Books, Dogs and Steven Kotler

 Steven Kotler, I believe, is one of the best authors out there.  He has written two books, both of which I thought were awesome reads.

I read his first a few years ago and have recommended it to numerous friends,  "West of Jesus: Surfing, Science and the Origins of Belief.

 I just finished his second book,  "A Small Furry Prayer:  Dog Rescue and the Meaning of Life.    

 One of the reasons I really love his writing style is that through the book your reading you learn so much about so much.  He has this unique ability to draw comparisons from so many various sources from philosophy, psychology, religion, biology, chemistry and numerous other subjects, while keeping you interested with the theme of his writing.

 The latest book, A Small Fury Prayer, takes you on his journey of dog rescue.  

I don't think you have to be a dog person to enjoy the book, like I said previously, you learn about a lot, not just dogs.

If you love dogs though, you will whole heartedly love this book.  I love dogs.  If you've seen some of my video's you will see my dog Rocco in some of them, as he is one of my Saturday morning workout buddies.

My wife and I adopted him a few years back and he has been awesome!

So here are some cool scientifically proven health reasons for adopting a dog.

1.  They improve your mood.  A study was done with AIDS patients and those with dogs reported 50% less depression.

2.  They lower blood pressure better then ACE inhibitor drug prescriptions.  They control spikes in blood pressure from tension and stress better as well.

3.  They force you to exercise.  Dogs need a good walking.  You got an accountability partner now.

4.  Decrease loneliness.  A visit from a pet or dog in research involving nursing home residents. Those visited by a dog reported less feeling of loneliness then those visited by other humans!

5.  Boosts your immunity.  Petting a dog has been shown to increase Immunoglobulin A.

Here is a video of Steven Kotler running through his dog rescue land in New Mexico.  He calls it the Five Dog Workout.  He came up with it as a way for his rescues to learn to bond as a pack and get plenty of exercise to boot.

<iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/14784686?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="400" height="225" frameborder="0">iframe>
href="http://vimeo.com/14784686">The Five Dog Workout from href="http://vimeo.com/outside">Outside Magazine on href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo.


If your interested in helping out or learning more.  Rancho de Rancho de Chihuahua.  All their rescues are special needs that were on the list for euthanasia.