I'm very excited!
I received the news today that Ted Kerasote's new book, Pukka's Promise: The Quest For Longer-Lived Dogs, is out next month. I'm a huge fan of Ted's book about his experiences adopting a dog who was living wild, and about the life lessons they shared, Merle's Door. It's an amazing book and if you haven't read it yet, you are in for a treat. You can hear Ted's interview about Merle's Door in Episode 64 of DogCast Radio, and you can read a review of Merle's Door here. There's a review of Pukka:The Pup After Merle in Episode 111 of DogCast Radio.
I was lucky enough to meet Ted when he came to the UK to research his latest book, and I'm looking forward to catching up with him and Pukka. Here's the latest information from Ted himself:
Dear Friends and Readers,
It is with the greatest pleasure that I announce the publication of my new book, Pukka’s Promise: The Quest For Longer-Lived Dogs, on February 5, 2013.
Many of you have waited several years for this book, and I hope that your patience will be rewarded. Prepublication reviewers have agreed with Kirkus Reviews and called Pukka’s Promise “the most intelligent, most comprehensive book ever written about extending the lifetimes of our dogs” and a work that mixes science and storytelling with “singular brilliance.”
The book begins where Merle’s Door left off. I describe how I mourned Merle’s passing, lingering on the fact that dogs lead relatively short lives. “Why,” I wrote, “has nature decreed that our friendly dogs are already ancient in their teens while giving the unhuggable tortoise more than a century of life and some whales two hundred years to swim through the polar seas?”
To answer this question, I began to investigate the reasons that our best friends in the animal kingdom are a short-lived species, hoping that my answers would help me find a new canine companion who might lead a long and healthy life, longer than Merle’s, if possible. Combing the veterinary literature and meeting with veterinarians, dog breeders, and shelter workers on both sides of the Atlantic, I came up with seven core factors that influence canine health and longevity: inbreeding, nutrition, environmental pollutants, vaccination, spaying and neutering, the amount of freedom dogs enjoy, and a shelter system in which too many dogs prematurely end their days.
These topics form the scientific underpinning of Pukka’s Promise, but as was the case in Merle’s Door, the science is interwoven with the heartfelt stories of how I eventually found Pukka and raised him among his many dog friends in our small Wyoming village. As Jon Katz, the author of A Good Dog, remarked about the book, it mixes “science with love.”
I also want to let you know that my redesigned website, kerasote.com, has background information for the book, veterinary resources, my book tour venues and dates, ordering information for all my books, how to request signed books online, and pages of fresh images, including a weekly updated photo of Pukka, called “Pukka’s Photo of the Week.” You can also see this image on my Facebook fan page.
I look forward to meeting you in person during my February tour, and I send you my deep thanks for your ongoing support and the crucial research help that some of you offered while I wrote this book.
With my best wishes and a woof! from Pukka,
Ted Kerasote
Advance Praise For Pukka’s Promise
“This might be the most important book about dogs written in a decade.”
—Patricia B. McConnell, author of The Other End of the Leash
“Anyone who reads Pukka’s Promise can't help but become a better dog person. I'd like it to be compulsory reading for all practicing vets and veterinary students.”
—Bruce Fogle, DVM, author of The Dog’s Mind
“Kerasote has produced a masterpiece.”
—Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of The Hidden Life of Dogs
“At once encyclopedic and intimate—a tour de force.”
— Kirkus Reviews