Dogs Don't Bite When a Growl Will Do: What Your Dog Can Teach You About Living a Happy Life

by Matt Weinstein, Luke Barber

Dogs know how to relax.
They forgive and forget.
And they scratch where it itches.
They really know how to live...

Every dog lover knows that man's best friend is sincere and loyal and knows how to have fun-and that dogs are wonderful creatures who have no difficulty showing their love openly.

Dogs Don't Bite When a Growl Will Do is an insightful, engaging, and witty guide to the collective wisdom of man's constant companions-and illustrates the human benefits of becoming a little more canine.

Genres: Nonfiction, Dogs, Humor, Philosophy, Animals, Psychology

304 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

Reviews

[Trisha]

I absolutely loved this book. It captures the essence of the nature of dogs and why we love them. There are some wonderful lessons here.
In fact, this is one of those books to go back and read again, whether an entire re-read, or just a "refresher" on certain points.

[Martha]

I really enjoyed this book. This book hit home for me. I loved this quote from blue

"Celebrate your life every moment that you have. No event in life is too small to celebrate. Live fully. Love and laugh wastefully. Take pleasure in the little things. Play and roll on you back in the park. Forgive even if you cannot forget-grudges only make you an unhappy being. “Don’t bite when a growl will do.” And, her final lesson that last day. “Make everyday of your life a dance, even when death is your final partner.”

[Lee]

Dog stories. Too many for one book.

[Carolyn Virginia]

"Canine inspired wisdom in short, witty chapters."  Great pictures.  I found it a little tedious to get through but enjoyable overall.

[Karen]

Honestly puts life into perspective. Every human needs to read it. We do not deserve dogs

[Marianne]

Very cute look at what we can learn from out sweet, canine friends.

[Darya]

This book was a required reading for my summer ethics course - yes, ethics course - because by describing dogs' antics it basically reminds us of the essential human virtues, as per Aristotle: courage, loyalty etc. The book at first appears to be sort of "A Cup of Soup for Dog Lovers", and it works just fine as a tribute to our furry friends. It's a light reading, moderately entertaining, though somewhat repetitive. Basically, I can't say it's a bad book, it's just that I can't recommend it for anyone other than hard core dog lovers. As for philosophy, nothing beats Aristotle's Virtue Ethics in his "Nicomachean Ethics" (which is very readable by the way).

[Susan Mangigian]

Suggested by Don Rogers. I thought I was going to buy this for my son Max but I am reading it now and I am loving it. I still pick this up and just read a chapter or so before bed sometimes when I am between books.

[Stacey Lynn]

This was really a great read that I couldn't put down. Makes us humans take a second look at what it must be like to be a dog as well as our relationship and bond to them. There were some very humorous accounts based on the relationship of the author and his dog.

[Heather]

I can't say enough about this book. It's so simple but so meaningful. I loved every doggy anecdote and every piece of wisdom. Dogs really can and do teach us so much. I will definitely be re-reading this regularly.

[Laurie Huang]

not just for doggie lovers

[Teresa]

A commone sense way to learn about dog behavior and human behavior.

[Cynthia]

My ethics professor, Luke Barber, is the co-author. I loved this book, and I still read some of the stories from time to time.

[Elaine]

This is a wonderful book. I think it is one that I really need to own.

[Alyssa Hudak]

Good, fun, uplifting book. I've marked several pages that I will frequently visit in the future.

[Maureen]

You can never read too many dog stories.

[Sue]

We can learn lessons from these sensible partners. Short daily lessons.

[Tiffani]

Very good book about life. good one to reread every so often to remind yourself

[Sherri Hancock]

A great book about life! I'm a dog lover and I loved this book! It compares things humans do or don't do to what a dog may or may not do! Very funny!

[Celest]

This is a well-intentioned book about applying the resilience and "live in the now" mind set that dogs have. Unfortunately it suffers from over-generalization of dog behavior.

[Lori]

c. 2003

[Beau]

Pretty cute. It's been a while...need to re-read.