Moments With Baxter: Comfort and Love from the World's Best Therapy Dog,   ISBN:9780981881300

Customer Rating: 

I love this book! Baxter is inspiring. He is so adorable and heart-warming. What a blessing. I cried the entire time I was reading this book. For this beautiful creature to bring a moment of happiness into people's lives by just being Baxter. I'm glad I found out about this book at Amazon.

Customer Rating: 

After seeing a YouTube video clip featuring Baxter, I immediately searched Amazon.com to see if his book was available. I purchased one for my sister, and one for myself. I read the book on a rainy Saturday afternoon. I laughed and I cried throughout the book, but most of all, I was amazed to learn about Baxter and the compelling stories that so beautifully illustrate all he has accomplished during his lifetime. 'Moments With Baxter' is not just for dog lovers; rather, it is an awesome read for anyone with a heart!

Customer Rating: 

I received my book on October 16th ...I think it was the day Baxter passed. I will cherish this book forever. It was obvious from the photos in the book that this guy hung on for those 19 years to keep up his good deeds. I love that the proceeds from this book go to charity and I love that his parents shared his stories! Baxter has really spread the love.

Customer Rating: 

Although I have not read "Moments with Baxter", I received an email that contained a video of "Baxter" rolling into a terminally ill patient's room in a red wagon, and his owner scooping up his lifeless body, which resembles a sack of grain slumped over her arms. She places Baxter next to the patient, who gently strokes him and smiles. Don't get me wrong-I whole heartidly believe in animal therapy. The research is astounding regarding the benefits of animals playing a very big role in complimetary therapy and recovery in patients. I am a nurse with a background in Oncology-I believe that quality of life is a huge factor in deciding a plan of care. Here is the problem I have with Baxter-what is the quality of life of this dog? He is elderly and has lost the use of his legs. I cried like a baby as I watched this video, not at the site of Baxter making a difference in an ill patient, rather at the site of Baxter being picked up and placed on the bed like a stuffed animal. Thank god our society allows animal owners to humanely euthanize their pets when they are suffering or no longer have a quality of life. It is a shame laws do not allow for us to do the same for our human loved ones. Perhaps Baxter's love ones need to consider his quality of life.

Customer Rating: 

[...]

All over the world, the therapeutic value of dogs is gaining a higher profile. They are showing up in hospitals, nursing homes and mental health facilities, enhancing the lives of people with special needs. Baxter is a therapy dog with a strong, silent voice that knows no boundaries, yet reaches into the hearts and minds of the hospice patients he visits. He is frequently referred to as an angel.

Moments with Baxter is an inspiring collection of true short stories taken from Baxter's peaceful interludes with those who need him most. Memories are elicited and distance gained from long-standing pain as this extraordinary dog reminds us of the incredible healing power of animals. The patients touch and talk to Baxter, find joy in the love he so freely offers, and always recognize that he is opening a door for them.

Author Melissa Joseph describes these highly emotional encounters in simple, heartfelt language.

Baxter looks deeply into each person's eye and creates a light in the room that I assume will glow long after we depart.

Joseph frequently touches on what we know to be the unexplainable: We are evidently now farther away from Tom's awareness. He has made some sort of mysterious transition and Baxter is now part of his inner circle.

The reader gains the insight that Baxter lives moment to moment, just like all animals. Death is simply part of their experience and they accept it. Baxter is able to convey that acceptance with a silent, loving spirit, so that peace replaces the fear and despair with which some hospice patients are grappling. Through his devotion to his calling, Baxter lifts the pall that some of us associate with the transition from one world into the next.

Included in the last part of the book is a chapter covering what a reader needs to know if they think their own pet would make a good therapy dog. This is a useful section detailing important features of a therapy dog and his or her owner as well as certification requirements and benefits of the experience.

The patch on Baxter's therapy jacket says "Paws Awhile for Love". Readers of this unusual book will find themselves doing just that.