The Complete Dog Manual
How to give your dog the longest, healthiest life you can, from a man who sat a county shelter desk for eighteen years and took the phone call every time a dog came back.
A dog that feels bad keeps wagging. By the time a dog looks sick it has often been sick for a while, and the bill is far bigger than it would have been in week two. This manual teaches you to see it early: the rib check and the gum press you can do on the kitchen floor, the two signs of bloat that mean you drive tonight, the eight reasons dogs get sent back and the fix for each, who your dog trusts and why, and what the noises mean.
The early warning checks, the return column, and what your dog is telling you.
51 pages, illustrated, organized so you can open the right page at four in the morning. Every chapter is one real dog from the desk, what it turned out to mean, how to check it on your own dog with what you already own, and exactly what to do.
- The complete 51-page illustrated manual, 44 chapters in nine parts
- Part 1, The Early Warning Checks: seven checks with a hand, a phone light and a calendar, including the two signs of bloat
- The Return Column: the eight reasons dogs went back to the shelter, most common first, and what fixed each one
- Who Your Dog Trusts: what a dog is reading when it decides about a person, and the studies behind it
- What the Noises Mean: the bark that starts when you leave, the sigh, the honk, and the 3 a.m. pacing
- Kids, Cats and the Second Dog: the toddler rule, and the dog-meets-cat week, day by day
- Bonus: The Red Flag Card, the call-the-vet-now list for the fridge (printable)
- Bonus: The Kitchen Counter List, The Sunday Check, The Visitor Rules, The Toddler Rules and The Good Day Calendar (all printable)
- Lifetime updates: every future edition free
44 chapters. Nine parts. Ordered for the night you need it.
What could hurt your dog first. The problems that send dogs back second. Then who your dog trusts and what the noises mean, then the breed line, the children and the cat, and, at the end, the old dog.
PART 1The Early Warning Checks7 chapters · the rib check, the two-second gum press, bloat, the kitchen counter, the water count
PART 2The Return Column8 chapters · the eight reasons dogs come back, most common first, and the fix for each
PART 3Who Your Dog Trusts6 chapters · the man in the lobby, what a dog reads in a person, the growl that is a gift
PART 4What the Noises Mean5 chapters · the bark when you leave, the sigh, three kinds of bark, the honk, 3 a.m. pacing
PART 5The Breed Line and the Coat5 chapters · how often the breed label is wrong, white coats and merle, the black dog wait
PART 6Kids, Cats and the Second Dog4 chapters · never alone with a toddler, the new baby, dog meets cat day by day
PART 7Reading a Dog in Three Minutes5 chapters · whale eye, the tail that lies, the play bow, three days three weeks three months
PART 8The Old Dog4 chapters · is it just age, hips and floors, the good day calendar, the next dog
PART 9The Card Pack6 cards · 6 printable cards for the fridge and the front door
The rib check on Sunday. The man in the lobby. The sigh at bedtime.
The rib check: weight you can feel
Your knuckles, your palm, the back of your hand. The thirty-second check that tells you more than the scale, and what to ask the vet when it changes.
The man in the lobby: can a dog tell?
The Saturday a friendly Shepherd backed into the corner, what we found out two days later, and the studies that explain what she was reading.
Whine, sigh, groan
The small sounds and what each one means, the one that is contentment, and the new night sound in an old dog that is a vet call.
The Card Pack. Print them on plain paper.
The Red Flag Card goes on the fridge. The Visitor Rules go by the front door.
Caught early, or found late.
Not a promise. Four things that come through a shelter desk every month, costed two ways: the bill when nobody was looking, and the bill when somebody was. Typical U.S. ranges, and they vary a lot. The point is the shape.
When it is found late
When somebody had the manual
Figures are illustrative ranges of common U.S. dog care costs and vary widely by case, region and clinic. This book is educational. It is not veterinary advice, a diagnosis, or a guarantee of any outcome or saving. If your dog is unwell, call a veterinarian.
Read eight pages before you decide.
The cover, the contents, the word before you start, and two whole chapters: the rib check and the gum press, and the man in the lobby. Free. It is the same file, just shorter.
I am not a vet. I took the phone calls.
I walked into the Montgomery County shelter in Dayton, Ohio in 2006, at twenty, to clean kennels for a summer. I sat the intake desk for six years and ran adoptions for twelve. Most of what came through that door was dogs. I filled out the card on the kennel door, and then I took the call when a family brought one back, and I wrote down why.
This manual is the drawer of those cards, sorted the way you will need it. Every health chapter tells you plainly where I stop and your vet starts, and every behaviour chapter tells you when it is a job for a trainer.
Read Part One this week. It is the one that adds the years.
— Dan Keller
Questions I get asked first.
How do I get it after I pay?
Right away. The download lands in your email within a minute, through Gumroad. Nothing ships. If it does not arrive, check spam, then write to the address on the receipt and I will send it by hand.
What format is it? Can I print it?
A standard PDF, 51 pages. It reads on a phone, a tablet or a computer, and it prints on plain paper. The 6 cards at the back are made to be printed, cut out and stuck on the fridge or by the front door.
Is the type big enough to read comfortably?
Yes. The body is set in Charter, a serif made for print, at a size chosen for readers over fifty-five, with room between the lines. On a tablet you can zoom as far as you like. The cards are set larger still.
Are you a veterinarian or a trainer?
Neither, and it is the first thing the book says. I sat the intake desk at a county shelter for six years and ran adoptions for twelve. Every health chapter ends where I stop and your vet starts, and names what to ask for. Where a behaviour problem needs a professional, it says which kind. This manual gets you to the right person sooner. It never replaces them.
My dog is old. Is it too late for this to help?
No. Part One is written for older dogs first: the rib check, the water count, the lump diary, the teeth. Part Eight is the old dog, written gently, with the good day calendar. Those two parts are where the years come from.
My dog is a puppy, or I am adopting. Is this for me?
Yes. Part Two is the eight reasons dogs come back to the shelter and how to head each one off, and Part Seven is how the desk read a new dog in three minutes. It is the book I wish every family had read the week before they signed.
Only 51 pages? Other manuals say hundreds.
On purpose. 44 chapters you will actually read instead of four hundred pages you will not. Every chapter is one real dog from the desk, what it meant, how to check it on your own dog tonight, and what to do. Nothing is padded to make the number bigger.
Is this a subscription?
No. One payment of $29.99 with the code and it is yours, including every future edition free.
What is the refund policy?
Thirty days, no questions asked, and you keep the file. Write to the address on your receipt.
How does the DOG40 code work?
It is already on every button on this page. You will see $29.99 at checkout, not $49.99. It is 40% off through Sunday night. If you came from the free sample, the same code is on that receipt.
Read the first part this week. It is the one that adds the years.
Do the rib check on Sunday. Lift the lip and count two seconds. Learn the two signs of bloat by heart. Three habits, one week, and the next time something changes, you will be the one who noticed.
This book contains general information about dog care from an experienced shelter worker who is not a veterinarian or a trainer. It is not veterinary advice and does not replace examination, diagnosis or treatment by a licensed veterinarian. If your dog shows signs of illness, contact a veterinarian; in an emergency, go to an emergency clinic. Shelter figures are one county's desk records, not a study. Images on this page are generated illustrations. Payments and downloads are processed by Gumroad.
Wait — one thing
Catch one thing early and the $29.99 pays for itself.
A dog that drinks more, noticed in week two, is a blood test. Noticed at the yearly visit it is a $1,300 work-up. 44 chapters, 6 cards for the fridge, and the DOG40 code is already on the button. 30-day refund if it is not for you.
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