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The Good Shepherd: A Special Dog's Gift of Healing
Details how Grizzly, a German shepherd, brought comfort to Jeremy Davis and his mother Lana throughout the teenager's battle with cancer and his death, and the use of Grizzly and other dogs in therapeutic settings
180 pages, Hardcover
First published October 1, 1998
11 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 21, 2024
I’m not sure what exactly I expected when I plucked this book off the shelf at the thrift shop. I’m a sucker for German shepherds (I don’t own one, yet!) and there’s just something about reading stories of dogs doing therapy work that just warm my heart and soul.
This book was a bit of a shock, as it thrust me through memory lane.
The beginning of the book discusses how the family came to find Grizzly the GSD as part of their family. While the dog was originally a gift to Jeremy, a 15-16yo who was battling Ewings sarcoma (a rare form of cancer), upon Jeremy’s passing, Griz remained in his mother’s care with a dying wish: maybe you and Griz could help other sick kids?
The beginning of this book will pull on your mama heart strings. I, too, have a brother named Jeremy. That learned he had Hodgkin’s lymphoma at 15, received a clean bill of health only to discover it was back again around his 16th birthday. Gratefully, my brother is still with us 20 years later. But reading the perspective of the mother’s in dealing with the diagnosis, the prognosis and then progression of her sons illness… that is hard. It hit home and not in the spot you want to get hit.
I continued reading the book in public places so I wouldn’t sit and sob for this mom, her son, my mom and my brother. Their stories eerily similar, yet distinctively different. The rollercoaster of emotions the same. The hospitals, the doctors, the treatments and unknowns, an unfortunate and necessary packaged deal to this rollercoaster of life.
The story then shifts gears: after death. What’s next for this mom, her sons dog, and picking up the pieces of her life she couldn’t see nor manage through the fog of cancer and a mother’s nightmare?
This is where Griz truly starts to take over the story. It is touching, beyond words, what Griz and Lana created to help children from all types of illnesses, traumas, and physical challenges.
The end of the book, I was not expecting. Sadly, that is how organizations work sometimes. I’m curious to see where Lana is now and her organization, as this story is almost 30 years old.
This book will remain on my shelf with the other books of dogs and other animals doing amazing things to help their human companions.
This book was a bit of a shock, as it thrust me through memory lane.
The beginning of the book discusses how the family came to find Grizzly the GSD as part of their family. While the dog was originally a gift to Jeremy, a 15-16yo who was battling Ewings sarcoma (a rare form of cancer), upon Jeremy’s passing, Griz remained in his mother’s care with a dying wish: maybe you and Griz could help other sick kids?
The beginning of this book will pull on your mama heart strings. I, too, have a brother named Jeremy. That learned he had Hodgkin’s lymphoma at 15, received a clean bill of health only to discover it was back again around his 16th birthday. Gratefully, my brother is still with us 20 years later. But reading the perspective of the mother’s in dealing with the diagnosis, the prognosis and then progression of her sons illness… that is hard. It hit home and not in the spot you want to get hit.
I continued reading the book in public places so I wouldn’t sit and sob for this mom, her son, my mom and my brother. Their stories eerily similar, yet distinctively different. The rollercoaster of emotions the same. The hospitals, the doctors, the treatments and unknowns, an unfortunate and necessary packaged deal to this rollercoaster of life.
The story then shifts gears: after death. What’s next for this mom, her sons dog, and picking up the pieces of her life she couldn’t see nor manage through the fog of cancer and a mother’s nightmare?
This is where Griz truly starts to take over the story. It is touching, beyond words, what Griz and Lana created to help children from all types of illnesses, traumas, and physical challenges.
The end of the book, I was not expecting. Sadly, that is how organizations work sometimes. I’m curious to see where Lana is now and her organization, as this story is almost 30 years old.
This book will remain on my shelf with the other books of dogs and other animals doing amazing things to help their human companions.
December 10, 2011
The Good Shepherd by Jo Coudert takes us on a journey of a woman, Lana, and her very special dog,Grizzly. Coudert helps us understand the pains of Lana as she lost her son to cancer, almost losing herself in the dephs of despair. Her son, Jeremy, was just a normal highschool boy, he was even a football player, everyone loved him. But one day during practice he was tackled, resulting in a powerful pain in his leg. They went to the hospital, only to find out that he was diagnosed with bone cancer. It was eating away his pelvis. Lana’s friend offered to give Jeremy a German Shepherd for free. Jeremy died a year later. For several months, Lana was about to commit suicide because of her depression. Grizzly stopped her in the nick of time. After this, she decided to start the Good Shepherd Association because of Grizzly’s special therapy powers.
This was an excellent book, I would definitely recommend this book to people who love dogs. I’m not ashamed to say that there were some tear-jerker parts in here. Like, when Grizzly helped a little child who would not open up to anyone, give Lana a big hug. There were some slow parts that I had to just bare through, but besides those random places, my attention was captured. Once again, this is an animal loving book, and anyone who has ever had a dog can relate.
Lana had to go through many trials to get to where she was not in depression. A few months before Jeremy passed away, Lana’s husband filed for divorce because he couldn’t handle the pressure anymore. In my opinion, that was a very childish move. She also lost her son, which must of been the hardest thing to get through. But she found an outlet to all this. She wanted to help kids in need, who needed comfort. Right before he died, Jeremy told his mother that he wanted her and Grizzly to help people. She started the “The Good Shepherd Association”, this non-profit organization went to hospitals and care centers to help all kinds of people. Overall, this was a very great book, and recommend it to everyone, even if you hate animals.
This was an excellent book, I would definitely recommend this book to people who love dogs. I’m not ashamed to say that there were some tear-jerker parts in here. Like, when Grizzly helped a little child who would not open up to anyone, give Lana a big hug. There were some slow parts that I had to just bare through, but besides those random places, my attention was captured. Once again, this is an animal loving book, and anyone who has ever had a dog can relate.
Lana had to go through many trials to get to where she was not in depression. A few months before Jeremy passed away, Lana’s husband filed for divorce because he couldn’t handle the pressure anymore. In my opinion, that was a very childish move. She also lost her son, which must of been the hardest thing to get through. But she found an outlet to all this. She wanted to help kids in need, who needed comfort. Right before he died, Jeremy told his mother that he wanted her and Grizzly to help people. She started the “The Good Shepherd Association”, this non-profit organization went to hospitals and care centers to help all kinds of people. Overall, this was a very great book, and recommend it to everyone, even if you hate animals.
January 1, 2015
I bought this book for the plethora of information I hoped to find on AAT/Animal Assisted Therapy in it. I was not disappointed. It is hard to believe that there is not more information on what to train your dog and others to do to assist patients in rehabilitation environments through animal therapy.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews