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| Introduction | |
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| Are You Ready to Get a Dog? | |
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| Time Commitments and Inconveniences of Owning a Dog | |
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| Financial Commitments of Dog Ownership | |
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| Environmental Requirements of Owning a Dog | |
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| Why You Should Get a Dog | |
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| A Good Match-What Dog Is Right for You? | |
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| A Good Match? | |
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| Mutt vs. Purebred | |
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| Small, Medium, or Large? | |
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| Male or Female? | |
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| Puppy or Adult? | |
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| Breed Overview | |
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| Finding Your Dog | |
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| Where to Find Your Dog | |
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| Picking Out Your Dog | |
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| Preparing for Your Dog | |
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| Where Should Your Dog Stay? | |
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| Stocking Up on Dog Supplies | |
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| Choosing a Veterinarian | |
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| Dog-Proofing | |
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| Dog-Proofing Inside the House | |
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| Dog-Proofing the Garage | |
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| Dog-Proofing the Backyard | |
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| A Shopping List | |
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| Bringing Your Dog Home | |
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| When to Bring Your Dog Home | |
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| When Not to Bring a Dog Home | |
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| The Car Ride Home | |
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| Next Up: The Veterinarian | |
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| Introducing Your New Dog to Your Family | |
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| Educating Your Whole Family | |
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| The First Few Days and Nights | |
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| How to Get a Good Night's Sleep with Your New Dog | |
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| Establishing a Routine | |
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| Basic Rules for Dealing with a Dog or Puppy | |
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| Teaching House Manners | |
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| Keeping Your Dog Healthy | |
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| Feeding Your Dog | |
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| Canine Health Care | |
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| Exercising Your Dog | |
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| Grooming Your Dog | |
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| Socializing Your Dog | |
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| Emergencies | |
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| How to Recognize an Emergency | |
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| How to Muzzle Your Dog | |
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| Assembling a Canine First Aid Kit | |
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| Handling Common Emergencies | |
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| Family Disaster Planning | |
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| Hereditary and Congenital Diseases | |
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| What Are Hereditary and Congenital Diseases? | |
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| Elbow Dysplasia and Osteochondritis Dissecans | |
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| Epilepsy | |
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| Eye Diseases | |
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| Heart Problems | |
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| Hip Dysplasia | |
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| Hypothyroidism | |
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| Von Willebrand's Disease | |
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| Other Hereditary Diseases | |
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| Crate Training and Housetraining Your Dog | |
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| Common Housetraining Misconceptions | |
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| Crate Training 101 | |
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| Housetraining 101 | |
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| Solving Housetraining Problems | |
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| The Basics of Training | |
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| Training Your Dog on Your Own vs. Hiring Professional Help | |
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| What Should Your Dog Learn in Training? | |
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| Clicker Training | |
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| Teaching Basic Obedience | |
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| The Canine Good Citizen Program | |
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| Problem Pups | |
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| How to Recognize a Problem Behavior | |
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| Is Problem Behavior a Biological Problem? | |
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| Don't Take It Personally | |
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| Types of Problem Behaviors | |
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| What If It Doesn't Work Out? Options for Dog Owners | |
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| Teaching Tricks | |
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| Deciding What Tricks to Teach | |
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| Simple Tricks | |
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| More Difficult Tricks | |
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| Your Dog as Part of the Family | |
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| Identification | |
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| Traveling Together | |
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| At Work | |
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| All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt | |
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| Useful Resources | |
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| How to Use This Appendix | |
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| Important Phone Numbers | |
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| Vaccination Records | |
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| Veterinary Record | |
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| Chore Chart | |
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| Daily Crate-Training Chart | |
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| Disaster Preparedness Chart | |
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| Pet Sitter Information Sheet | |
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| Kennel Information Sheet | |
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| Coloring Pages | |
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| Index | |