campsite in the woods. They have been riding on horseback, accompanied by two soldiers who are believed to be loyal to their father and by their two dogs.

Betrayal...

But the men are not loyal. They are traitors and the children find that they have been kidnapped. The children's dogs appear to be dead. 

Thus begins a hard journey for the children, through the mountains to the land of the Forest people. There the children are imprisioned in an old castle. 

Their father cannot rescue them, because he does not know where his children have been taken. The children are dismayed and frightened. 

Loyal Dogs...

Until one cold foggy night, with the forest and the castle enveloped in mist, the sound of howling dogs is heard – their dogs, their loyal dogs. Hope returns.And thus unfolds the

 story of 

the

Castle In The Mist .

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Kids, Books and Dogs...

We support kids reading...

We support kids reading dog books to therapy dogs... 

We support therapy reading dog programs in IN, NY, NJ, CT, RI, PA, NH, FL, WI, and TX.

This is Preston. His dog loving owner, Julie Hauck, elementary school teacher in Sheboygan, WI, developed a very succesful reading program, Pages for Preston.  

If you have a therapy reading dog, or you are a teacher or librarian using a therapy dog reading program, let us know and we will send you one or more complimentary books from our Planet Of The Dogs series...email us at [email protected] and let the kids read dog stories to the dogs...

  On the left, is a photo of Rocky, in a New Hampshire reading session. Rocky and his loving owner, Carol Varney, also work with senior citizens and veterans. 

A big, gentle German Shepard, Rocky once roamed the woods as a stray with a "BB" lodged in his head and sick with heartworm. The Varney's rescued Rocky and brought him back to 

health. 

http//rockytherapydog.blogspot.com 

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 How To Get Your Kids To Read...

We know that therapy dogs can help, but we also know that home is where it all begins. Maria Rodale, book author, organic food expert, CEO and Chairman of   

Rodale, Inc. wrote an excellent article that appeared on the Huffington Post last year. In the article she shares 6 ideas derived from real life experiences as a mother of 3 girls.Here is a condensed version of the first 3 ...the balance of her article (parts 4,5,and 6) will appear in our next Blog Post...

"It occurs to me that I might have found the secret formula for getting kids to read. While the media and teachers complain that kids don't read anymore, I can't get my kids to stop...

So what's the secret?1. Be a reading role model. Thanks to mirror neurons in the human brain, our kids will mimic whatever we do. So if we spend a lot of time reading, they will spend a lot of time reading… 2. Buy books like candy. When we go food shopping, we always end up in the book and magazine aisle (in fact, that is our "home base" if anyone gets lost). It's our "reward" for completing our chore… Everyone gets to buy a book or a magazine, and I don't judge too harshly what anyone picks. 3. Indulge their pleasures. My husband isn't a big reader--unless it comes to sports stuff. It's not my cup of tea, but if that's what gets him reading, then I'm all for it. ...the whole idea that certain books are good and others are bad--or that people should only read "literary" books--is what gives reading a bad name...The final 3 ideas in this article will appear in our next Blog Post.Meanwhile...For more from Maria Rodale, go to www.mariasfarmcountrykitchen.com.

Read more at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/maria-rodale/how-to-get-your-kids-to-r_b_348298.html&cp

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The photo below is part of the inspiration for yelodoggie and a lifetime of dog   

rescue. These are the dogs currently living in a cabin in the woods with Cayr Ariel Wulff. Her story of a lifetime as a dog lover, a saga of a never ending home full of dogs (and cats), with adventures, heartaches, laughter and bonding can be found in her book, Born Without A Tail.

Her yelodoggie creations can be found at www.yelodoggie.com 

 

and at Cafe Press online.

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VIDEO...Dave The Dog...Dog lovers and kids will appreciate Dave the Dog…he hypnotizes people to stop smoking…BBC/Don Jolly show

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-ah-SKMlxM&feature=PlayList&p=83D22A1E6308EF17&index=26

and we now have a Youtube newscast for Castle In The Mist:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=toZQcS8FWgY&feature=related

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Inside the Dog Rescue World with Deb Eades...

“We try. Every single person I know in dog rescue goes to bed close to tears every night   

thinking of the ones we could NOT save, their pictures haunt us, their sad eyes, and the thought of a life that will never be. Sometimes it is just too much and we do not look at our emails for a while. We think "what good are we doing?" There are always MORE that are being dumped everyday, maybe for financial reasons, maybe for stupid reasons...it doesn't matter. Are we even making a difference?”  

Then I meet dogs like this one from a "backyard breeder" or puppy mill whose feet have 
 

never walked on anything but wire, toes curled under, hair matted beyond belief, terrified of human contact. 

We drive him and his two siblings to a safe foster home, and on the way each of them raise their little heads and gently lick my arm that surrounds them with the first kindness they have ever felt. Then I know why I keep going. 

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MLA Members....

                

W

e will be exhibiting our books at the Massachusetts Library Association Convention in Hyannis, April 29-30...the theme this year is: From Meek to Mighty -- Reinventing Libraries in Challenging Times...look for us in the 

Associated Book Exhibit -- Booth B-17.

 For sample chapters of all our books visit www.planetofthedogs.net

Librarians, schools and bookstores -- order our books directly through Ingram (professional discount).

In the USA, at your local Independent bookstore

Or, on the internet via B&N, Amazon, Powell's and others...or on

 the Internet in the UK through Amazon and Bangzo.

In Australia through Scribbly Gum Books...In India

 through flipkart and rediff books.

 Planet Of The Dogs hats, t-shirts, cups etc are in our Cafe Press Shop

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Celebrate Children's Book Week, May 10-16

Children's Book Week introduces kids to new authors and ideas in schools, libraries, homes and bookstores...a nationwide initiative by the Children's Book Council (CBC0...encouraging young people to discover the world beyond their own through books.

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When a book loving librarian retires...

Barbara Julian,in addition to being an advocate for animal literature, nature and the environment, recently opened the Overleaf Cafe-Bookshop. If you're in Victoria B.C., stop by...local authors give readings, the food is vegetarian,and books and book lovers abound. 

On her website, Barbara is an advocate for animals and animal literature..."The more we study animals the more we understand ourselves, whether through books or live encounters." http://www.animallit.ca/

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SunbearSquad

“In late 2007, as his train rolled through western Utah, freight conductor Ken Van Moorhem saw a stray, mangy dog, lost in the desert. He was affected by her pathetic appearance and thought about her. He watched for the dog each time he traveled the route”…You can find the rest of this real life story, and over 25 more by Sunbear Squad contributors at http://www.sunbearsquad.org/stories.shtml

 Sunbear Squad has posted a very basic 10 minute tutorial and 3 basic steps to enable anyone of good heart to become informed about recognizing animal abuse – and what action to take. Sunbear cares…Sunbear was named after a dog who suffered abuse and died.              http://www.sunbearsquad.org/animalabuse.shtml

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The Ethical Dog...

For those who think dog lovers sometimes go overboard in their appreciation of our canine friends, we suggest they read The Ethical Dog, an article by Mark Beckoff and Jessica Peirce in the March 2010 issue of the Scientific American Mind (available online)...

Here is their introduction to their study and the article: "Looking for the roots of human morality in the animal kingdom? Focus on canines, who know how to play fair."

 And here is the opening paragraph...Every dog owner knows a pooch can learn the house rules—and when she breaks one, her subsequent groveling is usually ingratiating enough to ensure quick forgiveness. But few people have stopped to ask why dogs have such a keen sense of right and wrong. Chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates regularly make the news when researchers, logically looking to our closest relatives for traits similar to our own, uncover evidence of their instinct for fairness. But our work has suggested that wild canine societies may be even better analogues for early hominid groups—and when we study dogs, wolves and coyotes, we discover behaviors that hint at the roots of human morality.

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Darkness In Sun Valley...

Advance review copies of Darkness In Sun Valley, the next book in the Planet Of The Dogs series will be available in the Fall. 

The Planet Of The Dogs Travel Guide has been postponed until 2011.

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"To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the popularity of dogs."                        Aldous Huxley, Readers Digest 1934

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