Dogster

return to top

From the dark end of the street to the bright side of the road!

A Dog's Purpose

A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron was recommended to us a long time ago but it took forever for me and the Ma'am to get it from the library since 8 people had it on hold before us. So we were really looking forward to it--if that many people wanted to read it, it must be good, right?

Well, I liked it. And the Boss Ma'am liked it. But we don't think everyone would. It's hard to tell you much about the book without a big spoiler. So if you think you want to read the book and don't want us to ruin any surprises, just know this: if the story of the Rainbow Bridge is important to you, this is not the book for you.

Now for the **Spoiler Alert**--I won't spill it all, I promise.

The book is told by a dog, actually a puppy, born on the streets and then rescued by a kindly, if maybe overwhelmed, group of people who keep him in a large open yard with lots of other dogs. They're all pretty happy there until a new dog, a former fighting dog, is brought in. The hierarchy of the pack is disrupted and eventually Toby, the puppy, suffers an injury. Shortly thereafter, the rescue group is shut down, and all the dogs taken to shelters. Toby is deemed "unadoptable" due to his injury. He's taken to a chamber...a funny noise...he gets very sleepy...

But wait! We say. It's only the first few pages! Toby will escape. Toby will find the perfect family. What the hey?!?

Nope. Toby is gassed. Grab your first tissue. While you're at it, grab the box. You're going to need it.

See, Toby is then reincarnated as Bailey, a beloved family dog. But then...you guessed it. Next he's a she--a police dog trained in search and rescue. Ellie is confused about why she keeps coming back to new lives, but as a rescue dog, she is sure that she has found her purpose: helping people. The lessons she learned as Toby and Bailey have brought her to this point. So she is sure that this will be her final life.

She's wrong. She returns once more as a puppy from a backyard breeder. She's a He again, chained up in a backyard to a loving but neglectful family. He escapes and finds himself in familiar territory--his old hometown as Bailey. His Bailey years were his happiest--he had a boy he loved more than anything.

It's 44 years later and he smells some familiar scents around. He learns what his purpose really is.

I'll leave it at that so you have something to look forward to!

Happy reading!

One Good Dog

Welcome back to the Book Club! Gosh, it's been a long time. We've been reading, the Boss Ma'am and I, but not so many dog books. We have caught up with all of David Rosenfelt's dog friendly mysteries, which I highly recommend. He's got a new one just out...Dog Tags which is definitely on my wish list.

Today our book is One Good Dog by Susan Wilson. It's not your usual man meets dog love story. Well, actually, in some ways it is, but in this case it takes a while for the two to learn to love each other. Fitting, since they're not really all that lovable and it takes the reader a while to grow to love them too.

Adam, the human main character, is a self made man. He has managed to rise to wealth and success from a humble start in foster homes. Unfortunately what he's made of himself isn't all good. He's arrogant and has a bad temper, which causes him to lose everything and end up doing community service at a local homeless shelter (the kind for humans, not dogs!).

The canine main character (who doesn't get a name until much later in the story) tells his own tale. He's a fighting dog--a "gladiator" in his words--who ends up in the shelter (the animal kind this time) when the fighting ring is discovered. He ends up on the streets, back in the shelter, and eventually with Adam as a case of mistaken identity.

These two have issues, no doubt about it. Both are arrogant in their own way, but both are good at heart. Finding the good takes a while. But as is so often the case in these stories, they come to depend on each other and both are better for the relationship they've developed.

It's not an easy book to read. Adam is not a likable guy much of the time. The dog's description of the fighting world is unpleasant. I still recommend it because, well, I'm a sucker for a happy ending...and these two deserved theirs.

Till next time...happy tales!

I will survive

That's my vacation mantra. I will survive. I will survive. It helps keep me from crawling into the suitcases (too often) or sucking on my pacifier-foot (much). And it seems to work, because I have survived another one. And, truth be told, it wasn't really all that bad.

We went to Montana for a week. We stayed at Big Mountain and hiked the Danny On trail, drove through Glacier National Park on the Going-to-the-Sun road, and ate ice cream. The grass in Montana is delicious.

And unlike most vacations, we didn't get lost (not even once! A first!) and I didn't get attacked by any rude dogs. I might even go back someday. But not any time soon. There's still no place like home.