A Small Furry Hope: Dog Rescue and the Meaning of LifeSteven Kotler was forty years old, single, and facing an existential crisis when he met Lila, a woman devoted to animal rescue. "Love me, love my dogs," was her rule, and Steven took it to heart. Spurred to move by a housing crisis in Los Angeles, Steven, Lila - and their eight dogs, then ten, then twenty, and then they lost count - bought a postage-stamp-sized farm in Chimayo, New Mexico. A Small Furry Hope chronicles their adventures at Rancho de Chihuahua, the sanctuary they created for their pack with special needs: the very old, the very sick, and, as Kotler says, "the really retarded." An insider look at the culture of dog rescue, A Small Furry Prayer weaves personal experience, and scientific inquiry into a fast-paced, fun-filled narrative that explores what it means to devote one's life to the furry and the four-legged. Along the way, Kotler combs through every aspect of canine-human relations, from long human history with dogs to brand new research into the neuroscience of canine companionship, in the end discovering why living in a world made of dog may be the best way to uncover the truth about what it really means to be human. |
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LibraryThing Review
User Review - waltonlibrary - LibraryThingSteven Kotler was forty years old, single, and facing an existential crisis when he met Lila, a woman devoted to animal rescue. "Love me, love my dogs" was her rule, and Steven took it to heart ... Read full review
LibraryThing Review
User Review - kishields - LibraryThingDog rescue is fascinating to me, and this book details the beginnings and day-to-day operation of a unique rescue facility started by the author and his wife in a remote area of New Mexico. With no ... Read full review
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Ahab altruism animals asked became began behavior Bella bigger brain Bucket bull terrier cage called canine Chihuahuas Chimayo Chimpanzees Chow coyote death decided deep ecology didn’t discovered dog rescue dopamine Elise emotions empathy euthanasia euthanize experience Farrah feel feet felt fighting Foghat Gidget going happened head humans hundred idea Igor Joy’s knew later legs living look Marc Bekoff Mexico mirror neurons monkeys months morning mountain lion move mystical neoteny never ofthe once one’s Otis pack Panksepp pit bull play pretty problem puppy puppy mill rescuers researchers sacred scientists shaman shelter sleep small dogs Smash species spent started stop sure talking there’s things thought tion told took trying turned University walked wanted wasn’t weeks wild wolf wolves