Sassafras Lowrey - Chew This Journal: An Activity Book for You and Your Dog (Gift for Pet Lovers)

Copyright 2020 by Sassafras Lowrey.
Published by Mango Publishing Group, a division of Mango Media Inc.

Cover Design: Elina Diaz
Cover Photo/illustration: shutterstock.com/GooseFrol
Layout & Design: Elina Diaz

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Chew This Journal: An Activity Book for You and Your Dog

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication number: 2020934388
ISBN: (print) 978-1-64250-273-2, (ebook) 978-1-64250-274-9
BISAC category code: PET004020PETS / Dogs / Training

Printed in the United States of America

In memory of Charlotte
and for all of my dogs, past an d present.

Table of Contents

Taking part in joint activities can strengthen the bond between a person and their dog, and providing enrichment is good for dogs mental well-being. Chew This Journal fits perfectly with the increasing trend for providing enrichment for dogs. It combines fun challenges to do with your dog, craft activities, and plenty of space to journal about your be st friend.

As in hir book Tricks in the City: For Daring Dogs and the Humans that Love Them, Sassafras Lowrey has considered the individual needs of different dogs and tried to ensure that activities are suitable for all, including senior dogs and shy dogs. For example, in the section on teaching your dog to jump, Lowrey explains that you should get clearance from your vet in order to protect your dogs joints. This thoughtfulness means Chew This Journal is appropriate for people with dogs of all sizes, ages, and personalities. Whether its the walk-a-day challenge, the sniff walk, or building dog tunnels in your living room, there are many enjoyable activities for your furry friend in this book. As a certified trick-dog instructor, Lowrey has broken the more complicated tricks and sports down into easy-to-achi eve steps.

I was especially pleased to see the inclusion of Learn Their Names, as this was a fun activity that I used to enjoy with my late dog, Bodger. In the last two years of his life, we started to teach him the names of his toysrope, bear, sheep, hog, turtleand ask him to fetch them by name. He wasnt a genius, but it brought him a lot of joy. I think Bodger would have been a fan of this book.

Chew This Journal is not just about activities for dogs, however. There are some fun canine-inspired activities, especially if you like crafts. Theres no need to buy snuffle mats and tug toys from the store when you can make your own. The ideas for photo props are cute and I think will result in pet guardians sharing photos of their dog and tagging the book!

Good dog owners are good neighbors, and Lowrey includes notes to help you be a good neighbor whilst taking part in the activities, such as keeping your dog on leash in on-leash areas. There is a section on giving back to local organizations such as shelters and rescue homes, pet food banks, or groups that help the pets of the homeless. There are also instructions on how to make an emergency kit for your dogsomething all dog owners should have, just in case. Lowrey has thought carefully about how dog guardians can be good citizens and responsible pe t parents.

This delightful book will bring joy to you and your dog. It will inspire you to try new activities together and to keep the journal as a treasured record of life with your pet. Its a book thats designed to be usednot chewed (or at least not too much), but certainly written in, doodled in, and taken out and about when planning to do some of the activities. And its a book to return to over time, to update and keep track of what you and your dog have been up to. I think you will enjoy it, and you and your dog will have lo ts of fun.

Zazie Todd, PhD

Author of Wag: The Science of Making Your Dog Happy and blogger at CompanionAnimalPsyc hology.com

My earliest childhood memories revolve around dogs: dreaming of them, learning about them, and eventually, when I got a dog of my own, finding ways to have fun together. As a teenager, I began channeling my infatuation for dogs into training and competing in the sport of dog agility. I have learned far more from dogs than I have taught them. The greatest joy in my life is spending time with my dogs and having the opportunity to learn with them. I believe that dogs not only make my life more interesting, they truly make me a more thoughtful, mindful, and engaged person. As a certified trick-dog instructor (CTDI), I see it as one of my missions in life to support dogs in getting the opportunities to have more fulfilled and enriching lives by doing things that they love. Part of this is assisting people to better understand, support, advocate for, and engage with t heir dogs.

For me, training dogs isnt about telling them what to do; rather, its about developing a channel for pet owner and dog to communicate with each other. Much more important to me than any ribbon, title, or award has and continues to be the deep pleasure in spending time with dogs, having fun together, and developing new paths of shared understanding and language. Several years ago, I began practicing goal setting, bullet journaling, and memory keeping on paper as a way to remember, structure, and organize my training and adventures with my dogs. This practice has enabled me to keep track of the fun things we do together, and to track progress toward the goals we set; practical training and grooming goals as well as exercise, travel, and even bucket lists and vacations. I have tried to incorporate into this book easy step-by-step ideas for introducing those same simple journaling/tracking techniques into your routine, as well as many of the same training and activity challenges my dogs and I regularly do. I have a three-year-old Newfoundland who is over a hundred pounds, and a ten-pound, seventeen-year-old Chihuahua mix. Having dogs of such radically different sizes and ages made me very aware of how important it was to select activities for this book that are appropriate and accessible for dogs of a wide range of abilities.

This book is filled with crafts, games, puzzles, and other opportunities for you to keep memories of what makes your dog special and unique! The world can sometimes feel like an overwhelming, confusing place, but dogs help us see the joy in simple, everyday moments. If you are reading this book, you probably love dogs just as much as I do. These activities are some of my dogs favorite things, and we are thrilled to share these adventures with all of you. I hope Chew This Journal will inspire you to find new ways to connect, play, and spend intentional time with your dog!