You Had Me At Woof: How Dogs Taught Me The Secrets Of Happiness (2010) - Plot & Excerpts
This is a very easy read, and a fast one. It's what I would call brain candy, though it's not as bad as a romance novel. The chapter about how you mourn a pet provided some great insights into my grieving process due to my black lab dying 4 months ago. "Unfortunately 'the end' is part of every dog story, and if you have dogs you have to reconcile with that"(118). This is the harsh reality that I cannot come to terms with regarding my sweet Lucy. She should have lived longer, ideally forever."Being the one who has to make the choice is a terrible responsibility, and it's almost never as clear as you wish it would be... A very wise dog woman once told me that dogs find owners, not the other way around. They pick you and they chose to stay with you. In that way, they are also giving you the end of their life. The deeper the bond, the harder it is to say goodbye. I know I'd rather have any amount of time with a dog I love and suffer the mourning than not have the time at all" (130). This perfectly describes how I feel. It was really hard to decide she needed to be put to sleep though the bone cancer had made her a paraplegic and she had pretty much no options. And it has been so hard to lose her, but at least I had those 11 years with her... This book probably wasn't what a lot of people expected based on the cover, title and description. It wasn't funny or particularly heartwarming, but it was a good representation of what fostering/volunteering for a rescue is like. Granted, I've volunteered for GraySave, The Animal Match Rescue Team and now West Coast Rescue---and all but one aren't breed specific...so some some things are different. For example, I think people in breed rescue groups can be a bit more uptight than all breed rescue groups/volunteers. Also, this author seemed a bit more on the crazy dog lady side than she'd like to admit. I've been in rescue for over 8 years and I'm on foster dog #41. I've had dogs my entire life, from delivering puppies in the 6th grade to going to dog shows with my parents who bred and showed dogs, to going into rescue...but I don't consider myself an expert. Klam certainly isn't either, and I thought it was pretty absurd that she thought that she was. Honestly, she knew less than most of the people I volunteer with. Her heart's in the right place, and a lot of the issues she brings up are common within rescue...but she tends to overreact to things, or plain avoided doing simple things (like hey, maybe buy an x-pen or some pee-pee underpants?) that would have been no-brainers. There are a lot of rescue groups that are really easy to foster for, and I hope this book doesn't make people wary of volunteering for one. I've never had an issue flipping one foster for another if one didn't get along with my dogs, and I've never driven 8 hours to do a transfer. I'm glad there are people who will do that for specific breeds...but it's silly when there are so many great dogs that need homes EVERYwhere.
What do You think about You Had Me At Woof: How Dogs Taught Me The Secrets Of Happiness (2010)?
One other reviewer compared this to a Christmas letter and I couldn't agree more.
—Azia
The cover of the book got me, but I also thoroughly enjoyed reading this!!
—cpzto
Very sweet book about the power of dogs in our lives. And funny, too!
—Komrade
