What can you do if your cat has worms? Use coconut oil. What can you do about smelly doggy breath? Try coconut oil. What if your cat has an ear infection? Again, coconut oil. Believe it or not, coconut oil is a highly effective treatment for a wide variety of common health problems. For this reason, coconut oil has gained a reputation as a superfood—a food that provides health benefits far beyond it nutritional content. Coconuts and coconut oil have a long history of safe and effective use as food and as medicine for both humans and animals. Most animals love the taste of coconut. Whether you own cats, dogs, ferrets, parrots, canaries, chickens, horses, goats, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, rabbits, or other animals, they can all benefit from the nutritional and medicinal properties of coconut oil. Some of the many benefits include: ● Improves the appearance of the skin, hair, and feathers ● Reduces or eliminates body odor and bad breath ● Improves energy and balances metabolism ● Helps reduce excess body fat and maintain proper weight ● Prevents and fights bacterial, viral, and yeast infections ● Strengthens immune function ● Helps relieve kennel cough ● Improves oral health and whitens teeth ● Helps ease allergy symptoms ● Soothes itchy or irritated skin ● Improves digestion and nutrient absorption ● Protects against digestive disorders such as ulcers and colitis ● Expels or kills intestinal parasites ● Helps keep blood sugar in balance ● Helps build strong bones ● Helps prevent and ease joint pain and ligament problems ● Speeds healing from cuts, burns, insect bites, and other injuries ● Protects against fleas, ticks, mites, and other parasites

Pets love us unconditionally. They're always happy to see us, they encourage us when we're feeling down, and their devotion is touching and reassuring. If this is true for the average pet owner, it is especially true for the disabled, handicapped, emotionally troubled, and seriously ill person.In this uplifting book we learn firsthand how the field of Animal Assisted Therapy is having remarkable success training animals to help and enhance the lives of children and adults with serious medical problems. Hospital rehabilitation programs, physical and occupational therapy sessions, nursing homes, mental healthcare facilities, and hospice programs are just some of the settings where dogs, cats, horses, and other animals have helped patients cope with often daunting medical challenges.With more than fifty photographs showing the visible improvements that trained therapy pets are making in the lives of sick and disabled people, the compelling stories relate many inspiring incidents of the healing animal-human partnership: six-year-old Brendan, disabled from birth, successfully completes his physical therapy with the help of Zorro, a big black hound once considered unadoptable; Philip, a hospice patient in his last days, finds some joy in the company of a therapy dog named Andy; and Tikva, a Keeshond therapy dog from Oregon, helps to comfort emotionally drained firefighters at New York City's Ground Zero.For animal lovers, healthcare providers, and anyone who appreciates how animals and humans interrelate, this is a wonderful, truly inspirational book.Jacqueline J. Crawford is a clinical psychologist at Lakeland Mental Health Center in Moorhead, MN, and the lead author of Please! Teach ALL of Me: Multisensory Instruction for Preschoolers.Karen A. Pomerinke is a professional dog trainer in the state of Washington and the moderator of the pet-advice website www.greatpets.com.Donald W. Smith is a photographer, website designer, and a retired mental health counselor.

The original edition was the first book to provide a comprehensive overview of the ways in which animals can assist therapists with treatment of specific populations, and/or in specific settings. The second edition continues in this vein, with 7 new chapters plus substantial revisions of continuing chapters as the research in this field has grown. New coverage includes: Animals as social supports, Use of AAT with Special Needs students, the role of animals in the family- insights for clinicians, and measuring the animal-person bond. Contributions from veterinarians, animal trainers, psychologists, and social workers Includes guidelines and best practices for using animals as therapeutic companions Addresses specific types of patients and environmental situations

Today's therapy-dog handlers recognize the need to be teammates with their dogs. Teaming with one's dog involves unobtrusively providing physical and emotional support as well as respectful guidance in what to do. Being a teammate requires attention to our own behavior, not just our dogs. This book reminds all handlers that being conscious of what we do with our dogs helps them do their best work, and also can increase the effectiveness of our visits. Teaming with Your Therapy Dog teaches the STEPs of Teamwork and how those STEPs fit with the Therapy Dogs Bill of Rights. These general principles free handlers to apply them in their own way to their therapy dogs individual personality and work, and to everyday life at home! As the author writes, "The book explores a way of being conscious of what you do with and to your therapy dog to support him in his work. It describes functional principles of behavior you can learn and use immediately, either together as a package or independently." Using an exciting new methodology, the author guides readers to deepen their relationship with their dogs by acting consciously and respectfully.

"Story about an aid dog, for children"--