A review by havebookswilltravel
You Had Me at Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness, by Julie Klam
3.0
Everyone thinks they know the best way. The best way to raise children, the best way to raise pets, the best way to do everything. I've heard a lot of dog owners very pompously tell me, for example, that they only give their dogs raw food because dogs don't have kibble in the wild. People also have very strong opinions on child rearing. Everything from breastfeeding to spanking to letting your child sleep in bed with you seems to be controversial, and many parents have absolutely no qualms about telling you that the way they do it is right and the way you do it is wrong. Most of the time, though, the person being told didn't ask for the opinion of the person doing the telling.
When you write a book - an autobiographical book - you are, essentially, asking for your reader's opinion. Therefore, I don't feel bad about saying that this author is a nutcase. She is doing no favors for herself or her child or for her dogs.
1. She can't leave her dog at doggie daycare, because he's too well housebroken and he won't pee. Also, he doesn't want to play with the other dogs. She can't leave him alone in her apartment all day, so she quits her job.
2. The dog goes to restaurants with her, and sits at the table, in a chair, like a person. I think this is meant to be cute, but it isn't.
3. The first dog dies when she is pregnant with her first child. She knows she shouldn't get a puppy, but she does anyway.
4. The new dog is a girl, and the author says there is "some debate" on when it is best to spay. What debate? If you're going to spay, you do it before the dog's first heat. It significantly reduces the risk of ovarian cancer, according to my vet. Where is she getting her information from? Anyway, she doesn't spay the dog soon enough and the dog, who sleeps in their bed, gets her period. They don't want to dog to bleed all over their bed, so they put her in a crate in the living room. A crate the dog has NEVER used before. Of course the dog cries all night, so she ends up DUCT TAPING A DIAPER ON THE DOG and letting it in the bed with her.
5. She decides to volunteer with a Boston Terrier rescue, but the woman who runs the rescue says she can't foster a dog because she has a toddler, and it isn't safe since they don't know how the dogs would be with children. But then there is a doggie emergency, and she gets a foster dog. The foster dog, apparently, is the devil and bites everyone (this seems to be a theme - all her dogs bite. I asked around to some people I know with Boston Terriers and they say it is not an aggressive breed. So why do all her dogs bite? Could it be they need training?). When the dog bites her daughter, she finally decides that the dog has to go.
6. Lack of training is a problem. She talks about how she brought a trainer in to work with her first dog, and the trainer brought some little training treats. But then the trainer saw a plate with all these little treats (including deli meat) sitting out. She asks the author what that is, and the reply is "his snack tray." The trainer points out that she can't train a dog using treats when he has his own buffet.
7. The separation anxiety isn't just a problem with the dogs. When she takes her child to pre-K for the first time, the child cries. So she stays in the hall outside the child's classroom for the entire day. And this happens again, and again, and again. Cut that umbilical cord already!
8. The daughter does not want the dogs around. Probably because she senses that mommy loves the dogs more than her. She and her husband agree that they shouldn't foster any more dogs, because it's too upsetting to the daughter, but that only lasts a few months and then they're back to rescuing the dogs.
Look. I love my dog. I talk to her like I expect her to talk back. I let her sleep on my bed. I stopped giving her people food when she started getting too fat because an extra 10 lbs on her is very dangerous to her health. But dogs also need discipline. They need to know that you are the leader of their pack. This woman was clearly way too indulgent with both her dogs and her child.
Also, I know this is a book about her dogs. But it would have been nice for a little information to fill in the gaps. When we first meet the author, she is single and lonely. Then, suddenly, she is married and pregnant. She's working part time, then she quits, then she's suddenly a published writer. How did these things happen?
When you write a book - an autobiographical book - you are, essentially, asking for your reader's opinion. Therefore, I don't feel bad about saying that this author is a nutcase. She is doing no favors for herself or her child or for her dogs.
1. She can't leave her dog at doggie daycare, because he's too well housebroken and he won't pee. Also, he doesn't want to play with the other dogs. She can't leave him alone in her apartment all day, so she quits her job.
2. The dog goes to restaurants with her, and sits at the table, in a chair, like a person. I think this is meant to be cute, but it isn't.
3. The first dog dies when she is pregnant with her first child. She knows she shouldn't get a puppy, but she does anyway.
4. The new dog is a girl, and the author says there is "some debate" on when it is best to spay. What debate? If you're going to spay, you do it before the dog's first heat. It significantly reduces the risk of ovarian cancer, according to my vet. Where is she getting her information from? Anyway, she doesn't spay the dog soon enough and the dog, who sleeps in their bed, gets her period. They don't want to dog to bleed all over their bed, so they put her in a crate in the living room. A crate the dog has NEVER used before. Of course the dog cries all night, so she ends up DUCT TAPING A DIAPER ON THE DOG and letting it in the bed with her.
5. She decides to volunteer with a Boston Terrier rescue, but the woman who runs the rescue says she can't foster a dog because she has a toddler, and it isn't safe since they don't know how the dogs would be with children. But then there is a doggie emergency, and she gets a foster dog. The foster dog, apparently, is the devil and bites everyone (this seems to be a theme - all her dogs bite. I asked around to some people I know with Boston Terriers and they say it is not an aggressive breed. So why do all her dogs bite? Could it be they need training?). When the dog bites her daughter, she finally decides that the dog has to go.
6. Lack of training is a problem. She talks about how she brought a trainer in to work with her first dog, and the trainer brought some little training treats. But then the trainer saw a plate with all these little treats (including deli meat) sitting out. She asks the author what that is, and the reply is "his snack tray." The trainer points out that she can't train a dog using treats when he has his own buffet.
7. The separation anxiety isn't just a problem with the dogs. When she takes her child to pre-K for the first time, the child cries. So she stays in the hall outside the child's classroom for the entire day. And this happens again, and again, and again. Cut that umbilical cord already!
8. The daughter does not want the dogs around. Probably because she senses that mommy loves the dogs more than her. She and her husband agree that they shouldn't foster any more dogs, because it's too upsetting to the daughter, but that only lasts a few months and then they're back to rescuing the dogs.
Look. I love my dog. I talk to her like I expect her to talk back. I let her sleep on my bed. I stopped giving her people food when she started getting too fat because an extra 10 lbs on her is very dangerous to her health. But dogs also need discipline. They need to know that you are the leader of their pack. This woman was clearly way too indulgent with both her dogs and her child.
Also, I know this is a book about her dogs. But it would have been nice for a little information to fill in the gaps. When we first meet the author, she is single and lonely. Then, suddenly, she is married and pregnant. She's working part time, then she quits, then she's suddenly a published writer. How did these things happen?