Canine Sports Productions: Books

The Agility Advantage
M. Christine Zink D.V.M., Ph.D.

146 pp., $24.95

The Agility Advantage won the 2008 Eukanuba Canine Health Award and the President's Award for the best dog publication of the year at the 2008 Dog Writers Association of America awards.

Need to design a conditioning program for your agility athlete?
Trying to figure out which of your dog's legs is lame?
Wondering how much longer to trial your senior dog?
Worried about bringing back an injured dog too soon?
Seeking guidance in selecting your next agility prospect?
Not sure when it's best to spay or neuter your dog?

The Agility Advantage is written with the busy agility aficionado in mind -- you! Each short chapter stands alone and is intended to be one sound bite on one topic, designed for easy digestion. You can read about a single topic before bed, while you are waiting for the oil to be changed in your minivan, or in the vet's office before your appointment. The chapters have been grouped into subjects that take your canine agility partner through a lifetime with you. The subjects range from how dogs are built, to how dogs move, to how to feed and exercise them so they move faster and more accurately, to a few of the things that can put the brakes on agility for a while, to sharing those later years when dogs don't move as fast as they used to.

Table of Contents:
         Introduction to the Agility Dog
         Getting Started
         Nutrition Nuggets
         Exercise for Agility Dogs
         Musculoskeletal Problems: Diagnosis, Treatment, and Rehabilitation
         Diseases and Conditions of Agility Dogs
         Agility Seniors

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Peak Performance: Coaching the Canine Athlete
M. Christine Zink D.V.M., Ph.D.

Totally revised and updated second edition!

220 pp., $24.95

This is the first book about the canine athlete written for owners/trainers/handlers. It is comprehensive, covering everything from structure and locomotion to performance-related injuries, and is injected with humor throughout. No human-canine team should be without it.

Table of Contents:
         How Structure Affects Function
         Structure and Locomotion
         Selecting a Performance Dog
         Routine Maintenance of the Performance Dog
         Conditioning the Performance Dog
         Lameness and Performance-Related Injuries
         Problems that Affect Performance
         Medications and Performance
         Stress and the Performance Dog

Jumping From A to Z: Teach Your Dog to Soar
M. Christine Zink D.V.M., Ph.D and Julie Daniels

172 pp., $19.95

This is the most comprehensive book on jumping for dogs. It provides a complete jump training program for puppies and adult dogs, explains how the varied different breeds of dogs jump, describes the biomechanics of canine jumping, and discusses ways to solve jumping problems.

Table of Contents:
         How Structure Affects Jumping
         The Biomechanics of Jumping
         The Complete Jump Training Program
         Jumping for Puppies
         Conditioning the Canine Athlete
         Jumping for Obedience
         Jumping for Agility
         Jumping for Flyball
         Jumping Problems: Their Causes and Solutions

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Smart Trainers: Brilliant Dogs
Janet R. Lewis

164 pp., $19.95

This book walks you through your dog's mind and explains how dogs perceive our commands and respond to them. Packed with humorous stories and illustrations, Smart Trainers: Brilliant Dogs demystifies all of the new training lingo like "positive reinforcement," "negative punishment," and "forced" vs. "induced."

Table of Contents:
         What's a Trainer To Do?
         Where to Start
         Accentuate the Positive
         Details, Details, Details
         When to Say No
         In Search of Excellence
         What Pavlov Knew
         Taking Your Show on the Road
         You and Your Dog

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Dog Health & Nutrition for Dummies®
M. Christine Zink D.V.M., Ph.D.

Dog Health and Nutrition for Dummies

360 pages, $21.99

The most informative guide to canine health and nutrition -- to lengthen and enhance the lives of your dogs.

You want the best for your dogs, and this book shows you how to optimize your canine companions' physical and mental health. Dog Health & Nutrition For Dummies provides tips on canine nutrition, diet, and special food-related health problems (obesity, diabetes, etc.). Experts give you advice on exercise, recognizing and treating common maladies, and caring for the older dog. Plus, this friendly guide covers canine first aid, drugs, and alternative therapies.

Table of Contents:
         Introduction.
         PART I: Basic Health Care.
         Chapter 1: Canine Health 101.
         Chapter 2: Preventing Problems before They Start.
         Chapter 3: Working with Your Dog's Vet.
         PART II: Food, Glorious Food!
         Chapter 4: The Building Blocks of Good Nutrition.
         Chapter 5: Feeding Your Hungry Hound.
         Chapter 6: Supplementing Your Dog's Diet.
         Chapter 7: Good Ol' Home Cookin'.
         Chapter 8: Meeting Your Dog's Special Nutritional Needs.
         PART III: Recognizing and Treating Common Maladies.
         Chapter 9: Innerspace: How Your Dog's Body Works.
         Chapter 10: Tackling Common Ailments.
         Chapter 11: Fighting Off the Bugs That Want Your Dog.
         Chapter 12: Canine First Aid.
         Chapter 13: Drug Therapy for Dogs.
         Chapter 14: Complementary and Alternative Therapies.
         PART IV: Health for the Body and Soul.
         Chapter 15: Stocking Up on the Supplies You and Your Dog Need.
         Chapter 16: Getting the Lead Out: Exercising Your Dog.
         Chapter 17: We Want You!: Enrolling Your Dog in Basic Training.
         PART V: Caring for the Canine Senior.
         Chapter 18: Helping Your Dog Age Gracefully.
         Chapter 19: Coping with Cancer.
         Chapter 20: Making the Difficult Decision to End Your Dog's Life.
         PART VI: The Part of Tens.
         Chapter 21: Ten Great Dog Health and Nutrition Web Resources.
         Chapter 22: Ten Signs of Illness to Watch For.
         Chapter 23: Ten Ways to Keep Your Dog Healthy.
         Chapter 24: Ten Household Hazards.
         Appendix: Resources.
         Index.

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