Teacher's Pet

Puppy Patrol #1

by Jenny Dale

A delightful series that's perfect for boys and girls who love dogs.

Genres: Animals, Childrens, Fiction, Dogs, Middle Grade, Chapter Books, Realistic Fiction

128 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1997

About the author

Prolific author of animals stories for younger children, in particular dog and cat stories. As well as a Puppy Tales and Kitten Tales series she has written the Pony Tales series of pony books.

There is some speculation that the author does not actually exist but is a psuedonym for another author or authors. One author mentioned as writing under the name of Jenny Dale is Liss Norton, who incidentally is also said to be one of the ghostwriters for the Lucy Daniels Animal Ark series.

Reviews

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm guessing at the "British" tag, since the story is a little generic until the mention of the friend in London—"That's miles away!" ...it's *possible* it means London, California, but *shrug*??

I feel like this is a good time to mention that people tend to associate a real name with the most famous place with that name, so if this is in fact about Compton, California, then that would be handy to know (although THAT Compton is a city, not a town).

Anyway, this is a cute story mostly about dogs, particularly one untrainable dalmatian named Dotty. The main character, Neil, gets into trouble when his new teacher turns out to be the owner of said untrainable dalmatian and only gets back out of trouble when the teacher finds out Neil's father is a pro dog trainer. Long story short, Dotty (as these stories go) finally learns some obedience, and everyone lives happily ever after until the next spat of trouble.

HOW that all happens I'll leave you to find out for yourself, but honestly, it's fairly predictable, at least as far as Dotty goes. It's practically impossible to write a young adult book of this type and have a sad ending AND hope to keep selling the books. I mean, if you plan to do that, maybe don't start the series with the bad ending, or no one will check out book 2!

I do like Neil's optimism, though. Buttons has a happy, if easily addressed resolution, but Sandy had me smiling for personal reasons (spoiler to explain, but basically one of the toughest jobs for Neil to have). Definitely a series I might look forward to reading, if I can find more of the books!*

*I do say find and mean literally FIND, because if I special order EVERY book I have on my mind, I'll be both broke AND swamped in books...

[Katt Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great series for dog lovers!

Neil's parents own a kennel and animal rescue center. How his life at home and his love of dogs entwines through every aspect of his life - even more so when his new teacher at school turns out to have a problem dog. Training the untrainable animal becomes Neil's obsession - to keep his teacher from giving up what is a really great dog.

What I love about this series is that the dogs are real - nothing cartoonish. Also, the training things are spot on. This is a book written by someone who understand dogs and how to deal with them, and is able to write about them in a way that's entertaining and natural. The kids feel like real kids, and I enjoyed getting to know them. Even if the ending is a little contrived, I would say this series is highly recommended!

[Lianna Kendig · Rating 3 out of 5]

(LL)
I’ve had these books for like 15 years (I didn’t hear about them until I was like 13), but never got around to reading them. It wasn’t written very well even though it’s meant for kids (5-8ish). The story was not super interesting and the ending felt very random and unnecessary. I will not take the time to read the rest of the books I own in the series. I’m sure there are other kids out there who would really like this series.

As an aside: Animal Ark by Ben Baglio is a very similar premise with better writing and plots. I would recommend the Animal Ark series over Puppy Patrol.

[Laura Daboo · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely, relatively easy chapter book, ideal for children developing their confidence and interest in reading from ages 6-10. This is the first in a series of books with recurring characters. The central character is a young boy called Neil who is relatable to the reader. An ideal series to engage any dog/animal lovers. The story was simple and engaging.

[Reneline Ramos · Rating 3 out of 5]

i want to read this

[Imani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was obsessed with this series as a kid

[Ciera Legue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Its a very good book and i love reading about how they are training a rambunctious dalmation

[Jocelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as a kid because I loved books with animals. I can't remember how many books in the series that I read, but I really liked them because if it was a book and it had either a dog or a horse featured than I was all about it.

[Timberley Mouat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a boy named Sam and his family has a place were dogs can go there if they dont have a home or needs some place they can stay while there owners go on vacation and this place is called King Street Kennles.Sam is just starting school and Sam thinks his teacher is realy mean.And his teacher gives out a lot of homework.

But his teacher also has a dog and that dog gets into a lot of trouble.While one day while Sam and one of his best friends saw his teacher walking with his dog named Dotty.They were talking and Sam mastackinly said something mean about his dog.

Now the techer is mad about him.But the teachers wife is haveing a baby,and they take Dotty to King Street Kinnles. The teacher said to Sam that they might give away Dotty to someone else. Sam is not happy about it,he see a sighn that says Dog Show anyone can join. So Sam sighns up Dotty,without asking his owner.

[Shaya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I read these between grades 3-6. This is my review for the entrie series. I thought the stories were interesting. I am totally dog crazy and was then too so it was great to find a series exclusively about dogs next to the many pony series. The plots were mostly interesting although some were annoying more than anything else. I wish the series had stopped at some point. I got very sick of them and felt they kept repeating themselves.

[Cheyenne Carden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when I was in about 5th or 6th grade so my review won't be as good as it would if I just read the book. Growing up I wanted to be a vet and I love animals so when I saw this series on my friends floor just sitting there I asked to take them. This series is a good read for younger children it wasn't very hard to read and I loved it. I wish I still had the books because I would re-read them and give a better review :(

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

My child (6th grade) has been trying to get me to read this for over a year, and I finally read it. I like animals OK, but I guess this child is more of an animal lover than I am. The book itself was not bad, not as predictable as I thought it would be. I can understand why my child liked this series so much. Some of the book was pretty funny, and the puppy-training techniques sounded reasonable, not overly optimistic, but positive.

[Hazel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was the latest adventure that my daughters and I embarked on, unfortunately my girls were not thrilled with this story, they thought it was pretty boring, which I agree with, though I thought it was a good lesson on caring for animals, which promoted a discussion on shelters, in that aspect it was a good teaching opportunity.

[Johnny Bennett · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another children's book. Certainly not brilliantly written.

[Bmack · Rating 3 out of 5]

This series would be great for dog lovers. It definitely promotes shelters, treating dogs properly and training. The story might not keep a child’s interest if they are not fond of dogs.

[Raegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute little book!

[Siobhan Gavin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Childhood favorite, recommend to animal lovers

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really cute book to read aloud to my 7yo who is dog obsessed!

Good story but nice pop twist.

[Mrs. McWhirter's Class · Rating 5 out of 5]

read this book because it is funny.
teachers pet is a good book.
read it now!

[Camryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

boring.