-
Pukka's Promise
- The Quest for Longer-Lived Dogs
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 16 hrs and 51 mins
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $31.49
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Merle's Door
- Lessons from a Freethinking Dog
- By: Ted Kerasote
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ted Kerasote met and adopted Merle, a Labrador mix, while he was on a camping trip. Merle had been living in the wild, and after taking the dog home with him to Wyoming, Kerasote soon realized that Merle could not adjust to inhabiting exclusively the human world. So he put a door in his house to let Merle live both outside and in. A deeply touching portrait of a remarkable animal, Merle's Door explores the issues that all animals and their human companions face.
-
-
The Best Audio Book I've ever listened to
- By John Bonkowski on 07-15-07
By: Ted Kerasote
-
A Big Little Life
- A Memoir of a Joyful Dog Named Trixie
- By: Dean Koontz
- Narrated by: Dean Koontz
- Length: 4 hrs and 13 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a profound, funny, and beautifully rendered portrait of a beloved companion, bestselling novelist Dean Koontz remembers the golden retriever who changed his life. A retired service dog, Trixie was three when Dean and his wife, Gerda, welcomed her into their home. She was superbly trained, but her greatest gifts couldn’t be taught: her keen intelligence, her innate joy, and an uncanny knack for living in the moment. Whether chasing a tennis ball or protecting those she loved, Trixie gave all she had to everything she did....
-
-
Fabulous love letter to his dog.
- By Being on 11-11-14
By: Dean Koontz
-
The Other End of the Leash
- Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs
- By: Patricia McConnell PhD
- Narrated by: Ellen Archer
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Other End of the Leash shares a revolutionary new perspective on our relationship with dogs, focusing on our behavior in comparison with that of dogs. An applied animal behaviorist and dog trainer with more than 20 years of experience, Dr. Patricia McConnell looks at humans as just another interesting species, and muses about why we behave the way we do around our dogs, how dogs might interpret our behavior, and how to interact with our dogs in ways that bring out the best in them.
-
-
awesome information
- By Angie on 07-06-16
-
The Forever Dog
- A New Science Blueprint for Raising Exceptionally Healthy and Happy Companions
- By: Rodney Habib, Karen Shaw Becker
- Narrated by: Jean Ann Douglass, Joe Knezevich
- Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like their human counterparts, dogs have been getting sicker and dying prematurely over the past few decades. Why? Scientists are beginning to understand that the chronic diseases afflicting humans - cancer, obesity, diabetes, organ degeneration, and autoimmune disorders - also beset canines. As a result, our beloved companions are vexed with preventable health problems throughout much of their lives and suffer shorter life spans.
-
-
Every dog owner needs to listen to this!
- By Tracy Zanoni on 10-25-21
By: Rodney Habib, and others
-
The Power of Positive Dog Training
- By: Pat Miller
- Narrated by: Susan Boyce
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this book, renowned dog trainer Pat Miller gives you the positive training tools you need to ensure that you and your dog share a lifetime of fun, companionship, and respect. By following her step-by-step, six-week basic training program, you'll learn how to develop a relationship with your dog based on friendship and positive reinforcement, not fear and punishment.
-
-
Excellent
- By maroin snowden IV on 08-05-17
By: Pat Miller
-
The Art of Racing in the Rain
- By: Garth Stein
- Narrated by: Christopher Evan Welch
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times best-selling novel from Garth Stein - a heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope - a captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life...as only a dog could tell it.
-
-
A stunning read
- By Cliff on 03-04-09
By: Garth Stein
-
Merle's Door
- Lessons from a Freethinking Dog
- By: Ted Kerasote
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ted Kerasote met and adopted Merle, a Labrador mix, while he was on a camping trip. Merle had been living in the wild, and after taking the dog home with him to Wyoming, Kerasote soon realized that Merle could not adjust to inhabiting exclusively the human world. So he put a door in his house to let Merle live both outside and in. A deeply touching portrait of a remarkable animal, Merle's Door explores the issues that all animals and their human companions face.
-
-
The Best Audio Book I've ever listened to
- By John Bonkowski on 07-15-07
By: Ted Kerasote
-
A Big Little Life
- A Memoir of a Joyful Dog Named Trixie
- By: Dean Koontz
- Narrated by: Dean Koontz
- Length: 4 hrs and 13 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a profound, funny, and beautifully rendered portrait of a beloved companion, bestselling novelist Dean Koontz remembers the golden retriever who changed his life. A retired service dog, Trixie was three when Dean and his wife, Gerda, welcomed her into their home. She was superbly trained, but her greatest gifts couldn’t be taught: her keen intelligence, her innate joy, and an uncanny knack for living in the moment. Whether chasing a tennis ball or protecting those she loved, Trixie gave all she had to everything she did....
-
-
Fabulous love letter to his dog.
- By Being on 11-11-14
By: Dean Koontz
-
The Other End of the Leash
- Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs
- By: Patricia McConnell PhD
- Narrated by: Ellen Archer
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Other End of the Leash shares a revolutionary new perspective on our relationship with dogs, focusing on our behavior in comparison with that of dogs. An applied animal behaviorist and dog trainer with more than 20 years of experience, Dr. Patricia McConnell looks at humans as just another interesting species, and muses about why we behave the way we do around our dogs, how dogs might interpret our behavior, and how to interact with our dogs in ways that bring out the best in them.
-
-
awesome information
- By Angie on 07-06-16
-
The Forever Dog
- A New Science Blueprint for Raising Exceptionally Healthy and Happy Companions
- By: Rodney Habib, Karen Shaw Becker
- Narrated by: Jean Ann Douglass, Joe Knezevich
- Length: 15 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Like their human counterparts, dogs have been getting sicker and dying prematurely over the past few decades. Why? Scientists are beginning to understand that the chronic diseases afflicting humans - cancer, obesity, diabetes, organ degeneration, and autoimmune disorders - also beset canines. As a result, our beloved companions are vexed with preventable health problems throughout much of their lives and suffer shorter life spans.
-
-
Every dog owner needs to listen to this!
- By Tracy Zanoni on 10-25-21
By: Rodney Habib, and others
-
The Power of Positive Dog Training
- By: Pat Miller
- Narrated by: Susan Boyce
- Length: 8 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this book, renowned dog trainer Pat Miller gives you the positive training tools you need to ensure that you and your dog share a lifetime of fun, companionship, and respect. By following her step-by-step, six-week basic training program, you'll learn how to develop a relationship with your dog based on friendship and positive reinforcement, not fear and punishment.
-
-
Excellent
- By maroin snowden IV on 08-05-17
By: Pat Miller
-
The Art of Racing in the Rain
- By: Garth Stein
- Narrated by: Christopher Evan Welch
- Length: 6 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times best-selling novel from Garth Stein - a heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope - a captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life...as only a dog could tell it.
-
-
A stunning read
- By Cliff on 03-04-09
By: Garth Stein
-
For the Love of a Dog
- Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend
- By: Patricia B McConnell
- Narrated by: Ellen Archer
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Renowned canine expert Patricia McConnell answers the questions of dog lovers everywhere. Do dogs have emotions like we do? More to the point, does my dog love me? Sharing riveting dog stories from her experiences, Dr. McConnell also offers accessible science that clues listeners in to what's going on behind those puppy dog eyes.
-
-
My dog doesn't like to be patted on the head!
- By Cocker Lane on 08-07-08
-
Bones Would Rain from the Sky
- Deepening Our Relationships with Dogs
- By: Suzanne Clothier
- Narrated by: Pam Ward
- Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Bones Would Rain from the Sky, Suzanne Clothier takes a radical new direction in understanding our life with dogs...and our mutual love. Drawing on a lifetime of experience with dogs, this nationally renowned dog trainer brings us astonishing new lessons about our animals - and ourselves. Gently, with intelligence, humor, and unfailing patience, Suzanne Clothier guides us to truly comprehend another creature's mind and heart.
-
-
Good insight, unnecessarily slow
- By patty15 in OC on 03-03-17
By: Suzanne Clothier
-
A Most Remarkable Creature
- The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey
- By: Jonathan Meiburg
- Narrated by: Jonathan Meiburg
- Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An enthralling account of a modern voyage of discovery as we meet the clever, social birds of prey called caracaras, which puzzled Darwin, fascinate modern-day falconers, and carry secrets of our planet's deep past in their family history.
-
-
I don't leave reviews often, but . . .
- By Steven L Peck on 06-24-21
By: Jonathan Meiburg
-
How Stella Learned to Talk
- The Groundbreaking Story of the World's First Talking Dog
- By: Christina Hunger
- Narrated by: Ann Marie Gideon, Stella the Dog
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
An incredible, revolutionary true story, How Stella Learned to Talk is also a surprisingly simple guide to teaching your dog to talk from speech-language pathologist Christina Hunger, who has taught her dog, Stella, to communicate using simple paw-sized buttons associated with different words.
-
-
Excited to try to get my dog "talking".
- By amanda on 06-28-21
By: Christina Hunger
-
How Dogs Think
- What the World Looks Like to Them and Why They Act the Way They Do
- By: Stanley Coren PhD
- Narrated by: Bob Dio
- Length: 13 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author, psychologist, and world-renowned expert on dog behavior and training Dr. Stanley Coren presents the most informative, in-depth, fascinating book yet on dogs. Acclaimed for its solid scientific research and entertaining, eminently accessible style, How Dogs Think gives you the insight that you need to understand the silly, quirky, and apparently irrational behaviors that dogs demonstrate, as well as those stunning flashes of brilliance and creativity that they also can display.
-
-
EXCEPTIONAL BOOK
- By Lisa c. on 12-20-18
-
What the Dog Knows
- The Science and Wonder of Working Dogs
- By: Cat Warren
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Cat Warren is a university professor and former journalist with an admittedly odd hobby: She and her German shepherd have spent the last seven years searching for the dead. Solo is a cadaver dog. What started as a way to harness Solo’s unruly energy and enthusiasm soon became a calling that introduced Warren to the hidden and fascinating universe of working dogs, their handlers, and their trainers.
-
-
Excellent book about cadaver dogs!
- By Morgan on 12-19-13
By: Cat Warren
-
A Dog's Purpose
- By: W. Bruce Cameron
- Narrated by: William Dufris
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Heartwarming, insightful, and often laugh-out-loud funny, A Dog's Purpose is not only the emotional and hilarious story of a dog's many lives, but also a dog's-eye commentary on human relationships and the unbreakable bonds between man and man's best friend. This moving and beautifully crafted story teaches us that love never dies, that our true friends are always with us, and that every creature on earth is born with a purpose.
-
-
Didn’t need this one.....
- By Animal-Lover on 01-25-19
By: W. Bruce Cameron
-
The Speckled Beauty
- A Dog and His People
- By: Rick Bragg
- Narrated by: Rick Bragg
- Length: 6 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the best-selling, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of All Over but the Shoutin', the warmhearted and hilarious story of how his life was transformed by his love for a poorly behaved, half-blind stray dog.
-
-
Pure Pleasure
- By Dale A Watford on 09-25-21
By: Rick Bragg
-
Chaser
- Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words
- By: John W. Pilley, Hilary Hinzmann
- Narrated by: Peter Powlus
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chaser has a way with words. She knows over a thousand of them—more than any other animal of any species except humans. In addition to common nouns like house, ball, and tree, she has memorized the names of more than one thousand toys and can retrieve any of them on command. Based on that learning, she and her owner and trainer, retired psychologist John Pilley, have moved on to further impressive feats, demonstrating her ability to understand sentences with multiple elements of grammar and to learn new behaviors by imitation.
-
-
An Inspiring Way to Retire!
- By N. Rogers on 01-18-15
By: John W. Pilley, and others
-
Inside of a Dog
- What Dogs See, Smell, and Know
- By: Alexandra Horowitz
- Narrated by: Karen White
- Length: 10 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Have you ever wondered what your dogs are thinking? What they're feeling? Now you can finally know! The answers will surprise and delight you as scientist and dog owner Alexandra Horowitz explains how our four-legged friends perceive their daily worlds, each other, and that other quirky animal, the human.
-
-
A great insight to a dog 's life
- By Jesus on 07-11-16
-
Let Dogs Be Dogs
- Understanding Canine Nature and Mastering the Art of Living with Your Dog
- By: The Monks of New Skete
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Through abundant stories and case studies, the authors reveal how canine nature manifests itself in various behaviors, some potentially disruptive to domestic accord, and show how in addressing these behaviors you can strengthen the bond with your dog as well as keep the peace. The promise of this book is that, especially in an ever-accelerating world filled with digital distractions, you can learn from your dog's example how to live in the moment, thereby enriching your life immeasurably.
-
-
Raise dogs like your children
- By Drew on 08-14-20
-
How Dogs Love Us
- A Neuroscientist and His Adopted Dog Decode the Canine Brain
- By: Gregory Berns
- Narrated by: LJ Ganser
- Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
How Dogs Love Us answers the age-old question of dog lovers everywhere and offers profound new evidence that dogs should be treated as we would treat our best human friends: with love, respect, and appreciation for their social and emotional intelligence.
-
-
Mistitled, academic, uninformative
- By M. Shults on 04-22-17
By: Gregory Berns
Publisher's Summary
When Ted Kerasote was ready for a new dog after losing his beloved Merle - who died too soon, as all our dogs do - he knew that he would want to give his puppy Pukka the longest life possible. But how to do that? So much has changed in the way we feed, vaccinate, train, and live with our dogs from even a decade ago.
In an adventure that echoes The Omnivore’s Dilemma with a canine spin, Kerasote tackles all those subjects, questioning our conventional wisdom and emerging with vital new information that will surprise even the most knowledgeable dog lovers. Can a pure bred be as healthy as a mixed breed? How many vaccines are too many? Should we rethink spaying and neutering? Is raw food really healthier than kibble, and should your dog be chewing more bones? Traveling the world and interviewing breeders, veterinarians, and leaders of the animal welfare movement, Kerasote pulls together the latest research to help us rethink the everyday choices we make forour companions. And as he did in Merle’s Door, Kerasote interweaves fascinating science with the charming stories of raising Pukka among his dog friends in their small Wyoming village.
Funny, revelatory, and full of the delights of falling in love with a dog, Pukka’s Promise will help redefine the potential of our animal partners.
More from the same
Author
Narrator
What listeners say about Pukka's Promise
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Leslie-Ann
- 03-05-13
One of my Favourite Books EVER!
What made the experience of listening to Pukka's Promise the most enjoyable?
The fact that it was a mix of fact and story. (Not fiction but the story of Pukka and Ted). I learned so much from this and the way Ted bonds with the dogs in his life is pretty darned amazing, amusing and heartwarming.
Who was your favorite character and why?
All of them.
Which scene was your favorite?
The scenes where Burley is stealing the balls from Pukka, AJ and Goo!
What’s an idea from the book that you will remember?
That the pet care industry doesn't always have your pets best intrest in mind!
Any additional comments?
LOVED, LOVED, LOVED THIS BOOK! I RECOMMEND IT TO EVERYONE!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Erica
- 07-01-13
A must listen for every dog lover.
If you love your dog and want to do the best by him or her, don't listen to your vet or big pet food marketing. Listen to this. Dogs need to run free, eat things close to their natural diet and take it easy on the medication in order to be healthy. Ted Kerasote presents this information with lots of understandable scientific evidence and keeps it entertaining with backup anecdotes of his life with his dogs, Merle and Pukka.
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- S. Jower
- 02-24-13
Awful Narrator
Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?
I don't know - it is a great story but the narrator ruined it.... maybe as a book
What didn’t you like about Luke Daniels’s performance?
After listening to Merle''s Door this performance is horrendous... Luke Daniels makes the dogs sound like stupid children... instead of the wonderful character that the narrator of Merles Door gave them... it was so bad I had to stop listening and read the book instead
Was Pukka's Promise worth the listening time?
No -i didn't finish it - read the book instead - because it is a great story - just horrible horrible narrator
9 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Popcorn Sally
- 04-18-14
Good content, strange narration
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
The content of the book was interesting- factual data about canine health issues interspersed with snippets from Pukka's real-life experiences.
What was one of the most memorable moments of Pukka's Promise?
The story about how euthanized pets are rendered and used in pet food.
Did Luke Daniels do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?
He did a good job differentiating them. Too good, I guess. It seemed so patronizing to hear him try to do different accents to indicate who was speaking. He also used a lot of "little baby" voices to indicate the dogs were speaking. It was distracting. I don't have a better suggestion, but the voices were a bit over-the-top for my taste.
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Laura A Azevedo CPDT-KA
- 06-02-13
Very informative book for all dog lovers
What made the experience of listening to Pukka's Promise the most enjoyable?
The author interwove the story of his second dog, Pukka, with his research about the health and well being of dogs. He mostly sticks to science to explain many things associated with living with and owning dogs.
What did you like best about this story?
I am a dog trainer. I've lived with dogs my whole life and I rely on my service dog to live in a world made for able bodied people. I do my best to stay up to date on the best ways to care for my dogs. This book opened my eyes to a few new things I can do to ensure my dogs live long and healthy lives.
Any additional comments?
If you are a dog professional, a dog lover, or just someone who wants to learn more about these animals we share our lives with, read this book. I promise you will learn something.
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Ronald J. Chasse
- 07-14-17
Ted writes another knockout!
This book is as intriguing as was Merle's Door with its enormous information as well as heartfelt sentiment for those four legged angels who cross our paths! Few books leave me in tears when I am through reading them. This one does not disappoint! I'm such a fan of this author and his dogs!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Suzanne Le
- 07-16-14
An wealth of information for dog enthusiasts.
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes I would recommend it. Great information on vaccines, spay/neuter, dog food, picking a puppy, and much more.
What did you like best about this story?
Wonderful reference book with an excellent story.
Have you listened to any of Luke Daniels’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
I don't think so, so I wouldn't know.
Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
Enjoyed the book.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Lois
- 04-30-14
If you love your dog, you'll love this book. . . .
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes. This book is both a fascinating view of our relationship with our dogs and a good primer on how dogs are treated in our society and how they are raised.
What other book might you compare Pukka's Promise to and why?
Merle's Door, another book by Ted Kerasote; though Merle's Door is much more about the personal bond between Ted and Merle.
Which character – as performed by Luke Daniels – was your favorite?
Pukka . . . of course.
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- inov8v
- 02-09-14
outstanding book...
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
as a dog lover but clearly a novice...i found this book to be extremely eye opening...the story was ok but the research was outstanding and has pointed me to a path of exploration as find my next dog (s)...
Would you recommend Pukka's Promise to your friends? Why or why not?
yes...for the reasons stated above...
Which character – as performed by Luke Daniels – was your favorite?
i actually thought the character portrayals were a little hokey...
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
yes
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- jacob
- 04-21-22
great information, bad sound editing
if you're concerned with your dogs health and not willing to accept "standard" veterinary practices then this is a book you need to read. luke Daniels performance was outstanding, but the sound editing was crap. when he uses a softer voice the volume drops so low you can't hear it so you're constantly having to rewind it and crank up the volume.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story

- N
- 05-12-13
Excellent book.
The book raises very relevant interesting issues for dog owners. Well worth listening to. Wish more dog books were as questioning and informative as this.