If you are looking for a good pet story, the Library’s Pets Neighborhood has a great selection of pet memoirs. There are tales of dogs who saved their owners’ lives, cats who taught their owners about life and love, a town that saved two horses, dogs who were lost and overcame huge odds to find their way home, and much more.

Four-legged Miracle is a collection of lost-and-found dog stories. Brad and Sherry Steiger have compiled some of the most miraculous true-life accounts of dogs overcoming unbelievable odds to find their way home after being lost. They include Mason, a terrier, who crawled home on two broken legs after a tornado devastated his home; Buca, who sat on a hill overlooking a highway in Utah waiting for his owner’s car to come rescue him; and Eddie, a beagle, who made his way back home after four months and many miles to reunite with his disabled four-year-old buddy, Jimmy.

Ted Kerastoe tackles the question of how can we give our pets the longest life possible in Pukka’s Promise: The Quest for Longer-lived Dogs. After losing his beloved dog, Merle, Kerastoe gets a new puppy, Pukka. He goes on a quest to determine the best things possible he can do to give Pukka a long, long life. He questions how we feed our dogs, how we vaccinate our dogs, and even whether we should spay or neuter our dogs. The answers may be surprising to even the most knowledgeable owners.

In Kitty Cornered: How Francis and Five Other Incorrigible Cats Seized Control of Our House and Made It Their House, Bob Tarte tells about how his house went from one cat to six. Tarte describes how he makes concessions to the cats in all areas of his life including sleeping arrangements, dining habits, and furniture placement. What Tarte untimately gleans from his feline companions is the art of contentment, even amidst illness and injury.

To see these memoirs and many more, come to the Pets Neighborhood, and if you have read a pet memoir that you really love, let us know what it is.

Any pet can have an unexpected injury or accident. It is important to be prepared before this happens in order to think clearly and act quickly during this stressful time. According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, here are some things you need to know:

You’re at a pet store looking for a small pet to purchase when you spot the turtles and tortoises. At first glance, they appear to be an easy pet to have in your home. There are, however, important things to consider before purchasing a pet turtle or tortoise.

1. The initial cost of purchasing a turtle or tortoise is the smallest expense you will have. To properly care for your turtle or tortoise, you will have to provide appropriate housing, food, bedding, humidity, and veterinary care.

2.  Turtles and tortoises live for a very long time. Are you willing to keep this pet for its entire life?

3. Are you prepared to provide clean water, food, and fresh bedding every day for your turtle or tortoise? Will you be able to provide care for your pet when you travel and are not at home?

4. Most turtles and tortoises hibernate for 10 to 20 weeks. You will need to provide the proper hibernating environment for your pet.

5. Turtles and tortoises do not interact with humans very well.

6. Turtles and tortoises are not recommended as pets for children because of the risk of certain diseases that they can transmit.

Did you know that turtles have been on the earth for more than 200 million years, that serveral species of turtles can live to be over 100 years, and that turtles live on every continent except Antartica?

If you are ready to become a responsible turtle or tortoise owner, come look at the books the Library has in the Pets Neighborhood. They can inform you about the care and feeding of pet turtles and tortoises.

October is Energy Awareness Month, and here are some fall and winter energy savings tips from energy.gov.

1. Take advantage of the heat from the sun and open curtains on your south-facing windows during the day to allow sunlight to naturally heat your home. Close them at night to reduce the chill you may feel from cold windows.

2. Cover drafty windows with a heavy-duty, clear plastic sheet on a frame or tape clear plastic film to the inside of your window frames during the cold winter months. Make sure the plastic is sealed tightly to the frame to help reduce infiltration. Install tight-fitting, insulating drapes or shades on windows that feel drafty after weatherizing.

3. When you are home and awake, set your thermostat as low as is comfortable. When you are asleep or out of the house, turn your thermostat back 10° to 15° for eight hours and save around 10% a year on your heating and cooling bills.

4. Seal the air leaks around utility cut-throughs for pipes (“plumbing penetrations”), gaps around chimneys and recessed lights in insulated ceilings, and unfinished spaces behind cupboards and closets. Add caulk or weatherstripping to seal air leaks around leaky doors and windows.

5. Find out what maintenance is required to keep your heating system operating efficiently. Replace your furnace filter once a month or as needed.

6. Keep your fireplace damper closed unless a fire is burning. Keeping the damper open is like keeping a window wide open during the winter. It allows warm air to go right up the chimney. If you never use your fireplace, plug and seal the chimney flue. Check the seal on the fireplace flue damper and make it as snug as possible. Add caulking around the fireplace hearth.

7. Turn down the temperature of your water heater to the warm setting (120°F). You’ll not only save energy, you’ll avoid scalding your hands.

8. Use light-emitting diode — or “LED” — holiday light strings to reduce the cost of decorating your home for the winter holidays.

For even more information on energy savings, living a more green life, and/or building a green house, visit the Home Neighborhood at the Library. Here are some titles you might want to check out:

October is Adopt-a-Dog Month, and you will find many books on pet rescue in the Pets Neighborhood.

Love at First Bite: How Saving a Dog Can Sometimes Help You  Save Yourself is one of those books. Author Julie Klam writes  about rescuing troubled dogs and how those dogs end up  saving their owners. Julie describes how she finds homes for a  very sweet pit bull, a special-needs terrier, and a stray who  was about ready to be run over by a train. She discovers how   saving dogs can put our own troubles in perspective.

Shelter Puppies by Michael Kloth provides photographs of over 60 shelter puppies waiting for adoption. He highlights the fact that there is a growing number of shelter dogs who need to find good homes. What better way to do that then through photos of adorable shelter puppies?

If you are thinking about adopting a dog and want to read more about pet adoption, come to the Pets Nieghborhood. You will find these two books and many more.

If you have a small homestead and are wanting to raise some kind of livestock, consider sheep or goats. Sheep are especially good animals for the small property owner, because you can raise 5-7 ewes and their lambs on the same amount land as one cow and calf. Likewise, goats can be kept on just a few acres of land and provide sweet milk and low-fat meat for the urban homesteader. Both animals are relatively inexpensive to raise, and you can have a good-sized flock relatively quickly. Begin your journey to your own personal flock by reading some of the books the Library owns.

Storey’s Guide to Raising Sheep provides information on breed selection, lambing, feeding, housing, pasture maintenance, and disease prevention and treatment. It also includes chapters on raising and training herding dogs, managing predators, and showing sheep.

The Joy of Keeping Goats includes information on buying and feeding goats, goat health, and goat breeding. Also included are chapters on making goat cheese and keeping fiber goats.

For these books and more, come to the Library’s Pets Neighborhood.

Are you wanting to produce your own food, save on utility costs, conserve resources, or create less waste? Then check out the books on self-sufficiency in the Home Neighborhood.

DIY Projects for the Self-Sufficient Homeowner: 26 Ways to Build a Self-Reliant Lifestyle provides step-by-step projects that will help you grow your own food, build a greenhouse, set up a root cellar, raise chickens and keep a beehive, and work with solar energy. There are also tips on how to conserve resources and recycle what you already have. This book is geared to be of help to both the novice and the experienced self-reliant person.

Little House in the Suburbs: Backyard Farming and Home Skills for Self-sufficient Living gives easy-to-follow advice on how to become more independent by growing food in your own yard. Also included are recipes for natural deodorant, toothpaste, lip balm, and other beauty products. There are also step-by-step instructions for making soap and natural cleaning products.

Find these books and many more in the Library’s Home Neighborhood.

The Library subscribes to several pet-related magazines. One of these is Bird Talk magazine. If you are the owner of a pet bird or are thinking about buying a pet bird, this is a great magazine for you to read. 

Bird Talk is designed to help the pet bird owner keep their birds happy and healthy. Every issue features an in-depth profile about a specific bird breed, including a centerfold poster of that bird. Articles are written about healthcare and nutrition, training, caging, and grooming. There are also articles about specific bird behavior issues and how to solve them. If you are looking for bird shows or bird breeders, Bird Talk includes a bird show calendar and a breeders’ directory. If you are interested in breeding birds, this magazine also provides information on that. Beyond being informative, Bird Talk is entertaining, too. It is filled with unique bird stories and lots of colorful photographs. 

I have been a Bird Talk reader for about 10 years and have enjoyed it very much. It has provided lots of useful information and entertainment for me, and I’m sure it has made me a better bird owner. Go to the periodicals room in the Library and check it out. Your bird will love you for it.

1.  Limit the amount of bird seed: Feeding your bird a total diet of bird seed is unhealthy for it. A diet of total seeds is unbalanced and lacks several important vitamins and nutrients. It would be the same as if you ate just one food. Make sure seed makes up a small portion of your bird’s diet.

2.  Limit the amount of pellets: A total diet of all-in-one pellets is not  advisable either. Pellets are better than seeds but fall short of providing everything your bird needs.

3. The best things come from your own refrigerator: Fresh fruits and vegetables are a must if you want to keep your bird healthy. They provide the nutrients that are not in seeds and pellets. Be sure to wash your produce completely, and buy organic if possible. The best fruits and vegies are the ones with the deepest colored flesh.  

4. Share your own meals with your bird: Share your food with your feathered friend, but make sure not to give him anything fatty or salty, and no red meat. Try whole wheat bread and pasta, some brown rice, or a sweet potato. Avoid anything that is processed.

5. Avoid avacados, chocolate, onions, tomatoes, garlic, celery, mushrooms, and alcohol. Also, resist giving any junk food that is salty or high in fat.

If you would like to make some food for your bird that will be healthy and good for it, check out The Healthy Bird Cookbook: A Lifesaving Nutrition Guide and Recipe Collection or Gourmet Bird Food Recipes. You can find these books and many more books about pet parrots in the Pets Nieghborhood.

If you are living in a small house, apartment, or townhome, it doesn’t mean your small space can’t be neat, well-organized, and well-decorated. Here are some tips for living well in a small space.

1. A spot for everything: A space looks much bigger if everything is organized and put into attractive storage containers. Leave as few items out on furniture as you can.

2. Smaller furniture: Replace big, overstuffed furniture with smaller pieces that fit the scale of your small space. Also, buy pieces that can multi-task such as ottomans and coffee tables with built-in storage.

3. Bring in light: Make sure your space is as light as possible. Place mirrors in your rooms to reflect the light and hang light-colored window coverings to help brighten the room.

4. Choose appropriate colors: Light and cool colors expand a space. (Warm colors make a room seem cozy.) Choose a neutral palette for your overall design and add pops of color throughout your space.

5. Divide a small space correctly: If you need to divide your small space, do it with a room divider that serves as a storage space and a decorative item.

The Library’s Home Neighborhood has many books on decorating small spaces. Two of the newest books are Better Homes and Gardens Small Space Decorating and Living in a Nutshell: Posh and Portable Decorating Ideas for Small Spaces. Come browse through these books, get some great decorating ideas, and start living large in your small space!