The Digging-est Dog

by Al Perkins, Eric Gurney (Illustrator)

Illus. in full color. A dog who has to learn how to dig doesn't stop until he has dug up the whole town.  

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Dogs, Animals, Humor, Classics

72 pages, Hardcover

First published August 12, 1967

About the author

Al Perkins is an author of several children's books, including the ever-popular Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb (1969), The Digging-est Dog (1967), and The Ear Book (1968).He also wrote early titles in the Beginner Books and Bright and Early series.

Reviews

[Ash · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh yes, I rated it 1 star. It started out with such potential, a dog being adopted by a wonderful little boy. They play and have fun together, they love each other to no end, BUT WAIT! Other dogs come along, and it is discovered the boy's new dog can't dig, because he grew up in essentially a cement cell. So, they work together; the boy trying to teach the dog how to dig.

Alas, the boy is sad, for the dog just can't learn, and so night comes. In the night, the dog discovers how to dig, and becomes "The Digging-est Dog". He digs up the entire town!...and here comes my issue with the book...This is when the little boy threatens to take the dog back to the pet shop (cement cell), because he's doing exactly what the boy wanted him to do! The only reason the dog wanted to learn how to dig was because the boy pushed him to. He only wanted the boy to love him, and to be the best dog he could be! Talk about messed up relationships (and people diss on "The Giving Tree", at least that's not pretending to be anything but unhealthy).

Does the book have a happy ending? Yes. Does that make up for the boy's willingness to give the dog back just because he's not a "good dog"? No. Perhaps if the boy had simply scolded the dog I would have rated this book 3 stars, but I don't feel that the idea of it being okay to give up on someone just because things get tough is a very good message.

Thus, the 1 star rating.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story of a dog who was adopted out of a dog pound by a boy. Since the dog had always lived in a cage with a cement floor, he had never learned how to dig. At his new home, he is so excited to be there until some other dogs appear and start bullying him when they realize he does not know how to dig. He is determined to learn though, and when he finally gets it, he gets so excited and can't stop and ends up digging up the whole town. When his owner and the rest of the town show their displeasure, the dog fixes his mess. The grandkids (especially the boys) liked this one.

[Susan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Even when I was a very young child I really disliked this book. First, the dog is kept in that horrible store. Next, the other dogs bully him for being different; then Sammy Brown puts the 'being able' to dig condition on his love for the dog; and then turns around and rejects the dog when he does the exact activity that Sammy wanted him to do - to the point that the boy was going to return the dog to the horrible store. Again, the other dogs bully him for being different, to the point that one dog suggests that Duke (the diggining-est dog) ought to die for digging - again the activity that he was initially rejected for because he could not do it!

Happy ending or no, this is a story that normalizes bullying and dysfunctional 'I will only love you if - and I will certainly reject you if' types of relationships. What types of messages are these to be giving to children?!?

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, in my opinion, the best of the non-Seuss Seuss books. In fact, I would dare to say that it's better than some of the good doctor's books. The story of a dog, raised in a pet store, who goes crazy at his newfound freedom with his new owner and can't stop digging is utterly charming. It's a concept that anyone, at any level can understand. It's a book that can be read aloud by an adult or a beginning reader, without it getting irritating. The pictures aren't high art, but they are fun and fit the story. It's one of the world's most perfect picture/early reader books!

[Stephen Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read with all the words rhyming. I have never read it before but it was fun. It would be a great book to read with kids and teach them about rhyming. Very silly book though.

The book starts with:
I was the saddest dog you could ever see,
Sad because no one wanted me.
The pet shop window was my jail.
The sign behind me said, "For Sale."

Then the big conflict, he can't dig! The other dogs reject him :-(
The others said, "Duke may be big,
But he's no good! He cannot dig."
They stuck their noses in the air.
They walked away. The left me there.

Then when he can dig, he has an even bigger problem....

It would be a fun book to read to kids. Now if I can just get some grandchildren to read it to...

[Aaron_ebert · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Digging-est Dog" by Al Perkins is a book about a dog who did not have a home until he met a young boy at the store where he was kept.

The characters include Duke, the dog who was at the store who is lonely and wants a home. Sam, the boy who took Duke home. Sam is a kind boy who feels bad for Duke when he is in the shop and decides to take him home. The pack of dogs are the local dogs who Sam hooks Duke up with, they are judgmental of dukes inability to dig and are overall the problem in the book.

One day Sam walked by a store and noticed a sad looking dog in the window. He went inside and offered to purchase the dog and take him to his farm. He brought him home and named him Duke. Duke was an outside dog. When he met up with the pack of dogs, they started digging. Duke, from years of sitting on the cold, stone tile, did not know how to dig. He tried and tried, but still could not dig. Sam tried teaching him how to dig, but Duke just kept falling on his face and his back. One morning he decided to try it one last time. He finally got the hang of it. When Sam saw him digging he was overjoyed. Once Duke started digging he didn't want to stop. He dug up the entire city including highway 81, the barber shop, a garden, chickens and hens and some seeds. When Sam found out, he was furious and threatened to take him back to the pound. Duke felt sad and decided to dig a hole straight down. When he hit water he started to sink. The pack of dogs came to save him. After that, Duke knew he needed to fix all that he'd dug up. He went around town fixing the barber shop, the gardens and even Highway 81. He worked until everything was back to normal. Sam decided to keep Duke.

The setting of the story takes place during the spring mostly in the country. Because it was the country, there was a lot of room to dig. However, it still wasn't enough room for Duke. He had to go into town to dig as well.

Thematic connection- Don't make any more of a mess than you're willing to clean up. In this book Duke eventually learns to dig, when he does he goes overboard with it and nearly destroys the city. Luckily he sees the wrong in his action and fixes everything he destroyed. Duke finds that things are usually better in moderation.

I would recommend this book to young children and members of PETA.

[Bronwyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really cute. My son asked for it specifically. :) It ends a bit abruptly and some of the rhymes are iffy, but it’s fun.

[Katt Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some dogs just love to dig. What else can be said?

[raccoon reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute reader for children. Every dog's got his place :) What annoys one owner, thrills another. Such a sweet lesson. Read this one with the kiddo on more than one occasion. Setting it free into the universe now to another home. Ugh kids growing up is the worst 😭💙

[Mia Cervantes · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m so very disappointed in this book. It started so well and I truly thought it would be one of my favorite children’s book, as I was loving the illustrations as well as the story line, until about half way that is.
This is a story about a sad dog who lives in a pet store, he’s chained all day and doesn’t leave this concrete and iron cell. One day a boy walks into the store and buys him. He takes him to this large farm with lots of space to run and play as well as his very own dog house. The boy says the dog needs some friend to play with, so he blows his whistle and many dogs come to greet our main dog. They get along right away until they realize that the dog who’s lived his entire life in a concrete and iron cell does not know how to dig. All the other dogs turn their backs on him and walk away saying how he’s pretty much not good enough to play with them. You can also feel the boys disappointment after trying in vain to teach the dog how to dig, it felt as if the boy gave up on him. During that night the dog tries again until he teaches himself how to dig, he’s so happy to have learned something new and more so to please his master and make the boy happy, that he can’t stop digging and ends up digging the whole town up. Not knowing he was doing wrong and ruining things he continues on until the boy and the other dogs face him as if they were a gang and the boy tells him he’s going to return him to the store and chain him once more and leave him in that cell because he’s been a bad dog. The dog is so sad and shocked that his owner would do such a thing that the only way he found to escape was to dig straight down, however he ends up in a well and it’s about to drown. One of the other dogs actually suggests that they should let him drown because that’s what he deserves for destroying their town. In the end they decide to help him and bring him back up and the dog fixes everything he damaged with his digging and we get a happy ending.
I really didn’t like the bullying and pear pressure aspect of the story when the other dogs found out the main dog couldn’t dig, and I also didn’t like how the boy threatened the dog with sending him back as if he was an object and not a living creature that the boy had agreed to teach and care for upon rescuing him from the pet shop. The dog didn’t know he was doing wrong, he actually thought he was making his master proud. I think that teaches kids to not take responsibility for their pets and encouraged them to simply give up when faced with a dilema. If it wasn’t for those aspects of the story I would have loved this book, but since I don’t want my kids to think it ok to look down upon someone just because they can’t do things just like them or to threaten others in order to get what they want, nor to think that just because someone makes a mistake they are worthy of bad things happening to them, I will not be reading this book to them.
I gave this book 2 stars because I did like the start of the book and the art, however I do not agree with the message of the story.

[Helene · Rating 2 out of 5]

We visited my parents' house and my mom read this book to my toddler. I'd remembered the cover, so I thought I must have liked the book. Well, my toddler seemed to love it, and asked for it every day (repeat readings aren't always a sign of adoration, though, sometimes they ask for books to be reread because they feel they've missed something).

It's annoying and repetitive. Not in the fun way, but in the you-used-this-exact-phrase-6-times-already sort of way. The book also has a bit of a bad message. The dog (SPOILER) can't dig because he was raised in a store. He is mocked by the other dogs, so he hand his master practice digging. He has to change his way of life to try to fit in with the other dogs. Well, he is too good of a student and is punished for it. He's threatened to be taken back to the store because he can't distinguish between where to dig and where not to. When he gets in trouble, the dogs and his owner mock him again and say he could drown in a ditch for all they care (paraphrase, but only slightly). He's a hero when he proves himself useful to society.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars... because of nostalgia 100%


Gosh I don't know how many times I read this throughout my childhood. I never got sick of it.

But really, the only issue with this now, reading it from an adult's point of view, is the whole message that if you can't do something, there is something wrong with you and nobody will like you. I suppose that could also be taken to being more about how you feel about yourself and all but it's not how this story goes. The doggie was infact shunned for something he had no control over. At least it all ended well.

It's still so well loved by me and always will be.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an interesting book. It provides commentary on the sad life of the pet store pet, as well as the adjustment period between a pet and his new owner. The dog in this story wants so much to please, and eventually he and his master get along just fine. A nice book to read aloud with children.

[May Pax · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a child I read this book so many times, I thought it was such an awesome story! I know now it's a bit out of date - a re-write would be great maybe where the dog is at the pound, is rescued, and kept and loved for ever :)

[Art · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book I remember reading and loving and rereading over and over. It is probably not the first book I read, but it shines in my memory.

[Anne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Depressing AF.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was recommended by one of my little students. It is a fun story.

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this on a bench and had never seen this Dr. Suess book. I enjoyed it.

[Lindsay Williams]

Bear's favorite these days.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cute story about a dog who is adopted from a shelter who doesn't know how to dig. The boy who adopts him teaches him how to dig and then he becomes a digging fanatic, digging up all sorts of things he shouldn't. A good story targeted for ages 3-7.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I guess as a active animal advocate who sees this behavior among humans all to often, I felt this story should be read by all and have a much different view of what the author was trying to say. Sammy is no different then many, who in real life, save a dog only to find that life in a shelter makes that dog different. Sometimes harder to adapt, no real idea how to be a dog, training more difficult and so on. That is when so many of these wonderful dogs at no fault of their own, are brought back to the shelter. This story has a happy ending but much more then that it has a real life moral story and an opportunity for the reader to talk to children on this very subject. Perhaps the as adults they will understand the good deed they do in adopting a shelter pet must come with patience and understanding. These dogs will be the most loving, loyal but first they need to be taught how to be a dog.

[S'hi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Around the time this book was first published in 1967 I was performing in my gymnasium concert the song How Much Is That Doggy In The Window? Little did I know then I would go on to run creative writing workshops in prisons (among many other places). So the first couple of pages of the sad dog imprisoned in the pet shop awaiting love has a particular poignancy for me now. Many of the inmates I met were illiterate. If I had have remembered it then this may have been an appropriate resource to teach and encourage them with their own stories of transformation. But even as a simple kids book it is hilarious and educational, easy to read together until it can be read alone. I wonder what kind of rewrites might arise in future years from my review.

[Scott Hayden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE THIS BOOK! And Susanna the 5-year-old insisted it deserves 5 stars because "It's fun to read and it's exciting."

It is rich with examples of so many peacemaker principles.
- A good desire blown out of proportion.
- A community turning on one of its own.
- The necessity of community to rescue someone who's in too deep to help himself.
- How real repentance results in restitution.
- Restoration to usefulness.

One year, I read it to two fifth-grade classes within two weeks, to rapt attention. Yes, 10 and 11-year-olds hung on my words.

To anyone using The Young Peacemaker program, I highly recommend this children's story.

[Cara · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Digging-est Dog is about a dog that lived in a pet store his whole life before being adopted by a boy and living on a farm. He has to be taught how to dig because he had never had the opportunity to do so before.
It takes him a while to get the hang of it, but once he does, he goes wayyyyy overboard and digs up the entire town. His owner is so mad that he says he's taking him back to the pet store where he can never dig again.
He does the only thing he can do, he digs everything back into place.

[Janyl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Duke is a dog who has only every lived in a pound. Sammy Brown adopted Duke. Sammy lived on a farm where Duke could run and play. However, one day all of Duke's dog friends started to dig. Duke had never learned to dig before. The dog friends left Duke. The next day Duke, gave digging one more try. He started to dig and did not stop. Duke ended up digging all the way through town. Duke, was now in trouble for what he did. He had to go back and fix everything her had dug up. This is a fun book for children of all ages.

[Kristen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Digging-est Dog was a childhood favorite of mine and I still love it after reading it again. Duke realized many things in this story that can inspire kids. For example, even when you think you can't do something, keep trying. Also, everyone makes mistakes and it is important to try and fix those mistakes. The digging was not always useful, but Sam found a way to make Duke's digging useful. I love this book.

[Iris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up with this book, so I love it. I read it to my niblings all the time and they love it. It's kind of a messed up story though. A dog who is ridiculed for not being able to dig, then shamed for when he over does it. Then finally worked like a dog (forgive the pun) at the end. So not a really very valuable book in terms of its life lessons, but still a fun read all around. 4 stars.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not like this book because I did not like the part when Duke dug up the whole town. I enjoyed this book because I liked the part when Duke undug up the whole town. So he filled up what he dug up. I did not like this book because I do not like to dig.

[Roger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like that this is an early Beginner Books book, and follows Dr. Seuss’s rhyming pattern. I like all the dogs and the farm scenes. Some of the artwork suggests dogs can be lifted by their tails. That’s a no-no.

[Clifton Fletemeyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

~

Favorite book as a child.

~