Good Dog: Celebrating dogs who change, and sometimes even save, our lives

by Kate Leaver

Celebratory, joyous and moving, this is a book about the profoundly healing, curative qualities of dogs - and how we need dogs in our lives more than ever. The dog-human bond is the most extraordinary cross-species friendship on the planet. Dogs give people so affection, companionship and profound emotional support. Now, more than ever, we can see the clear health benefits of living with a dog by our side.

Drawing on science, research and in-depth personal interviews, Good Dog demonstrates how vastly a dog can improve our mental and physical health as well as our quality of life. Kate Leaver begins by telling the story of how she met her beloved rescue shih tzu, Bertie, and how powerfully he helps her through periods of depression. Then she meets 10 other remarkable dogs who've changed human lives - from Missy the pug, who helps 11-year-old Cody live his best life despite his autism diagnosis, to Pip, who helps her teenage owner manage diabetes, and Jingles, who works with inmates in a prison. With each story, it becomes more and more obvious how profoundly dogs can support us, comfort us and even save our lives.

Celebratory, joyous and moving, this is a book for anyone who has ever loved a dog - and known their love in return.

Genres: Nonfiction, Animals, Dogs

284 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 1, 2020

Reviews

[Sharon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Dog by Kate Leaver is a well written book about how dogs can heal and enrich our lives on a daily basis. In this book we are introduced to many different breeds of dogs who all make a difference to those who need them.

Missy the pug has made a vast difference to ten year old Cody, who has autism and the bond these two share will melt your heart. Then there is Pip, who is always there for her teenage owner who has diabetes. All of the dogs in this book are remarkable and I found this story to be a really interesting read. It really is amazing how intelligent dogs are and the love they give truly is unconditional. Beautifully written and very informative book which I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend.

[Sheena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Dog by Kate Leaver explains how Leaver’s own dog Bertie changed her life by getting her through her struggle of depression. She then goes on to tell us about ten other dogs she meets and how they have each changed and affected their owners for the best. Having a dog gives us an everyday experience of affection, companionship, fun, and laugher, but they continue to go beyond that. Dogs are so much more than only our best friends. They’re used as our guides, diabetic alerts, smelling out cancers, and grief healers. Dogs are even helpful working with Autistic and other special needs children, highly improving their quality of life in many ways.

In between the stories of these dogs and their owners, the author also gives a lot of history, background, and scientific evidence/research on how dogs first began to change human lives and continue to do so. I would recommend this book if you are a lover of dogs and know what it's like to have a dog near and dear to your heart. You can tell how passionate the author is about dogs and how much she really loves them. I could relate to her as I have my own dog I love very much and have also know what it's like to lose a dog as well. There is one chapter in particular that briefly discusses losing a dog and eventually bringing another one into your home. I feel like that isn't talked about enough and I really appreciated that as I went through that.

Thanks so much to Edelweiss for sending me an arc. This title will be released on March 9, 2021 on paperback.

[Kathleen Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the perfect read for dog lovers who need a lift! The dogs profiled in this lovely collection of essays are all helping their human companions in one way or another- be it inmates in a prison or a teen with diabetes. While this starts off with a bit of history and science, Leaver wisely turns to profiling 10 dogs (in addition to her own pooch Bertie). It's actually a nice book to keep by your bedside to read as one would a short story collection. Thanks to Edelweiss for the ARC. Two paws up!

[Katie Radzieta · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really beautiful book that dog lovers will enjoy.

[Ingrid Self · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book about support dogs, celebration of them and their work. Inspiring even.

[Mette W. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely stories of the many ways dogs can help and improve lives

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this dog book but did not love it.
I read this book out loud to my senior dog and I wish at each dog we got more story instead of scientific facts and studies. Each chapter covered a different dog and how they saved someone's life, however half of that chapter included random studies and scientific findings that I did not sign up for.

[Cameron Wasilewsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ok, was uplifting but not the most interesting. Nice stories but didn't feel there was any guts to the book

[Pug · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though I love animals and adore dogs, for some odd reason this book just didn't do it for me. Very touching and moving stories about how remarkable dogs are, and the incredible things they do, even a pug (including an adorable description of said pug). But the book felt repetitive and frothy, and the author sounded too "fangirl" for my taste.