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- You Lucky Dog! Reviewed By Sandra Shwayder Sanchez
You Lucky Dog! Reviewed By Sandra Shwayder Sanchez
- By Sandra Shwayder Sanchez
- Published July 20, 2013
- GENERAL NON-FICTION REVIEWS
Sandra Shwayder Sanchez
Reviewer Sandra Shwayder Sanchez: Sandra is
a retired attorney and co-founder of a small non-profit publishing
collective: The Wessex Collective with whom she has published two short fiction collections
(A Mile in These Shoes and Three Novellas) and one
novel, Stillbird.
Her most recent novel, The Secret of A Long Journey is soon to be released by Floricanto Press in April 2012 and her first novel, The Nun, originally published by Plain View Press in 1992 is being  reissued in a 2nd Edition with additional material by PVP in March 2012.
Author: Kate Kelly
ISBN: 978-0-9892106-0-7
Dog Lovers know that we humans have a lot to learn from our canine companions about unconditional love and loyalty and this amazing collection of true historical stories beautifully demonstrates that concept.
Part One is titled:
Homeless Dogs that Survived and Thrived and these stories will
sometimes make you laugh out loud, sometimes draw your tears but
always elicit the deepest empathy for real unique canine characters
so well described.
Part Two is Dogs Who Lived at the White House and works backward in history from Obama to George Washington giving the reader insights into many of our past presidents from the perspective of their pets (mostly dogs but also other animals from goldfish to horses).
The book begins with the story of a St.
Bernard, a stowaway, who jumped ship in San Diego, was adopted by the
entire town and named Bum. There is a statue of him there now as well
as one in Edinburgh Scotland where another dog, Bobbi, was likewise
memorialized and the two cities took on “sister city”
status because of their shared love and respect for their town dogs.
Now each city conducts an annual ceremony to celebrate each of these
wonderful animals.
The book concludes with a story about George
Washington’s gracious behavior toward a dog found after a battle.
The American troops had been defeated by the British General Howe at
the Battle of Germantown when they found a dog with a collar that
clearly identified him as belonging to that General Howe. They wanted
to keep the General’s dog as retribution for their defeat, but
Washington took the high road and returned the animal safely with a
polite note to General Howe.
Americans naturally honor our
first president and founding father and this story adds an unusual
and heartwarming reason to do so. Other stories tell of how an
abandoned animal came to be a movie star (Toto in Wizard of Oz) and
Benji, a shelter dog who rose to stardom as well. There is the dog
who accompanied the first man to drive cross country in an automobile
in 1903 and a dog who was elected mayor of a town of twenty people in
Park County, Colorado. There have been a lot of wonderful books
written lately about, as well as from the perspective of, dogs but
You Lucky Dog! is unusual insofar as it combines a wealth of actual historical research with an insight into the psyche of these wonderful animals from whom we can and should learn so much. A must read for dog lovers everywhere
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