Book Review & Giveway - The Dog Who Healed a Family

The Dog Who Healed a Family: And Other True Animal Stories That Warm the Heart & Touch the Soul [Paperback] Jo Coudert

The very first story, about a dog named Snoopy, was 11 pages of one tissue break, after another. Seriously my heart was overflowing with the emotion of what I would do in that situation. 

I was actually glad that all of the stories didn't have me crying like a baby, especially because I like to read on the bus and the tears and sniffles are hard to disguise.

All of the adventures Jo writes about will have you smiling and shaking your head in amazement over these extraordinary animals (and reptile).  I really enjoyed this collection of true stories because we all need a reminder that our human world is intrinsically linked to the animal world. 

And if we let them, animals can be some of our best teachers.  I'm looking at Cleo, my big rescue dog right now napping on her bed, blissfully unaware of her impact on me.

If I had to choose my favorite story from the bunch it would probably be The Puppy Express.  Part of the Grouchy Puppy Mission is to give fearlessly and the people who became the Puppy Express, did just that. 

They freely gave of themselves and welcomed the opportunity to do so. [Excerpt from The Puppy Express]

"Rod Hale, whose idea the Puppy Express had been was asked why the volunteers had done it. Why had thirteen staff members of ten Humane Societies and animal shelters gone to so much trouble for one little dog

Ron told him what one volunteer had said to him on the phone.  "It would have been so easy to tell Nancy Topp that nothing could be done. Instead, you gave all of us a chance to make a loving, caring gesture. Thank you for that."

Now for the fun part!  Would you like to share these amazing stories with your friends and family? They are perfect for family reading night. Be inspired by these extraordinary animal-human relationships that veteran animal writer Jo Coudert uncovered. I would like to give my advance copy of this wonderful book to you!!!

Note: The paperback and Kindle version of this book doesn't come out until August 1.

THE DOG THAT HEALED A FAMILY GIVEAWAY

WAYS TO WIN

1. Leave a comment below telling me your own true animal story OR go to my fundraising page and make a donation to Gabriel's Angels.
2. Tweet that you entered my giveaway, just copy and paste this statement (without quotes) into your Twitter client: "I entered to win a copy of The Dog That Healed a Family on .@grouchypuppy Dog Days blog http://bit.ly/cVn310 #contests"
3. Please, no comment spam.
4. Contest open to US residents only. (Sorry, rest of the world!)

And that's it!  I will pick a winner at random on Friday July 23 at midnight PST.  Please make sure you leave a working email so that I can contact you.

Disclosure: I received this paperback for free and have not received any compensation from the author or publisher.  After reading the book I would simply like to pass my gently used copy directly on to one of you at my expense. 

My hope is that this blog will help build a community of pet lovers and advocates here at Grouchy Puppy, and raise money for various rescues and groups like Gabriel's Angels, a wonderful pet therapy program for at risk children.

Comments

[Jessica Stephens]

I don't have any spectacular stories like I'm sure are in the book, but whenever I'm sick or sad I cuddle up with my dog, Leah and she just stays there with me for as long as I need her. It makes me think she understands how I feel. :)

[Cleo & Sharon]

Oh Jessica, that is a sweet story. Leah knows her part in your pack, and it is that of caregiver when her female needs her. Dogs show us unconditional love if we open ourselves to receiving it. And it sounds like you do.

Don't forget if you want to enter the giveaway, please email us a working address (click on the envelope icon at the top).

[cat]

We've had a lot of dogs in our family, but the most special was definitely, "Lady" -- a rescue pit bull/lab mix. Animal control found a scared and heavily pregnant dog in the woods near our house, and my mom who volunteered at the local shelter went up to help.

The poor dog responded immediately to my mom's kindness. Even though we already had two dogs, being a big softie, my mom couldn't let a pregnant dog go to the cold, wet concrete floor shelter. Lady came to us as a foster, thinking it was just until she had her puppies.

About a week later, my mom discovered to her surprise that SHE was also pregnant, with my little sister.

Needless to say, Lady became a part of the family, and there were many special moments. When she died, I had to leave work to go home and help my family cope with the loss. She was so important to us!