Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42619 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-14
• Released on: 2009-04-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 240 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780312537395
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From School Library Journal
Adult/High School–Wells recounts his rigorous education and on-the-job training as a vet in rural South Dakota and then in a Rocky Mountain community in Colorado. As the junior member of a practice, it was Wells who had to answer the late-night emergency calls. His 36 stories range from treating circus animals to miniature pigs to yaks, along with a host of cat, dog, and horse anecdotes. Wells writes with compassion, humor, and wonder, and does a compelling job of engaging readers. No amount of education prepared him for the kinds of situations he faced, many of which were challenging, frightening, and often dangerous. Difficult situations that include euthanasia are included and yet, throughout his memoir, Wells's love of animals and the personal satisfaction he feels shine through. Because mixed-animal practices are hard to find, readers learn of an almost lost profession. Teens who love animals or have enjoyed James Herriot's books are the obvious candidates for this one. The short, down-home stories filled with heartfelt emotion and laugh-out-loud incidents will resonate with reluctant readers as well.–Jane Ritter, Mill Valley School District, CA END

From Booklist
Newly minted veterinarian Wells is on one of his first calls—a cow trying to deliver a dead calf—when after two hours of unceasing labor, he decides to try another approach, and one of the onlooking farmers says, “That’s what you should have done to begin with!” So begins the education of a young vet, the on-the-job training that no amount of schooling can provide. Chasing a calving cow around a pasture with no assistance from his technician (she was embarrassed to move—she’d laughed so hard she’d wet her pants), fending off the attacks of three “watch turkeys,” frightening truckers with his blood-soaked hands after stitching up a horse, or easing the passing of a cancer-ridden cat, Wells began to hone his skills. A move to Colorado didn’t immediately improve his finances but did improve his buffalo-wrangling skills and his ability to remove porcupine quills from overzealous dogs and donkeys. Another winning veterinary memoir deserving of space next to the immortal James Herriot and his heirs. --Nancy Bent

Review
Anyone who has a pet will absolutely love this charming and humorous collection of personal experiences with animals. Jeff Wells is a veterinarian with heartfelt regard for both animals and their human companions, a compassion and respect too infrequently experienced in today s world. His poignant stories recall the tales of another veterinarian, the legendary James Herriot. --John A. Hoyt, President Emeritus, The Humane Society of the United States

Winner of two Colorado Independent Book Publisher's EVVY Awards, including First Place for Humor 2007. Winner of International Independent publisher's IPPY award for Pet Books. --Colorada Independend Book Publishers/IPPY Awards

Customer Reviews

A Must Read for Animal Lovers
Dr. Wells has brought the world and challenges of being a Veterinarian into your home in this wonderful and well written book about his experiences. I bought the book for my niece, but had to read it before she ever got it. She is in Vet school and bought more for her friends. My brother, a M.D., enjoyed it immensely. We ordered more for other members of the family and friends. It is not only stories about dogs (as the cover indicates) but animals - large and small - that Dr. Wells has helped. It is touching, warm, educational, interesting, intriguing and a most enjoyable read! Any Vet wannabes or just people loving animals will enjoy this book. I highly recommend it.

Great book!
This book is so well written, and truly IS a modern-day James Herriot book, like I read in the other review. If you love animals, this is a MUST read. You will have a new appreciation for what veterinarians do on a daily basis, and the people that they come across, too. I highly recommend this book!

A delight from beginning to end - a wonderful mix of belly laughs and touching moments
The title of this book is what first caught my attention; I loved the "play on words" with tales and the picture of those wagging tails on the cover!

Being an animal lover, I enjoy reading stories of people sharing their experiences with pets. My husband and I joke that our two cats are cheap entertainment as we watch them slide across our floor to bat at a toy, chase their tails or chirp at the birds outside. When I began reading Jeff's stories about his experiences with animals and their owners, I found I could not put the book down until I reached the last tale. Jeff is a wonderful story-teller; one moment, you experience the emotional heartache of owners and Jeff as a vet tending to a sick or injured pet, and the next, you are roaring with laughter at the antics of the pets - and owners!

A great read and wonderful book to take with you when traveling.

Kelly Johnson
Cornerstone Virtual Assistance, LLC