Sunday, November 13, 2005

Mostly not agility related...

I know this is not strictly an agility/dog/training related post at all but just had to share my latest on the best books out there that I have read recently.
#1 Peter Hamilton's latest Sci Fi - Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained -these are an edge of your seat read with a rather inspirational look into the future - I like the sound of "Rejuvenation", I'd like some of that please!
#2 David Pelzer's series which I have read out of order - I read A Child Called It and A Man Named Dave - still haven't read The Lost Boy yet and I saw in Dymocks yesterday there are a couple more out. There is a kind of slightly macabre fascination for what happened to him (true story of childhood abuse) and you share with him his sense wanting an answer of what makes any mother do that to her child. It sounds like it is all very real and very depressingly sad it does however has just as many moments of his triumphs in there so it does not remain dark all the time.
#3 Jasper Fforde's series - which I have read through completely once and am looking forward to going back to the series - The Eyre Affair, The Well of Lost Plots, Lost in a Good Book and Something Rotten - focus is on a character named Thursday Next. I now have his next instalment - similar universe brand new characters - The Big Over Easy. I shall let you know how it goes.
#4 Tour De Force written by Daniel Coyle and about Lance Armstrong's 2004 Tour De France campaign - I have had an interest in Lance ever since I read - Its Not About the Bike and Every Second Counts - the stories that talk about his cancer and his bike racing and his recovery. He is an intriguing person who certainly has an approach to life that is amazingly disciplined. He is certainly inspiring to read about. I have only just started this one and it has already grabbed me.
#5 I guess I can make this dog/training/agility related - one of the best books to come out on the subject of training is actually a recount of the training of a very nutty Border Collie named Buzz. Called Shaping Success and written by Susan Garrett who is currently competing in the USDAA Nationals as I write this. She tells the story of the incredible journey she had coming to terms with Mr Buzz's breakneck attitude for everything - how she got him to learn some control, taught him restraint and how immensely frustrating yet ultimately exhilerating it was to have an agility dog like Buzz. Along the way she gives detailed exercises of what she did with Buzz to train certain behaviours. Very clear and very easy to follow.

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