Picking Your Perfect Pet Read

Walk into your local bookstore and you'll be bombarded by pet books. The books range in topic and style – memoirs with an animal as the heroine, science books that try to explain our relationship with all things four-legged and even fiction capitalizing on our evolving relationship with animals.

But how do you know which book is right for you? Hopefully this week's Four-Legged and Furry can help.

Dog Sense: How the New Science of Dog Behavior Can Make You a Better Friend to Your Pet by John Bradshaw

In his new book, anthrozoologist Bradshaw debunks the idea that dogs belong in a wolf pack and chastises humans for trying to make dogs our babies.  Bradshaw uses the latest scientific findings to show pet owners how to live with their pets harmoniously through partnership and cooperation rather than trying to exert power over the animal.

Buy this book if: Your pet is out of control and you don't know what to do

Bad Dog: A Love Story by Martin Kihn

Kihn's memoir follows his life in partnership with Hola, his Bernese mountain dog. Hola appears to be untrainable. She is out of control – jumping, barking, tearing up furniture. But Kihn is out of control as well, his alcoholism breaking down his work and his relationships. This true story tells how man and dog can help each other when working together.

Buy this book if: You are facing your own struggles or if you just love a story of redemption

The Bond: Our Kinship with Animals, Our Call to Defend Them by Wayne Pacelle

Pacelle is the president of the Humane Society of the United States. He uses his years of expertise in this role as well as a tremendous amount of research to analyze the thousands of years old relationship between humans and animals, how humans are breaking that bond now and what we can do to better our relationship with the animals around us.

Buy this book if: You want to better understand your relationship with your pet and the world around us.

The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein

This New York Times bestselling novel is told from the perspective of a dog, Enzo, who believes in the Mongolian legend that a dog who is prepared will be reincarnated into a human upon his death. Enzo spends his life trying to prepare, learning specifically from his owner and in the process becoming his biggest supporter.

Buy this book if: You're not afraid of a tearjerker