Finding this book was divine providence. About a month ago, our healthy 8 year old Labrador was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Up until about 2 weeks before his diagnosis, he was an active loving dog who enjoyed his walks, going to the dog park, and most of all, escaping the house whenever possible so he could play in the creek that runs behind our neighborhood. Everyone in our little neck of the woods knew Pacer and when he made his great escapes, he either came back on his own or one of the neighbors would find him and bring him home soaking wet, but safe and sound. The trouble came when I noticed he was having seizures when he slept on the floor by my feet. I immediately knew something was wrong and, sure enough, the veterinarian diagnosed our sweet puppy with a brain tumor. We were told that he was perfectly healthy if he didn’t have that damn tumor, but we knew our time with him was limited. Things went downhill quickly. He eventually forgot or loss the function to use his mouth to eat, he was falling all of the time, and running into everything because the vet said he was either seeing double or blind in his right eye. Two days ago, we had to say goodbye to our sweet loving dog. It was time. He was miserable even though he wanted so badly to still greet us every morning, but his falls were becoming dangerous. He went peacefully with my husband and 14 year old son by his side until the end. We had him cremated, like we did with our former pet who was also a Lab. He came home today in a beautiful urn to be by our other dog, Holly.
Now...about this book. Divine providence. I was picking up prescriptions from my local family owned pharmacy and saw this behind the registers. I gave it a quick read and bought it. It is a simple story of how true dog lovers feel about their pets. It tells in simple but such beautiful language how a loving dog will always act with their “people”. (That’s my word. People isn’t used in the book) The illustrations are beautiful. Each page shows a different breed of dog and the words describe the love that both the dog and the owner give to each other in the everyday interactions between dog and owner. This book would be a perfect gift for dog lovers, new dog owners, or someone (like me) who has recently lost a pet. 5 stars!