Before Your Dog Can Eat Your Homework, First You Have to Do It: Life Lessons from a Wise Old Dog to a Young Boy

by John O'Hurley

From the New York Times bestselling author—and his dog—more woofs of wisdom

In his first book, John O'Hurley wrote of the many life lessons he'd learned from dogs' lessons that carried him from the New England woods of his childhood to his life today as an award-winning actor, composer, and writer amidst the bright lights of Hollywood. Now, in Before Your Dog Can Eat Your Homework, First You Have to Do It , John once again finds himself seeking the wisdom of a canine companion. After years of parenting pets, last December, he became a father to his first child, William. Along with the many new joys of being a dad, John faced a new set of challenges' and it was Scoshi, his wizened white Maltese and faithful confidant for nearly two decades, who, at every turn, pointed the way.

At once poignant, profound, and laugh-out-loud funny, this book is a one-of-a-kind celebration of the joys of parenting pets and children alike, and further testament to the enduring wisdom of man's best friend.

Genres: Nonfiction, Humor, Animals, Autobiography, Audiobook

176 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2007

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one by O’Hurley and his dog was better then the first one I read by them. The “dog” Scoshi had quite a bit to say about life. A good read.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute audio book. I like the life lessons Scoshi gives to John's son William. He has such wisdom! A fun book to go in between my usual thrillers.

[Nancy Cook-senn · Rating 3 out of 5]

The charming actor relays words of wisdom to his newborn son that purpost to come from the aging family dog. Cute, funny and tender.

[Joy Houglum · Rating 4 out of 5]

...So, I picked this up at B&N... sale shelf :-]
What caught my eye was the title...
I'm about 3/4 way through and LOVE it!!!
The premise is pretty much given in the title... based on "notes" that John O'Hurley has found under the foot of a "giant-blue-stuffed-elephant" in their new baby's nursery.
Every note is addressed, "Dear Little Pink Thing..." and then a 'life lesson' is given, based on an experience from Schosi, the 'Old Dog'.

[Amy Hobby · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Watching life leave slowly is sometimes unbearable."
If you are a animal lover, you will enjoy and tear- up during parts of this book.
Good stories and life lessons

[Madison Gillen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the best book I’ve read in a while. The author seems like a well rounded extremely talented person and I was appreciate their work in a new light after reading this book. It was so beautifully written— an ode to both his son and his beloved dog. I even cried at the end. I will surely be passing this book to friends and family to also enjoy

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

The voice in this book was a little bit difficult to follow. Well, maybe difficult is the wrong word to use - how about staccato. It didn't flow. One minute the dog is speaking, the next minute he's speaking to his book audience, and the next minute he's speaking to his son. It was cute, but the stories and advice in this book were less about the dog and more about his own experiences in life and how he wants his son to learn from them. I guess that's all fine an dandy if you're in the mood for that sort of thing, but I was honestly more in the mood for reading a cute, humorous book told from a dog's point of view, not a human's.

Having said all that, I do particularly identify with the passage O'Hurley writes on p. 65:

"...if life were fair, it would be a life without growth and perspective. There is meaning in suffering, as difficult as it is to endure. From it we learn humility and persistence. There is appreciation in abundance. From it we realize that life is full of grace as well."

Parents tend to be raising children today with the mindset that their children have the God-given right to always be happy and they will try to provide them with everything possible to keep them that way. It's my belief that is why our country is in this horrible financial situation we're in to begin with. If we'd all just understand that suffering builds character and helps us appreciate the good times, maybe we wouldn't avoid it so much. Sure it's not pleasant, but it's much better to suffer once in a while and learn from it than to grow up having been handed everything to you and now you have no soul.

[Paul Parsons · Rating 3 out of 5]

I met John O'Hurley (aka J. Peterman on Seinfeld) last week at a small book signing in Arizona. He's my age and has a young son. I bought his book really out of appreciation and was expecting little, as I cracked its cover, other than a lot of clever quips. I was very pleasantly surprised to find it to be a thoughtful reflection on what shaped his life and why he thought this important information to pass on to his son. It's as though he's realized there is no guarantee he'll be around when his son is old enough to need and covet his dad's wisdom. Of course, he did make use of his very honed sense of humor and I laughed out loud numerous times, something I rarely do when reading. I recommend this for a quick, light read on a long plane trip.

[Michelle Winters · Rating 3 out of 5]

I listened to this book on audio and the most distracting part was that it was ready by the author...you know, he was the host of Family Feud for a while, but was Elaine's bodd at the catalogue company on Seinfeld!!! That in itself made it funny. BUT...some very sweet and tender discussions about his dogs and his son, and the wisdom he swears the dog passed along to the new baby via paw-written notes left crumpled up under a stuffed toy in the nursery!

[Angie Fehl · Rating 4 out of 5]

O'Hurley uses his dog of nearly 16 years, Scoshi, to write life lessons for his newborn son, William Dylan. He uses the idea of Scoshi leaving these notes for William, written from a dog's perspective on human behaviors to teach William what is really important in life. The book is not really laugh-out-loud funny as much as it is really sweet and touching. It will definitely make any animal lover smile and will probably break your heart a bit with the last letter! 

[Kristen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cute in ways BUT I can't stand it when people write their Christmas letters using the dog's voice and this is a WHOLE BOOK of that. Also, the life lessons it teaches are a little, well, trite. Still, since the stated audience is under a year old, I guess I shouldn't complain. Also, the best book I've ever read that was written by a Westie. :)

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved this book. It was such a heartfelt message to his new son and a great message to anyone who reads it. I laughed, I cried, and I couldn't put it down. I definitely cannot recommend this book highly enough.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Huh. Where did yesterday's review go?

I repeat:
Much better than the first one.
Very sweet, sentimental, tear-jerker.
A couple of stories are repeats from the first book, just less detailed and told from a different perspective.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute little book of memories of John O'Hurley. It's a very fast read.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read..

[Sue · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I lost this book. Maybe the dog ate it!?!?

[Joe Bartello · Rating 4 out of 5]

Touching and funny.

[Rivkah · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was an okay book. A bit tedious to read. If you're really into the author you'll probably like it more.

[Carla · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and touching.

[Denise Brickler · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author's voice is like Kathy Griffin, but a bad man father. This book was so difficult for me to enjoy that I stopped reading it, making me feel like a failure.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, light-hearted way of viewing parenthood.

[Tiff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the words of wisdom from his dog. Makes me wanna write my own book about my furbabies. :) I plan on reading his other books also.

[Susan Sevcik · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny, I didn't know dogs could write - cute book. Short read, humorous.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

i loved this book. so sweet