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The Ten Perfections: Spiritual Lessons from a Life with Dogs
Our dogs, our teachers.
At eight years old, Ellen Finnie got her first puppy—and her first life lesson. Years later, Ellen reflects on her lifetime of loving dogs, and what they have taught her through their steadfast love, compassion, and companionship.
Through touching stories, she relates each of her ten dogs to one of the ten Buddhist qualities of the heart—known as the Ten Perfections—identifying the ways they have helped her bushwhack a path to happiness as trusted companions for life’s challenges.
Meditative and poignant, The Ten Perfections is an uplifting journey of the spirit for anyone who has marveled at how our lives can be enriched and transformed by our beloved dogs.
“A celebration of the indelible bond between humans and their four-legged ‘teachers.’”
— Fran Weil, Pet Chaplain, The Perfect Paws Pet Ministry
“With a remarkably open heart, author Ellen Finnie reveals the magic and the essential gold of the human-dog relationship, the numerous gems of spiritual connection any dog owner is sure to understand.”
— David W. Berner, best-selling author of Walks with Sam and Daylight Saving Time
At eight years old, Ellen Finnie got her first puppy—and her first life lesson. Years later, Ellen reflects on her lifetime of loving dogs, and what they have taught her through their steadfast love, compassion, and companionship.
Through touching stories, she relates each of her ten dogs to one of the ten Buddhist qualities of the heart—known as the Ten Perfections—identifying the ways they have helped her bushwhack a path to happiness as trusted companions for life’s challenges.
Meditative and poignant, The Ten Perfections is an uplifting journey of the spirit for anyone who has marveled at how our lives can be enriched and transformed by our beloved dogs.
“A celebration of the indelible bond between humans and their four-legged ‘teachers.’”
— Fran Weil, Pet Chaplain, The Perfect Paws Pet Ministry
“With a remarkably open heart, author Ellen Finnie reveals the magic and the essential gold of the human-dog relationship, the numerous gems of spiritual connection any dog owner is sure to understand.”
— David W. Berner, best-selling author of Walks with Sam and Daylight Saving Time
145 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 30, 2025
24 people are currently reading
688 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 23, 2025
2.0☆
This was an exercise in tolerance to read. Ellen Finnie's premise for the book is a good one; however, her execution was so very poor.
The Ten Perfections are based on the Buddhist teachings of the Qualities of the Heart. The ten Perfections are: Morality, Renunciation, Generosity, Patience, Truthfulness, Energy, Wisdom, Loving kindness, Grace and Determination.
Each chapter is meant to describe a dog from Finnie's life and how that dog embodied one of the Perfections. What each chapter outlined was Finnie painfully explaining how she failed all but two of the dogs. After reading every chapter I had to take a deep breath to release my anger. After each chapter I found myself disappointed with Finnie and found just one more reason why this woman did not deserve to be in the company of dogs!
The only reason I continued reading was for the dogs. I enjoyed the stories of each dog's personality. Yet, I was also sad for each and every dog because s/he was saddled with a human who had zero insight into the beautiful heart, mind and soul of the dog.
Finnie herself states she failed each dog, but her acknowledgements come across as "poor me," and not a full awareness of what she did, or did not do, for the betterment of the dog. I thought that Finnie took the easy road, shirked responsibility and wallowed in a lot of self-pity.
This was an exercise in tolerance to read. Ellen Finnie's premise for the book is a good one; however, her execution was so very poor.
The Ten Perfections are based on the Buddhist teachings of the Qualities of the Heart. The ten Perfections are: Morality, Renunciation, Generosity, Patience, Truthfulness, Energy, Wisdom, Loving kindness, Grace and Determination.
Each chapter is meant to describe a dog from Finnie's life and how that dog embodied one of the Perfections. What each chapter outlined was Finnie painfully explaining how she failed all but two of the dogs. After reading every chapter I had to take a deep breath to release my anger. After each chapter I found myself disappointed with Finnie and found just one more reason why this woman did not deserve to be in the company of dogs!
The only reason I continued reading was for the dogs. I enjoyed the stories of each dog's personality. Yet, I was also sad for each and every dog because s/he was saddled with a human who had zero insight into the beautiful heart, mind and soul of the dog.
Finnie herself states she failed each dog, but her acknowledgements come across as "poor me," and not a full awareness of what she did, or did not do, for the betterment of the dog. I thought that Finnie took the easy road, shirked responsibility and wallowed in a lot of self-pity.
December 3, 2025
While in general I love stories about people and their dogs--and anecdotes about how they coped with coexistence when the human and doggy personalities and habits collided, I found "The Ten Perfections" by Ellen Finnie a bit of a slog. I didn't find it especially well written--and I found it dripping with drama of the self-absorbed kind.
The premise is interesting--that Finnie finds a particular particular "perfection" in each of the dogs she has known (and mostly owned) in her life: Morality, Renunciation, Generosity, Patience, Truthfulness, Energy, Wisdom, Lovingkindness, Equanimity, and Determination. The chapters are uneven, several of them more self-indulgent memoir than genuine exploration of the perfection or precisely how the dog embodied that virtue. And, of course, part of the problem is that I shy away from self-help and life-philosophy books. It's entirely possible that such texts might benefit me but I keep finding myself muttering, "Yes...And...So?" with every lesson and injunction. Why did I read it? Because it was the choice for my book group, and one reason for me to be in a book group--beyond the pleasures of discussing books with people--is to be encouraged out of my comfort zone of nonfiction of the more expository kind and the occasional historical novel.
Finnie is a qualified teacher for owners looking to train their dogs as therapy dogs. Several of her own dogs have completed the course and work actively now in that capacity. It is not clear, however, when she seemed to acquire these skills, because an understanding of dogs and their behavior seemed a signal absence earlier on, and for quite a while. Her own emotional health seems fragile at best. And I suspect weaving a little of her professional life as a librarian into the narrative might have been a good idea. And she seems to have found the new partner on the precise day that her soon-to-be-ex-husband packed up his stuff and moved out after thirty years of what could only have been a stultifying marriage.
I suspect this book will strike a resonant chord with many readers. I certainly hope it does. I am just not one of those readers.
The premise is interesting--that Finnie finds a particular particular "perfection" in each of the dogs she has known (and mostly owned) in her life: Morality, Renunciation, Generosity, Patience, Truthfulness, Energy, Wisdom, Lovingkindness, Equanimity, and Determination. The chapters are uneven, several of them more self-indulgent memoir than genuine exploration of the perfection or precisely how the dog embodied that virtue. And, of course, part of the problem is that I shy away from self-help and life-philosophy books. It's entirely possible that such texts might benefit me but I keep finding myself muttering, "Yes...And...So?" with every lesson and injunction. Why did I read it? Because it was the choice for my book group, and one reason for me to be in a book group--beyond the pleasures of discussing books with people--is to be encouraged out of my comfort zone of nonfiction of the more expository kind and the occasional historical novel.
Finnie is a qualified teacher for owners looking to train their dogs as therapy dogs. Several of her own dogs have completed the course and work actively now in that capacity. It is not clear, however, when she seemed to acquire these skills, because an understanding of dogs and their behavior seemed a signal absence earlier on, and for quite a while. Her own emotional health seems fragile at best. And I suspect weaving a little of her professional life as a librarian into the narrative might have been a good idea. And she seems to have found the new partner on the precise day that her soon-to-be-ex-husband packed up his stuff and moved out after thirty years of what could only have been a stultifying marriage.
I suspect this book will strike a resonant chord with many readers. I certainly hope it does. I am just not one of those readers.
November 16, 2025
Beautiful and inspiring, sweet but filled with truth. I loved each dog and their stories, especially the way they were woven into Buddhist teachings. I could relate to the challenges of life and the wonderful support of our dog companions. I loved that each chapter had a photo of the dog!
December 26, 2025
Lessons
I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway. I was interested in this book as it mentioned spiritual lessons. Each chapter follows a different dog. I wish the lessons had been more entwined with each dog instead of just at the end of each chapter.
I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway. I was interested in this book as it mentioned spiritual lessons. Each chapter follows a different dog. I wish the lessons had been more entwined with each dog instead of just at the end of each chapter.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews