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Sunday 16 November 2014

Book For Dogs Launched

Stories To Tell Your Dog
Tinderbox Publishing in the UK, are pleased to announce the first book published for dogs.
Yes that's right, do not adjust your computer – for dogs!

Research Methods
It was back in 2010 that the author Mark Swain was editing his first book - Long Road Hard Lessons (a non-fiction book about Mark and his son's 10,000 mile cycle expedition from Ireland to Japan). Like many writers, Mark finds it more effective to edit a book by reading it aloud. Having waiting for a moment when he was alone in the house, he was reading through the book and came to a passage that mentioned what he and his son had eaten during a particular day's cycling in Turkey. At a certain point he was disturbed by his Jack Russell Terrier, Jim, who became very excited and attentive all of a sudden. Having overcome his initial annoyance at being disturbed from his work, Mark began to notice what it was that was captivating his dog. The mere mention of the word "biscuits" or "pies" sent Jim wild. The dog would not leave the room and from then on sat in anticipation every time anyone picked up the book.

Busy with his travel book, Mark registered the phenomenon mentally and told his wife about it later, but it was not until early 2013 that he found the time to begin more thorough investigation. The dogs of various friends and acquaintances were drafted in to listen to the first experimental stories. The results were surprising even with those early prototype canine tales. Mark and his friends were surprised to find a great deal of common trigger words that most dogs (dogs in English speaking households) responded to. A list was made and these words were then written into the stories. Eventually after hours of amusing experimentation, the stories were honed to a point that they had the power to captivate most dogs.

Secondary Benefits
What came as a surprise, was the fact that the stories had such a powerful effect upon the humans. Obviously the dogs could not read the stories themselves. It required owners, families and friends to read the stories to the dogs. Owners were enthralled by the stories being written from a dog's perspective and they showed themselves to be especially keen to participate. They loved the dogs' sense of humour. Most encouraging has been the reports of children and teenagers who had been reluctant readers, being transformed by a desire to read to the family dog. Of equal importance, however, must be the reports that badly behaved dogs and those suffering from boredom and depression (yes of course), became much happier and developed better relationships with their owners. This is hardly so surprising is it?

CONTENTS
Stories To Tell Your Dog is an illustrated book of 18 short stories. The stories are suitable for dogs and humans of all ages. Here are a few examples:

His Master's Voice
Tyler the Staffordshire Bull Terrier loves to sing. A family argument over when he first learned to do so is solved when Tyler steps in to clear up the dispute.

Dog Corner
A group of characterful stray dogs are a neighbourhood attraction until something tempts them away. A posse is sent out to find them and tempt them back.



Flash
A Whippet amuses himself each day chasing seagulls at the beach. After he disappears, the gulls terrorise the tourists. Desperate, the local Council pay the owner to let him return on official duty.

A Short Walk In The Park
Bored and lacking exercise, Nero the Doberman escapes from home. The adventure ends with surprising consequences and reassurance about human compassion.

Sausages
Boris the overweight Bulldog is obsessed with sausages. He will risk life and limb to steal them if necessary. On one particular raid his passion leads him further afield than anyone expects.

A Racing Certainty
Scrivener is a deaf mute with an ability to communicate with animals. When he gets a job at a greyhound stables he uses this ability to his advantage. Fortune, however, has a sting in the tail.

Stories To Tell Your Dog is available as a paperback from Amazon or Createspace, and as an e-book from:

Amazon UK
Amazon.com (or by entering the title and author into your local Amazon website)
Smashwords (all formats)
N.B. You do not need an e-reader. You can download a Kindle App for your computer or download the book from Smashwords as a PDF or plain text file.

Other books by the same author are available on these sites and the bestselling paperback book Long Road Hard Lessons is available from Waterstones Bookshops in the UK.

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