The Guard Dog

by Dick King-Smith

There are six puppies in the pet shop; five posh pedigreed ones, and a scruffy little mongrel with a grand ambition — to be a guard dog. The other pups laugh at him. How can such a small dog possibly guard a home? Especially when his bark is the most earsplitting racket they have ever heard!

Genres: Childrens, Fiction, Animals

Paperback

First published September 17, 1992

About the author

Dick King-Smith was born and raised in Gloucestershire, England, surrounded by pet animals. After twenty years as a farmer, he turned to teaching and then to writing children's books.

Dick writes mostly about animals: farmyard fantasy, as he likes to call it, often about pigs, his special favorites. He enjoys writing for children, meeting the children who read his books, and knowing that they get enjoyment from what he does.

Among his well-loved books is Babe, The Gallant Pig, which was recently made into a major motion picture, and was nominated for an Academy Award.

Dick lived with his wife in a small 17th-century cottage, about three miles from the house where he was born.

Reviews

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

This such a cute story! Children love it and it makes me very sentimental...

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was difficult to explain the concepts of “pedigree” and mongrel to my 7 year old. The little fat girl who sucks her thumb insists on adopting the guard dog. The dog has a terrible sounding bark and gets sent to the pound for acting like a guard dog to the milk man the cat the post man…the end is lovely. The guard dog gets adopted by a deaf man.

[Gaynor Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very short and sweet story with a lovely ending.

[Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute. I found it while sorting some old books and stopped to read it. I loved it, though it was darker than I expected.

[Bec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable story. Appearances may give us our first impressions, but they rarely tell of the abilities one has.

[pallav mishra · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very sweet little book I read while rummaging through Graphic novel books. Though this would be more of a children’s book than a graphic novel.

[Emily May · Rating 4 out of 5]

A rare gem of a book that I enjoyed just as much as my kid. And an adorable ending that brought a tear to my eye.

[ben]

lots of nice pictures of very lovely doggies

[Leanne Proctor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This charming book is about a scruffy puppy (The Guard Dog) who is wanted by no-one and is always called a mongrel by the pedigree dogs in the pet shop where he is waiting for a loving home. He barks so much (hence guard dog) that no family wants to take him. Finally an old man falls for his fluffy ears and takes him home. Turns out the old man is deaf and is not bothered by the barking at all!
There are some black and white illustrations with large font so I would recommend this book for whole class reading or guided reading for children aged 7-9. I rate this book with 5 stars as it explains that even if you are different, there are always people who love you for what you are. Therefore this book could be used to accompany ‘culture’ learning.

[Sean Harding · Rating 3 out of 5]

My third read from DKS and this one is about a little dog with a horrendous bark, a lot of fun on the dog's way to his 'dream' in another good tale from the author, it is getting closer to the one though.

[Sammy]

A good book for children

[Tracey Jaffart]

Loved this story, so cute. Nice surprise ending. Must read all of his books.

[Aruna Kumar Gadepalli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for the grade 2+. Those who like to read on pets enjoy this book.

[Jodelle Lai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Favorite book. I read this when I was a little girl.

[Indah Threez Lestari · Rating 3 out of 5]

181 - 2017