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Laurel: Everyone's Best Friend

by Steve Moore

188 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #04-0449; ISBN 1-4120-2621-0; US$20.50, C$22.49, EUR17.00, £12.00

Heart-warming true story about a remarkable Staffordshire bull terrier Laurel, who in her short lifetime has brought so much happiness to so many. She's 'everyone's best friend'.

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about the book      about the author      sample excerpts      catalogue info

About the Book This is a true story about a remarkable Staffordshire bull terrier called Laurel. Laurel first came to live with me about seven years ago and this book not only goes through the happy times but also the not so happy. Although Laurel herself is not in the best of health - something I will always partly blame myself for - she never ceases to make people smile. She has helped me through some pretty traumatic times in her short lifetime and at the end of day a smile is never far away when Laurel is around. The book traces the early days, training sessions, rewards, responsibilities, laughter and sadly the all too frequent visits to the vet's. Also, while writing this book, instances from my childhood re-emerged with certain things I had never discussed with anyone before now. The book also traces the closeness I feel towards my parents and my grandparents who now, sadly, are no longer with us. Anybody who has, or who has ever 'owned' a pet will find so much they can relate to in this book and in these days where animal cruelty tragically appears to be on the increase it is refreshing to read that most humans really do care for animals. Also after reading this book I hope to paint a truer picture of the ` Staffie' and show just how sensitive this particular breed can be towards it's human friends. There was only one title I could give this book: LAUREL - EVERYONE'S BEST FRIEND. For an autographed copy of the book, please contact the author directly at steve.moore52@btopenworld.com

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About the Author I was born in Norwich, Norfolk, England in May 1961 and grew up on a local council estate in Norwich. I have a twenty-four-year-old son called Steven who lives in Wickford, Essex. I now live on the outskirts of Norwich with my partner Christine and her daughter Emma (and of course our dog and cat, Laurel and Harri) and being a true 'Norwich lad' I can never envisage myself leaving this fine city. I have always had a love for animals even as a young child and as the years progressed my concern for them has developed. I have a real concern for the endangered animals on our planet especially the primate variety. The, now almost extinct Mountain Gorilla's in Rwanda and the endangered Orang-utan's to name but two. This love of animals has lead me to do some volunteer work at a local animal sanctuary and to try to help out various other animal organisations where possible. Laurel - Everyone's Best Friend is the first book I have written and I must say it gave me immense pleasure in doing so. Will there be anymore? - Who knows? Visit the author's website at: www.laurel-the-staffie.webeden.co.uk

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Sample Excerpts It was then the little brindle and white female pup clambered out of the bed and made her way over to me. Ignoring everyone else she approached me whimpering like a child and I honestly believe she was asking me to choose her. I picked up and cuddled her for quite sometime while she almost fell asleep in my arms. I had almost made up my mind ... ... all I could do was listen. Carol telephoned the following night very tearful saying she had been to the vets that day so I immediately realised the sad choice she had made. Carol was absolutely riddled with guilt and sadness. I did my best to reassure her that what she had done was for the best and her dog, William would not have to suffer anymore. All Carol could think off was, would he have made a recovery had she not had him put to sleep but sadly and truthfully the answer was no. I listened to her talk about her faithful friend for some time and I have to admit unbeknown to Carol I had tears in my eyes on more than one occasion especially as I glanced down to Laurel and Harri asleep together on a blanket. I think the most moving thing she said was, when the moment came to take William to his final visit to the vets she produced his lead and the poor dog thought he was going for a walk so he staggered to his feet the best he could and even managed a slight wag of the tail. This, of course broke Carol's heart. She vowed after William she would never have another dog. Remember the statement "when you buy a dog you buy heartbreak". While heading for home, Laurel and me were approached by about four or five young children around six or seven years old. Laurel has always loved children of any age and she appears to be gentler the younger the children are so upon seeing the children her tail started to wag frantically. Staffies are sometimes nicknamed the 'nanny' dog because of their love for children and this is true of all the Staffies I have come across. With more than one child approaching Laurel, I think she must have thought it was her birthday. When the children saw her one of them, quite sensibly asked if he could touch her. "Will he bite me mister?" he said. "You've got more chance of me biting you than her", I replied. There was an absolute look of horror on all of the children's faces. I quickly had to reassure them I was only joking and that " no, there was no way she would bite anyone and more importantly, nor would I." With that they were all making a fuss of Laurel, who by this time was over on her back enjoying every second of it. We left with all the children waving goodbye to Laurel and completely ignoring me. As we carried on walking I began to think. What if the little boy went home and told his parent's I'd threatened to bite him. With these days of political correctness exploding out of control, anything could happen. I had visions of being carted away by the Police for threatening to assault a child. I could see the headlines 'BULL TERRIER OWNER THREATENS TO BITE CHILD'. Heart-broken I buried my little cat, Dave at the bottom of the garden where he had spent many happy hours. For days after, Harri was looking for her buddy spending hours sitting on his grave. It was also a long time before I got used to hearing only one bell in the mornings. When I moved from Drayton a few years later, I felt I was leaving him behind and his little grave was the last place I visited before leaving the house for good. I brought his small plaque I made for him with me and I still have his photo standing in my kitchen today. Most of all I still have the memories. Dave was such a character. Somebody once commented to me that Dave must have thought all his Christmases came at once when he landed on my doorstep. All I can say to that is I hope I made his short little life as happy as he made mine because he certainly brought a lot of fun and laughter with him. I left PACT that day with the knowledge that I had made some headway with Chrissie the Rottweiler and that pleased me no-end. I was now even more determined for her to gain trust in me so I could maybe take her for walks. The way I saw it was, if she was never going to taste the freedom of being in a loving family, she could at least taste the freedom with the kind people inside the boundaries of PACT. Sadly for reasons other than her manner this was not be. For much of the time during this very worrying period, Laurel seemed a very sad dog - something I had not seen in her before. Although she did her best to play and go for walks, she always crashed out and looked in so much pain when she tried to get up again. Catalogue Information Canada • USA • UK • Europe Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Terms of use | Author Login URL http://www.trafford.com © 1995-2007 Trafford Publishing, a division of Trafford Holdings Ltd.