84 Paws: A Life with Old Labs

by Barbara Travis Osgood

At 84 years of age, Barbara Travis Osgood decided to publish a book. Through this autobiographical collection of short stories, she shares funny, sad, and always intimate moments from a life with senior Labrador Retrievers.84 Paws is more than a story about rescuing twenty-one elderly labs. It is the story about a woman with bipolar disorder, who, against all odds, saved herself. As it chronicles her enormous successes and her heart-wrenching plunges into darkness, it introduces readers to a cast of funny, furry, feisty senior labs who have occupied Barbara's home and heart, showing how she turned her love of labs into the best of all possible therapies.A portion of the proceeds from the sale of this book will go to Lab Rescue LRCP, for the rescue and care of senior labs.What readers are saying: "Osgood combines our own human challenges in life with the struggles of rescued senior labs. Her own amazing life story, coupled with her imagery of each 'Old Lab' paints a beautiful picture of each personality. Any animal lover would enjoy reading this book." - Crystal Taylor, DVM"What a touching and wonderful book. As a long-standing volunteer with Lab Rescue LRCP, the stories of Barbara's book go straight to my heart. The love and raw emotion that helped create 84 Paws explains so well how the founders and volunteers of Lab Rescue LRCP feel about the dogs we take in and then adopt to loving homes. The young and the old: all are deserving of love and a second chance." - Jen Norris

189 pages, Paperback

Published May 9, 2019

About the author

Barbara Travis Osgood is a native New Yorker who earned her Ph.D. in Human Ecology at Cornell University. She retired as a Senior Executive with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2002. For more than twenty years, her passion has been fostering and rescuing old Labrador Retrievers. At age 84, after a career of writing academic articles and policy statements, she decided to write a book. Dr. Osgood lives in Fairfax, Virginia, with her current old Labs, Molly and Benji.

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’ll be honest. I bought this book because I have a thing for labs, have a wonderful senior lab and some of the proceeds were going to LRCP Lab Rescue, which provided me my wonderful sweet boy.

I didn’t realize the trials that the author had gone through. Bipolar, she faced issues most of us would count as nightmares. “Moody became my ambassador to the land of the living.”

The chapters are snapshots of the 21 dogs (84 paws) that Barbara adopted or fostered over the years and how they affected her life. They’re sweet stories and there are some lovely photographs. This isn’t especially well written, but it’s poignant just the same. She reminds us of the important lessons dogs can teach us.

Recommend to anyone that’s a dog lover.

[Rebecca Hundley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful! A great read whether you are a dog lover or not. I really appreciate the authors openness about her personal struggles in life.

[manatee · Rating 3 out of 5]

A wonderfully descriptive book about life with Bipolar disorder and life with all those wonderful labs. Barbara is a gifted writer. I look forward to reading more books by her.