I wish I wouldn't wait so long to review my books sometimes. With some books it doesn't matter because they're just that good, luckily this is one of those.
I've read a few other books by Katz so when I spied this at the library, even though I had a decent sized stack of books I really needed to get to, I brought it home. Honesty, I don't think I noticed the sub-title because it wasn't until I started reading that I realized this is technically a self-help book. I don't "do" self-help usually. I have read a small handful but there's been two others that I remember liking and one of those was a FirstReads win about parenting. I only kept going because of my past experience with Katz.
I wouldn't say this should only be read by those who have an aging/dying pet though. My Lab is getting older but I don't *think* he's going to go in the immediate future. I hope to God that's the case. But I still got a lot from this book.
I wouldn't say he delivers any earth shattering news. Most of what is included is common sense stuff but hey, we don't all have common sense. It's all very straight forward and easy to understand and implement. Some of it is just stuff we don't think about for a variety of reasons. Katz packages it up nice and neat here for his readers.
The first book I read by Katz I knew he understood dogs in a way not every pet owner does. I think this is what allowed him to write this book, even more importantly, allowed him to write it well.
The black and white photos are gorgeous. I do wish he'd have used 'pets' more instead of 'dogs'. He does mention, more than one I believe, that not only dogs are hard to lose. Yet at times it felt like dog owners were being singled out in a way and a person with a hamster maybe "can't" feel the same.... I don't know if they can or can't. My gut instinct tells me they surely can. If I can fall in love with a dog or cat why can't someone fall in love with a snake or mouse?
I do need to say that I don't think Katz meant to convey it this way at all - and in a way he didn't - it's just a feeling that I got.
One of the very short stories included bothered me. It's in the beginning and it's about a logger who would take his rotty/shep mix with him. He let her out to roam free when he got to work and she apparently came back on her own when it was time to go. I guess I can see that. It's certainly not something I'd do but okay. So, the dog often came back "limping, bleeding, covered in scratch and claw marks." Uh, Mr. Logger? You think it might have been a good idea to curtail this activity of hers? No. He didn't. Apparently Mr. Logger was "happy for her" because "she died the way she wanted to die." Now how, pray-tell, could he know this? How can he know she wasn't having to fight off other animals because she thought he was in danger? How could he know she wasn't having to fight off other animals fora number of reasons? How could know these things? I wonder what it feels like to let responsibility run off your back like so much water.
Oh, one morning after jumping out of his truck she turned, "paused and stared into his eyes for the longest time" before limping off.... and never coming back. But, she died the way she wanted to die. Personally I've always felt it was the humans job to protect the animals but God knows not everyone agrees.
Oh yes, I can't forget this pleasant story. (Keep in mind these are stories told to Katz, while I probably would not have included them myself they in no way reflect on the book and how good it is IMO.)
One of Katz's female neighbors decided to "adopt" a baby lamb. She fed it with a bottle, let it sleep in her bedroom, etc. Eventually this animal that was never a pet to begin with starting "causing" problems. (If you ask me, the neighbor caused said problems.) She kept him in a spare room, presumably alone, because the other sheep on the farm would no longer accept him. Later, when Katz ran into her and asked after the lamb she told him what she'd ended up doing. Oh, you want to know where the lamb ended up? In her stomach. She ate him for Christmas dinner. And that, my friends, takes a special sort of person. That's pretty close to cannibalism IMO. You don't eat something you bottle-fed. You don't eat something that lived in your home and had a name. Ugh... I don't know what else to say but I'd love to know why Katz even gave her the lamb. He had to have known it wouldn't work out.
Katz also includes, near the end of the book, a beautiful letter, from a pet to his family and it's hard to read but pleasing at the same time. I'm not sure 'pleasing' is the correct word I want to use but I'm not able to come up with what I want to say. I honestly think it, or something like it, would quite possibly help someone. Hopefully many someones.
I'd certainly recommend this - and Katz's others - to any dog lover. This even can cross lines into other animals. It's a quick read and it does make you think.