My Life in Dog Years

by Gary Paulsen, Ruth Wright Paulsen (Illustrator)

Gary Paulsen has owned dozens of unforgettable and amazing dogs, and here are his favorites--one to a chapter. Among them are Snowball, the puppy he owned as a boy in the Philippines; Ike, his mysterious hunting companion; Electric Fred and his best friend, Pig; Dirk, the grim protector; and Josh, one of the remarkable border collies working on Paulsen's ranch today.

My Life in Dog Years is a book for every dog lover and every Paulsen fan--a perfect combination that shows vividly the joy and wisdom that come from growing up with man's best friend.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Animals, Dogs, Memoir, Middle Grade, Short Stories

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Gary James Paulsen was an American writer of children's and young adult fiction, best known for coming-of-age stories about the wilderness. He was the author of more than 200 books and wrote more than 200 magazine articles and short stories, and several plays, all primarily for teenagers. He won the Margaret Edwards Award from the American Library Association in 1997 for his lifetime contribution in writing for teens.

Reviews

[Julie G · Rating 5 out of 5]

We went into a small, independent bookstore here on Atlantic Beach yesterday, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a copy of Gary Paulsen's Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod in the juvenile lit section of the store.

Naturally, I then had to walk over and torture the employee for a few minutes, with my questions. I needed to know the who/what/why of HOW that book was there, in such a limited space.

The employee admitted that she knew nothing about it, and that she'd never been interested in any of Mr. Paulsen's books before, and I admitted to having no interest, whatsoever, in his fiction, throughout my entire life.

But then I let her in on a little secret that I've known since 2020, when I discovered Paulsen's How Angel Peterson Got His Name: his non-fiction is absolutely amazing, and I was pretty amazed to find a non-fiction book of his in their store.

Coincidentally, my 12-year-old and I were reading this non-fiction book of his, My Life in Dog Years, a book that I casually picked up a couple of weeks ago at a library sale.

This led me to look up Mr. Paulsen's bibliography when we got back to our rental.

In three words: holy, holy, holy.

If you are a writer, you will just cringe if you see Paulsen's complete listed works of fiction and non-fiction. Apparently he wrote a book every time I have prepared a meal for my children. What in the hell? How could someone write that much? Are he and Stephen King related?

The man was a beast, an absolute beast of a writer. I can't contribute a thing about his fiction, as I haven't read a single novel of his, but I can tell you that, so far, his non-fiction is some of the best out there.

I read this book to my daughter in two nights and I hiccuped, I sighed. . . I cried, I cried, I cried.

This is one of the greatest tributes to dogs I have ever read, and I've read quite a few (both E.B. White's and Mary Oliver's being two of my favorites).

I can't imagine a single dog lover, anywhere, not loving this short book on Paulsen's most memorable canine companions.

Mr. Paulsen was born in 1939, and his parents's savage alcoholism rendered him nearly homeless for many years of his youth, so he became a hunter and he always supported responsible hunting, so I can only invite any readers of his work to view that aspect of his life in the proper context.

Beyond that: these stories herald the heroes of his life, the dogs that worked the farms and sleds with him, and the dogs that saved his lives, numerous times.

I am a “dog person.” I make no excuses for unabashedly loving them—all of them, even some that have bitten me. I have always had dogs and will have dogs until I die.

Amen, brother.

[Diane Barnes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I imagine all of us dog lovers (or cat or horse lovers) could write a book like this about the special dogs in our life, but Paulsen actually did it in his wonderfully humorous way. I wish this guy had been publishing juvenile books when I was a kid, but finding him later in life is good too, because he assumes his audience is intelligent enough to understand. Not as smart as some of these dogs however.

[Krazykat · Rating 5 out of 5]

So it's a juvenile book you can finish in an hour and it's another dog book---ok, ok, sue me! I'm a children's librarian and a total dog freak---whaddya expect? :)
A proud and self-confessed "dog person", Gary Paulsen literally owes his life to dogs. The first chapter of his book is dedicated to his lead sled dog who, if she hadn't pulled him out of icy water in the nick of time, the author would have died. The following chapters are short and sweet stories of other dogs he's owned who have likewise influenced and inspired him. Just goes to show the different breeds of love and laughter one can encounter in a lifetime.
The author put it best when he wrote, "I have always had dogs and will have dogs until I die..........They are wonderful and, I think, mandatory for decent human life."

[Josiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

For all his superb cultural, wilderness, and humor fiction, this is Gary Paulsen in his element: telling his own true stories about living among wild and domesticated animals. He's a treasure trove of extraordinary experiences, from his childhood overseas to the physical abuse he suffered at the hands of his alcoholic parents, which forced him to leave home at age fourteen and join a carnival. Paulsen did a stint in the military, ran a team of sled dogs in the Iditarod, lived in a houseboat, lived in Alaska, lived in New Mexico, and those are only a few of the happenings that informed his award-winning youth literature. When Gary Paulsen writes about his experiences, readers are in for a kaleidoscopic show of passion, danger, love, wisdom, and foolishness, everything one hopes for from a dramatically atypical life. His stories about animals tend to be his best, lessons he learned from wild creatures and his own pets, and we find a bit of both in My Life in Dog Years. The master of the genre puts us in his shoes during several eras of his exciting life, giving us the chance to know and love his dogs as though they were ours. Whether you've owned a dog or not, you won't forget the feeling of being friends with one after this.

Gary Paulsen states in the Dedication that his sled dogs won't be in this book. He's written their stories elsewhere—Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers: Reflections on Being Raised by a Pack of Sled Dogs and Woodsong being two of his masterpieces—and My Life in Dog Years is about other dogs that were special to Paulsen. However, he can't resist making the Dedication about Cookie, the magnificent sled dog at the heart of Puppies, Dogs, and Blue Northers. He relates an incident from January 1980 when he was out with his dogs in extreme subzero temperatures and he fell through thin ice into deep water. Cookie saw him go down and rallied the dogs to pull Paulsen back to the surface by the rope he grabbed as he fell through. He fended off hypothermia and miraculously survived, but if not for Cookie, none of his three Newbery Honor books (Dogsong, Hatchet, and The Winter Room) would have been written. Neither would The Island, The Haymeadow, The Rifle, or a dozen other iconic works. Cookie's heroic act powerfully resonates because of the way it's framed, as saving a writing career that has touched way more people than Cookie could have realized. It's an auspicious start to My Life in Dog Years; I know it gave me chills.

Moving to the Philippines in the 1940s was a culture shock for seven-year-old Gary Paulsen. His father was stationed there with the army, but his parents allowed him to adopt a dog. He chose a black puppy with a white circle on one side, and named her Snowball. Even back then, Paulsen spent hardly any time at home. He walked with Snowball through demilitarized neighborhoods, learning the world's harsh realities at a tender age. They met destitute people in the streets and smuggled them food from home, listening to their stories of how World War II had affected them. Once when Paulsen got too close to a venomous snake poised to sink its fangs in him, Snowball snatched the red serpent in her jaws and calmly snapped its neck, saving Paulsen's life. When the boy's parents couldn't or wouldn't be there for him, Snowball was as much mother as friend, rarely parting ways with him even momentarily. The Paulsens took great pains to arrange for Snowball to go with them when they returned to America, so attached was the boy to his pet. A startling tragedy prevented that from happening, but Snowball was Paulsen's first dog, and the emotions of their friendship and its sudden end were as raw as ever for him when he penned this book in the late 1990s. When you care for someone to that degree, it never fades away.

By the time Paulsen was a few years older, his parents had slipped into habitual drunkenness. He spent more time away from home, hunting with his .22 rifle in the woods of Twin Forks, Minnesota. Hunting was a solitary occupation until the night he met a big black Labrador also wandering alone. The dog's tag said his name was Ike, but no owner was in sight. Paulsen and Ike became nightly hunting buddies, though Paulsen was the less adept partner. The Labrador could retrieve a downed duck anywhere it dropped, which came in handy. Paulsen felt compelled to make excuses to Ike whenever he missed a shot, a comical situation that endears their friendship even more to the reader. One night Ike didn't show up for their regular romp in the woods, and Paulsen never saw him again. He found out thirty years later what became of Ike, a wonderful epilogue that will give most people chills for the second or third time in this book. The Ike chapter is one of my favorites.

With an increasingly dark home life as he grew into a teen, Paulsen took to the streets almost full-time. He slept by the furnace in the basement of his family's apartment building. To earn money for his basic needs, Paulsen set pins at a bowling alley, a bloody job described in detail in other books by the author. The worst part of street life was the groups of older teens who robbed loner kids. They'd beat Paulsen up to take what little money he made at the bowling alley, and he couldn't rely on the police for support. Then one day he found a ragtag, snarling street dog under the stairs whom he fed part of his hamburger, more to avoid being attacked than out of kindness. Dirk, as he came to call the dog, didn't forget Paulsen's gesture. Following the tired teen hoping for more food, Dirk waylaid a group of thugs who hassled Paulsen, driving them away from their target. Dirk went home with Paulsen and curled up beside the basement furnace next to him, though he bristled at any physical affection. Paulsen's problem of getting robbed went away now that he had a companion who was "as close to having a live nuclear weapon as you can get." Dirk shielded Paulsen from danger until summer, when they both went to work on a farm. Paulsen didn't have Dirk long after that, but what a nice parting of ways they had, an upbeat end to a story about a boy saved by a guardian angel with fur and four feet. We might not get as close to the Dirks in our lives as we do with others, but we appreciate them.

Working farms as Paulsen did, it's no surprise he knew many collies. They were all smart and loyal, but the one recalled in this book was named Rex. That dog took his job seriously, gently herding cows, chickens, and other animals where they were supposed to go without ever being taught. Rex never rested without thinking about what he should do next. Many humans could take their cues from his work ethic, a dog whose predominant desire was to serve. In the next story, Paulsen is a grown man living in the Colorado mountains with his wife Ruth Wright Paulsen, who illustrates the chapter headings for this book. Paulsen allowed himself to be suckered into adopting a Great Dane named Caesar whose master was leaving the U.S. mainland. Forty-one inches tall at the front shoulder with a cavernous maw that Paulsen's head fit inside, Caesar could wreck the house just by moving too briskly. After his owner left and the dog mourned with scary intensity for almost a week, eating nothing and drinking only enough to stay alive, the adventure began when Caesar decided he was ready to rejoin the living. His escapades with deliverymen, Paulsen's cat Arnie, and children dressed up for Halloween are funny, but nothing tops the day Paulsen brought Caesar to a softball game and picnic in a town close by. The monster-sized dog was a big hit with the other attendees until he escaped Paulsen's car and sidled up to a small child reaching out a hot dog to feed him. Caesar always went crazy for hot dogs, losing all self-control. The day turns out well, a warm memory of a galumph of a dog who spent an afternoon winning the affection of local children. It's another keeper in Paulsen's scrapbook of the dogs he's loved.

Appealing again to Paulsen's weakness for unwanted canines, a blue-eyed little boy sold him a half-Lab puppy for five dollars. Paulsen named it Fred after a friend who passed away not long before, and Fred soon demonstrated a knack for causing damage equal to Caesar's. Fourteen inches tall at maturity, Fred wasn't large. An enthusiastic eater, he made friends with the Paulsen pig (named Pig), and they enjoyed gorging together from Pig's trough. Paulsen fed them as many scraps as they could want, but eventually Pig got wise that Paulsen was holding out on him, and knocked over the fence to chow down on the garden. Paulsen put up an electrified fence, but he underestimated Fred's desire to visit Pig for lunch. There was a quick, savage war between Fred and the fence, a war Fred wasn't about to lose no matter how painful it became. The results are recorded in these pages as tribute to a funny little dog who loved his vittles.

Entering the Iditarod race with his sled dogs was possible only because of the support and generosity of Paulsen's friends and neighbors. On his way to Alaska, Paulsen was invited for dinner with a woman who didn't want to keep a certain dog she found, and into Paulsen's life came a canine of decidedly zany persuasion. He could never anticipate Quincy's next move, and the dog turned out to be possibly the smartest Paulsen ever knew. The little ball of fur and teeth would hop onto the floor of the car when they drove, to smell animals outside. Then he could decide if they were worth barking about. Quincy evolved to become Mrs. Paulsen's dog, and his most remarkable act was in defense of her. Wilderness living meant dealing with scavengers who pillaged the Paulsens' garden, including bears, but rarely did they approach humans aggressively. That changed one day when a bear charged at Paulsen's wife as she tended the garden. Her life would have been in jeopardy if Quincy hadn't pounced, biting at the bear until Mrs. Paulsen could get to her feet. That tiny cyclone of righteous indignation may have saved her, and deserved a place of honor in this collection.

My Life in Dog Years concludes with Josh, the Border collie Paulsen had when he wrote this book. Could an animal be so resourceful, so smart, so giving of himself without being a person? Paulsen believes Josh is as much a person as any human. Josh came to Paulsen from a woman who didn't want him. He wasn't well-behaved, she said, but Paulsen was glad to accept her burden. Like Quincy, Josh learned at a torrid pace, even complexities of life in the wild that it took Paulsen a while to pick up on. He anticipated Paulsen's needs and wants with unfailing accuracy, as anecdotes demonstrate over and over. Paulsen would never forget riding horses in the Bighorn Mountains with his loyal Border collie running beside him. Giving up dogsledding because of his own heart condition was hard on Paulsen, but horses salved that wound, and riding them with Josh was a pleasure. Josh was old when this book was written, but the mental picture of him leading the way for the horses would remain with Paulsen forever, and is captured lovingly as the parting scene for this book. Life is a wondrous journey, made by the people we love and the company we keep.

Some Gary Paulsen memoirs are more emotional or obviously wise than My Life in Dog Years. The philosophical content of Woodsong is incredible, thoughts I've ruminated on for years after reading the book. You don't get that from My Life in Dog Years in the same way, quotes that stand out as amazing messengers of truth about the human condition, but at least one overarching idea lingers with me. The people who change our life often do so in very different ways. We may adore them instantly, or despise each other at first but grow close over time. Some we're never friends with at all, but they serve an indispensable function to us nonetheless. We express our feelings openly to some friends, and are reserved with others. We don't completely understand our relationships while we have them, and that's the case with Paulsen and the dogs highlighted in this book. His experiences are meaningful to us because we recognize that even when a loved one is gone that doesn't mean their influence over us is diminished. It lives on because they helped shape who we are. My Life in Dog Years is an uncanny reminder of the wonder and complexity of what we add to one another. If your relationships are as rewarding as Paulsen's with his dogs over the years, it's a life worth celebrating.

[Stephen Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little book. The book is small and the margins are big, so a quick read. Great stories though. One story talks about a farm dog that makes his rounds to all the animals on the farm, unless the little girls in the household are out and then he is watching them and not letting them get to close to the pigpen. In Jon Katz's books like 'Rose in a Storm', he talks about how the farm dog keeps a mental map of all the animals, but the story on Rex in My Life in Dog Years describing the patrols helps you understand how it is done.

The story of Caesar the Great Dane had nice Marley and Me type stories that are pretty funny. Other stories also had very funny moments.

The book ends with a story on Josh the Border Collie. Darn those dogs are quirky but so freakin smart. Love how they are always looking for ways to help out.

So short book, but definitely a good quick read.

[Lillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gary Paulsen never really had anyone looking after him. His parents were always drinking and never really took care of him. He lived in a house up in the mountains most of the time but when he was younger he went to the philippines for 2 years and he also went to Alaska alot. So this book tells how each dog he had took care of him and he took care of them. Some of his best friends were Cookie, Dirk, and Snowball. Cookie was a sled dog that he had when he did the iditarod. Cookie was a sweet dog and loved Gary. One day they went to this pond with all of the sled dogs. The ice on this pond was maybe two inches thick and very dangerous. Gary had heard of a lot of stories of people falling through and dying. So all the dogs laid down on the bank and fell asleep. Gary took one step out onto the ice and fell through! The water was 12 feet deep and ice cold! When Gary fell through he saw Cookies eyes light up. Cookie grabbed a rope threw it into the water and got all of the dogs up, Cookie got them to start pulling and pulled Gary out of the water! Gary got a fire started and got warmed up. Can you believe it Cookie saved Gary's life!

Each chapter of this book is a story of each amazing dog he had! There are so many more stories like this one.

Gary was walking home from his job at the bowling alley and he got a burger, so he put it in his backpack when he was climbing down from the latter that comes down from the roof he heard a growling. It was a dog who wanted that burger. So Gary gave the dog half the burger and started walking home. There were always these boys that would beat Gary up and take his money. So Gary ran into them and they started to kick and punch him. Gary heard a growl and then the boys started running away. Gary got up and saw the dog. The dog had protected Gary from the boys. The dog was staring at his backpack waiting for the burger. Gary gave it to him and started to walk home. The dog followed him all the way home and down into the basement. Gary decided to name him Dirk. Dirk waited outside school for him everyday and waited outside the bowling alley every day to then Gary would give him the burger and Dirk would scare the boys off. They were a perfect pair. One day Gary got a job on a farm and took Dirk with him. Dirk helped him every day. One day Gary started to walk home and Dirk didn't follow. Gary decided that Dirk wanted to stay at the farm with the old man that lived there. So Gary left. One day he went back to visit and Dirk was out in the field herding the sheep. Gary will always remember Dirk as a great dog. There are so many more stories that are really sweat. If you like animals than read this book.

REVIEW
I loved this book so much!!! I loved it because Gary is an amazing writer and all of the stories just made me so happy and wanting to read more! I love dogs so this was the best book for me. If you love dogs and happy endings then you need to read this book! I give it five stars.

[Stacey B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this book. Then go hug a dog. That's what I did.

[Sharon Huether · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gary Paulsen list the dogs he has owned from his young age to present day.

Cookie, the sled - dog
Snowball- a dog he had while in the Philippines.
Ike a stray black lab, a hunting buddy
Dirk a stray dog was a guard dog for sheep.
Rex a cow herder
Caesar a giant loved kids and hot dogs
Fred a destroyer of everything
Quincy a model dog that attacked a bear.
Josh the smartest dog ever, he is a Border Collie.

This was a fun and entertaining read .

[CanadianReader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful stories of the dogs in Paulsen's life and how they helped him growing up in an alcoholic home. Many of these make great read-alouds for upper elementary and middle school. "Dirk" in particular is recommended.

[Brittany Ozera · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't enjoy this book and thought it was poorly written.

[Dashon Arthur · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen is a autobiography about him and the dogs he had in his time.


In the book he talks about the many companions and adventures they had over their life.One of the dogs he talks about is his dog Cookie.Cookie was a sled dog that was given to him by a man who thought she could no longer run but she was later found out to only have worms.Cookie once saved Gary's life when they were out trapping beavers,the ice below his feet cracked and he feel through and Cookie seen him falling and got the rest of the dogsup to save him.More dogs he talks about have also saved his life and he cared for them the same but he dedicated the book to Cookie.


The book was interesting.I think it was a new type of book that i read.The way it was told was like a memory.He did a good job at the description of he dogs and the way he feels about them.He could make you feel his love for the dogs.The way the book was broken up was that every chapter was a different dog.Each dog has its own story and none of them are less special than the first to him.

One of my favorite parts of the book is when he talks about his dog Ike.This was my favorite story.He met Ike when he was going hunting and he mistook Ike for a bear and was going to shoot him.After that mishap him and Ike became a good hunting team.Ike would wait at the bridge for Gary and Gary would bring a sandwich for him.Gary said that Ike was never anything less than an equal.I liked that part a lot because
that showed me how close a person can be wit an animal.Then one day Ike stop waiting for him at the bridge.He never knew what happened to Ike until 30 years later while he was in a hard-wear store.He was telling the owner about how one of his dogs saved his life and the owner began to cry and told him that he too had a dog like that.The owner said that him and his dog used to go hunting with and he was sad that he had to leave him to go to the war.He then says when he returned from the war the dog was there waiting for him.Gary thought to himself and asked the man was his dog named Ike,the man said yes and asked him how did he know.Gary tells him that him and Ike were friends.I liked the ending of this story because eventually he found out what happened to his best friend.

I think this book would be a good choice for animal lovers or people fans of friendship books.Another book that this reminds me of is another Gary Paulsen book called Dog Son.It reminds me of it because it also show the connections between humans and dogs.

[Luann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. I loved this book. If you are a fan of Gary Paulsen, or a dog person, or both, you will like this book! I read it during silent reading time with my library classes, which actually wasn't a great idea because I was alternately crying or laughing or both - and trying to be quiet! - during the different stories. I would have enjoyed even more a much longer book with many more stories of dogs from Gary Paulsen's life.

A favorite quote:
"I have always had dogs and will have dogs until I die. I have rescued dozens of dogs from pounds, always have five or six of them around me, and cannot imagine living without dogs. They are wonderful and, I think, mandatory for decent human life."

[Haley Raber · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ Gary Paulson is such an amazing children’s author and it was very interesting to read about his life with my students. He did a great job being blunt about the hardships he experienced and the hope he continues to have. I love dogs and I really enjoyed reading each chapter with my students. Each one was so unique and riveting.

[Amyah Seybert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this as a read aloud with the fourth graders and we loved it! We laughed, cried, gasped and all the other things. Liked how each chapter was just a mini story about one of his dogs

[Lucia Galluzzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my opinion the best chapter was the last chapter.

[Shelby Szekely Montalbo · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick read of a heartfelt stories about different dogs in the author’s life. Dogs that have a special place in his heart and left an impact. It was heartwarming, interesting, sad, and happy all at the same time. Dogs are so special and this book portrays just that. For all dog lovers!

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Up front, Paulsen says, “I am – I say this with some pride and not a little wonder – a “dog person.” I make no excuses for unabashedly loving all of them…” In this book, Paulsen lovingly tells the story of seven or eight of the many dogs in his life in short vignettes. These are not his Iditatrod dogs, but those he rescued, had thrust upon him, chose, or otherwise knew. There was a purebred or two, but lots of mutts, and they ranged in size from the one with four inch legs to the Great Dane. The stories are heartwarming and gentle. There is little more to say, but if, like Paulsen and me, you are or know a dog lover, this is a pleasure.

[Shannon The Co-Captain · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a dog lover like myself...This is a definite must read! I loved this book :)

[Carol Bakker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book before giving it to my grandkids to read. It reminded me of James Herriot, only grittier.

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book so freakin' much!

[KZ Hersha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dogs are the best!

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

This memoir was a delight to read. It chronicles Gary Paulsen’s life through the lens of his love for dogs. Only 137 pages long. This would be a great family read-aloud.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading Gary Paulsen is like talking to an old family friend. And I forgot how much I love Gary Paulsen. I came across it and thought, I don't think I've read this one. It works like a set of short stories each featuring a dog from his life at various points in his life that they were much needed as friend and companion.

I forgot (or didn't know) that his parents were alcoholics and he generally raised himself in the Philippines and then back in Minnesota. So each dog is like a landmark in his life though as he mentions often, there were so many spectacular dogs, these were singled out for their upmost significance whether it was a silly story, their intelligence, or their companionship. Clearly the first one hits you right in the feels as he needed someone to hang out with while he was running around by himself in the Philippines-- until he was hit by a truck about a week before returning to the States. Pull the knife from my heart. And then there was the dog who hunted with him, showing up one day and months later leaving, never to return until a book tour led him to meet a man who mentioned how the companionship of a dog saved him especially after his tour in Vietnam-- well, Ike knew his owner had returned a broken man and went back to him after spending months with Gary before that. Ugh, man, that one.

Then I was bowled over by the intelligence of the border collie. Paulsen always showcases the humanity of animals and their importance in his life and others and this reminded me of all of those things. This is a cathartic and the kind of therapy book that anyone can adore if you are a dog lover.

[Andee · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars. I don't give a lot of 5 star reviews to children's books. But in this book, Paulsen captures the hearts of adventurers, dog lovers, and those who appreciate the art of written language.

In my library, I don't usually read aloud from chapter books. Paulsen makes this task easy with Dog Years. One chapter written about any of his beloved canine friends would be enough to hook my young readers.

[Michael Reardon · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I was just seven years old...

I remember standing, not believing she was dead, thinking how nothing would ever be right again, not ever, and how I would always, always miss her, and that is all true. Now, forty-nine years later while I write this, I can see her laughing tongue hanging out while she turns to beckon me on, see the white spot on her side, her tail curled tightly over her back as she turns and jauntily heads up the path ahead of me, and I miss her as much as if she'd just died yesterday. Snowball."

[Ann T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this us right after I finished Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod. I love Paulsen's writing and this was just sweet geared more towards children. It still made me chuckle a few times. Quick read for adults.

[H. R. Frankline · Rating 5 out of 5]

I put my childhood dog down less than 8 hours ago and she's buried under the tree she loved to sit under while my momma would work in the garden.

Just as the book says, ''All that said, there are some dogs that are different, special in amazing ways" Gary might've never found his Cookie again, or his Snowball. But I'll never find my Beth again.

Paulsen was right, they really are something special, they do make life better, and they really are mandatory for a decent human life.

[Katie Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you need a fun break, read this book! Paulsen writes so well, and he clearly loves animals, especially his many dogs. Each chapter is about one of his favorite dogs. They are often funny or poignant, and usually amazing in some way.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is full of beautiful stories, some that cause tears to well up in your eyes, others that cause you to shake your head and smile, all capturing the essence of what it's like to know and love a dog.

[Jake Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, powerful stories about the joys and sorrows of dog ownership and companionship that clearly influenced a lot of Paulsen’s fiction. The stories about Snowball and Ike made me tear up.