How to Live with a Neurotic Dog

by Stephen Baker

NOW, AT LAST, YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR DOG
You think your life is crazy. Try looking at the world through your dog's big melting brown eyes. If your dog is neurotic (and what dog isn't these days?), consider these helpful
• Don't interrupt your dog's naps—remember, he needs your bed far more than you do.
• Don't force your dog to play fetch just because you feel like it—keep in mind his busy schedule too.
• Never bark orders at your dog. "Please" and "thank you" work wonders with the neurotic dog.
• Give your dog a canine personality quiz—it's the first step before starting him on full-fledged psychoanalysis.
• If all else fails, feed him!

Stephen Baker's delightful HOW TO LIVE WITH A NEUROTIC DOG is sure to have both you and your canine companion rolling on the floor and begging for more.

Genres: Humor, Dogs, Nonfiction, Animals, Comics, Adult

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Diane · Rating 1 out of 5]

I got this book because we have a neurotic dog and I had hoped it would provide some helpful advice. Baker's book was disappointing in that it is actually an attempt at humor, with cutesy drawings and satirical Do and Don't lists. However, I didn't find this book funny or helpful, and was so frustrated that I wanted to throw it across the room.

The biggest kick in the teeth is that the final chapter is titled "Can the Neurotic Dog Be Cured?" When I turned to that section, there was a one-word answer: No.

Humor is subjective. Maybe you and your dog will like this book more than I did.

[D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book and you’ll get an idea of what’s it’s like every day of my life. My cousin gave it to me for my birthday (in May), part as a gag but really because everyone knows just how cracked out my dog actually is. He’s not a bad dog, he’s just hiding a little doggy bag of cocaine in his crate. Even if your dog isn’t as insane as mine, you’ll still get a kick out of this book.

Some of the drawings, by Fred Hillard, are just absolutely hilarious and eerily relatable. All they were missing was a picture of a twelve pound MinPin stepping on a person’s throat in the morning in lieu of an alarm clock. That’d be the start of my day.

Although one bit certainly hit the nail on the head–
The early riser wakes with the sun and welcomes the day with a burst of enthusiasm. He likes to share his feelings with others. Having done so, he promptly goes back to sleep.

I can’t tell you how many times my little bastard’s done that, not only during the week but on the weekends as well. He gets up, all excited, can’t stay still, wants to get out, wants to get out, wants to get out. I let him out, feed him and start doing my thing because I’m wide freakin’ awake. Where does he go? Back upstairs, under my blankets and goes back to sleep for an undetermined amount of time.

Unfortunately the book was blissfully lacking in chapters on extreme chewing (not just on the wussy chewing they broached, my dog destroys Kongs, just so you know what I'm dealing with here, and just to remind you, he's a Miniature Pinscher) and peeing on my bed out of spite. I would have liked to have known the author’s take on such a dilemma. Trainers said it was his "teen" years. Yeah, well, I didn't pop a squat on my mom's bed when she wouldn't let me have the car, now did I?

Overall, a cute read, definitely worth the half hour it took for me to get through it. It’s also rather therapeutic; making me laugh at my dwindling stockpile of shoes and blankets that more closely resemble Swiss cheese. It’s more of an insane laugh, but a laugh nonetheless.

And now I leave you with some images of my very own neurotic dog. You can call him Malfoy . . .



No I didn't destuff my own comforter and yes, that is a bobble head Jesus my dog is chewing on. Do you have a neurotic dog?

[Jennifer Yoesting · Rating 5 out of 5]

I believe this book was written by a dog!

[Iris Kerns · Rating 4 out of 5]

i read this around 4:00 one morning because i never fell asleep because the decaf coffee i ordered at biggby was actually caffeinated but i wanted to be fruitful with my time.

moral of the back-story here: don't trust biggby coffee.

as a person living with three obnoxious dogs, i found this very helpful and enlightening.

i am now confident in my ability to raise my future puppy to be a good, well-mannered, extremely co-dependent dog.

highly recommend if you have dogs and/or you're planning on adopting a dog (which you should definitely do). if you are reading this and you don't have dogs and don't plan on adopting a dog, then what the haymitch are you doing?

(you see what i did there? i censored myself with a hunger games reference. pure genius-ness, ladies and gentlemen.

[Vanessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

this was cute and funny but not "I can't breathe funny" most of the time.

[Lisa Lepic · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was supposed to be funny… and it was at times. It wasn’t quite my cup of tea, though. I thought about quitting but I’m not a quitter so I read it to the end.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

"A great many dogs are neurotic, especially in this country. The canine population of the United States is about 25 million. Out of this, about 25 million can be classified as neurotic -- a conservative estimate (page 11)." This is just one of many amusing "factoids" found in "How to Live With a Neurotic Dog." This book is a very short and easy read -- almost half of the book is comprised of Eric Gurney's cartoon drawings. Written in the style of a self-help manual, the author attempts to psychoanalyze and explain what we think are strange behaviors of dogs. For example, there is a very good reason for a dog to jump up to your kitchen table and steal your chicken dinner -- the reason being, because he's hungry (page 11)! In addition to eating habits, you may also learn how to train and bathe your neurotic dog, and how to help your neurotic dog cope with a new baby (without having to find a new home for the baby). Stephen Baker's witty discourse makes for some very amusing light reading for neurotic dog lovers everywhere.

[Mari · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit too short, but the pictures were funny and many (not all) of the written subjects made me smile too which apparently was the main goal of this so called guide book. This isn’t a real guide book, so don’t even think about reading it when needing real answers to your dog’s behavioural problems. It’s meant to be ONLY humor. I hardly ever choose books like this, so it was fun change between heavier subjects.

(I read the Finnish translation of this book which isn’t added on Goodreads).

[Cecily · Rating 4 out of 5]

A MUST READ for all dog lovers. True and laugh out loud funny!

[SouthWestZippy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good but not great book about understanding your dog. It does have some very funny parts and some parts I just don't get.

[Carielyn Mills · Rating 1 out of 5]

there are a couple of funny jokes at the beginning but other than that it's a mischaracterization of dogs to try to get a laugh. dogs don't hate being taken outside because they'd rather sleep all day - that's cats. they also don't refuse to be trained or growl at their owners when they get into their own beds (also cats). it doesn't make sense most of the time and contradicts itself a lot. i'm being overly critical of this so-called book because it bugs me when things get published that aren't worth the paper. people on twitter are funnier than this and they aren't getting paid. p.s. there are also some black and white cartoons in here, all with really lazy crosshatching.

[Haley Yoesting 🌻 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book for what it is. A very short, humorous, and strangely accurate guide about dogs. Now if I had gone into this looking for actual advice.. I would be disappointed. Luckily, I did not, so this is exactly the refreshing, simple story that I needed after reading so much Horror lately. The cute cartoons printed on each page added to the charm of the book. The illustrations are actually the reason that I picked this up. Now I’ll be looking for one about cats.

[Dobby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chapter 9 sums up my experience of being the companion human for various dachshunds over my lifetime:

Chapter 9. Can the Neurotic Dog be Cured?

No.

Keen writing by Stephen Baker and cute cartoon drawings by Eric Gurney make this amusing little book a perennial favorite on my bookshelf.

[Kristi Rikk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tegemist on humoorikas võtmes kirjutatud koerapidamise nõuannetega, kus tögatakse pigem koerapidajaid ning antakse neile võimalus enda üle muiata. Illustratsioonid meeldisid kohati rohkemgi kui tekst ise: puust ja punaseks ette tehtud graafikud, tabelid, testid ja erinevad koerte käitumise seeriad. Kokkuvõtvalt võib öelda, et oli muhe ja lobe 1. jaanuari lugemine.

[Aaron · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was...fine. It was funny enough, and the art is probably the best part, but I found it devoid of a single joke that moved me to share it with anyone. It is a far less entertaining version of those old how-to videos featuring Goofy (i.e. "how to play football" which was the only one I could find easily - https://youtu.be/VmCCk5-C3_o?si=ob-bY...)

[Paula Nichols · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was mildly amusing, and entertained me for the time I was reading it. It is tongue in cheek, and actually relates the day to day life of my dog - more or less! Very quick read and a lightness of mood from my other book!

[Gina Gallo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading and rereading this book since I was a kid. It will be on my shelf forever! I adore the illustrations/cartoons and the text is hilarious! Do I own a neurotic dog? Yes, I totally do. Will I ever get hid of him? Nope, not ever.

[T. Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

My mother gave me this book when she fell in love with my West Highland White Terrier, after she had already adopted a highly neurotic dog. We both could relate to the humor in the book as dog lovers. Of course, MY dog actually was not neurotic. LOL!

[Vicki · Rating 1 out of 5]

My bad. I should have done more research before choosing this book. I thought it was going to be a How to Live with a Neurotic Dog training book. Perhaps a chapter on separation anxiety or dealing with a new baby. Instead, it was a silly humor book that I did not find funny.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

it had humor yet the information was real. it makes you look at being a pet owner with a different perspective.

[Ktbird · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute and quirky. A good book to gift to that one friend who is crazy about her dog.

[Rebecca (booksandbreggs) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very cute, and informative read.

[Patti · Rating 3 out of 5]

Average humor. Smiled several times, giggled a few.

[Kerri Oman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly

[Alex Torres · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amusing. A sort of "coffee-table" book that you and others dip into for a smile.

[Shanon steele · Rating 5 out of 5]

A light, easy, funny read!

[Rick Vickers · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe a chuckle or two but a wouldn't rate it above average

[Barbi Huhn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very funny and entertaining book! I read parts of it to my kids who giggled over the summaries and illustrations.
It’s a nice, light read and goes very quickly!

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful!

This book is such fun to read. I laughed aloud at the writing and the illustrations. I found it to be quite helpful, as I am owned by a neurotic dog.

[Rex Libris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun, light-hearted look at how to live with your pet dog.