CALL IT "KARMA"

Ever think that sometimes people come into your life for a reason? How about a dog? Have you ever wondered why certain dogs come into your life? Ever wonder why you hold onto a certain dog that you had no intention of doing so? I believe every person and every animal comes into our lives for a reason��.good and bad. I look at it as a learning experience. I have known some down right, no good for nothing, evil so and so�s but then again I know some outstanding people that I�m proud to be called one of their friends. Sometimes you�re not even looking for someone to come into your life, but in they march or sometimes tiptoe in and your life is forever changed. Some things and some people and some dogs are just meant to be together like the man and dog in this story.

This is a review about a story about a dog and a man that were �put� together or meant to be together. The book is called �ONE GOOD DOG.� From the cover of the book, it says�..�A wonderful novel: a moving, tender, and brilliantly crafted story about two fighters � one a man � one a dog hoping to leave the fight behind, who ultimately find their salvation in each other.

It is a story about a man that was a real snob and that had it all, the big job, the big money, the big houses and cars. On his constant on going climb to having it all; he commits an act that has legal, moral and financial consequences. Ultimately, he falls from grace and loses everything including family, friends and job. He ends up working in a homeless shelter where at the same time he ends up adopting a dog. Although the dog isn�t a German Shepherd, it doesn�t matter as it could have been any dog. His dog like him is also a cast out of society because he was a Pit Bull mix that had been raised for fighting. This is a story of how these two �down on their luck� characters find one another. Call it �karma� if you will, but they were brought together by their circumstances in life. It�s a story about resolutions and the bond that grows that opens the door for a better life for the man and his dog because of it.

It is a story about redemption and how a man and his homely dog that no one else wanted find beauty and love in their friendship. Although the man presents himself as a brave and powerfully tough person, he is emotionally damaged and scarred whereas, the dog also has the physical attributes of the man, he too is damaged by what has happened to him in his life as well as physically scarred.

Dog rescue people or those that have worked in shelters will love this book as well as all dog lovers. It shows one what really matters in the dog/human relationship. The rescue or shelter workers know all too well that a dog like the dog in this book is the one that most people will have had put to sleep without even given it another thought. It is this dog, this �societies reject� that takes an egotistical man and makes him understand what life is truly about. It is through his relationship with this dog that he discovers himself.

The emotionally and physically scared dog and the emotionally damaged man learn lessons that only they could have taught one another. Some dogs were just meant to be in your life even if you didn't understand why they were there to start with. Maybe it was to help teach us something that we needed to learn. This story is a �tug at your heart� emotional ride, but it�s one that you wish wouldn�t end!


From the book: "ONE GOOD DOG" - Fans of Marley and Me will find a new dog to cheer for in Wilson's (Beauty) insightful heart-tugger about Adam March, a Boston man recovering from the shame of a foolish crime, and Chance, a scrappy pit bull mix trying to escape the illegal dogfight circuit. Adam, 46, is a ruthless self-made millionaire married to an icy socialite living a picture-perfect existence that includes a teen princess daughter. Then he loses his job for slapping his assistant, Sophie, full across the face after she gives him a message that reads: Your sister called. Forty years ago, Adam's sister, Veronica, ran away leaving Adam with their widowed dad, who subsequently placed Adam into foster care. For his violent act, Adam is sentenced to perform community service at a homeless men's shelter where the adorable Chance teaches Adam about survival and what matters. Chance tells his story in his own words, which makes his mistreatment and return to the fighting pit powerfully disturbing. Combined with Wilson's unflinching portrayal of Adam's struggle to overcome his past, Old Yeller's got nothing on this very good man and his dog story.


My rating: "One Good Dog" - (4)

AGAINST ALL ODDS

Okay so your dog didn�t win the Grand Victor or Grand Victrix title at the German Shepherd Dog National Specialty Show this past week. He didn�t come home with an obedience or herding trophy either. Maybe he didn�t even win a ribbon. Heck, then there are those like most of us that didn�t even show at the National. Maybe we didn�t show because we couldn�t afford it. Perhaps we didn�t want to fly with our dogs and just maybe we didn�t have anything good enough to really compete with. So we stayed home and watched the show on the streaming video or read Evan�s blog for a step by step account of life at the National. One way or another, we were all clued to our computer screens waiting for a phone call from a friend that was there or an announcement to be made flashing across our screens.

This year the entries were down, but I�m told the quality was up. But one fact remains, big show or small show, most exhibitors are going home empty handed. No ribbon, no trophy. Hopefully because they are good sports they bring home with them many fine memories of a great show with friends and some great looking dogs.

Every year before the National, there is much talk about who will be chosen this years Grand Victor or Grand Victrix. Were your favorites chosen? Were there any surprises? How about the Grand Victrix who wasn�t even a champion yet? Against all odds���..she is now this years Grand Victrix! Way to go! Congratulations to all the winners!

Have you ever owned a dog that no one else wanted? Perhaps he was a shelter dog that someone threw away. Maybe he was the runt of the litter that never got sold. Or maybe he had genetic health problems and you felt it was your responsibility to take care of him for the rest of his life. Did any of these dogs turn out to be real special and that you are so happy that you never got rid of them? Were any of these dogs the best dog that you ever owned? What made them so very special? Did they beg to be noticed? Did they go out of their way to impress upon you that although God didn�t give them a pretty face, he gave them a great old big heart that knew no competition? What made your non-champion, you�re non-obedient titled dog one of the best you ever owned?

I�ve already told the story of a scaly little runt of a female puppy that my top producing champion bitch gave birth to. As I already said, other breeders would have perhaps let her go to puppy dog Heaven. But against all odds, I literally breathed life into this puppy�s lungs to give her every chance to live. And live she did. Yup, she was a homely little thing alright having to fight for her drink of momma�s milk or her place at the puppy dog�s dish of food, but it was her will to live, her will to survive that seen her through her life. She lived to a ripe old age loving life on a farm in New York.

What makes a champion a champion is the dog that shows with a lot of heart. He shows his heart out for his owner. He commands the ring and defies you not to notice him. He stands among his peers and never considers them as competition. Well the same thing can be said about the unattractive dog that no one else wants��there is something about him that makes him stand out. Perhaps it�s his tenacity, or his will to survive and never give up, or his claiming his right to his life that makes him stand out. He�s out to prove to the world that there is a reason he was born to begin with. Because this dog hasn�t been born with the superficial armor of beauty, he has to work extra hard to prove the beauty that�s in his heart.

The will to survive����..the will to claim your God given right on this earth���is God�s gift to all his creatures. Some claim it and hold on against all odds!


From the book: �AMAZING GRACIE: A DOG'S TALE� - Now in paperback, AMAZING GRACIE is a moving, funny, and inspirational canine rags-to-riches story. "Tears will stain the pages as you read about Gracie," says USA Today. The Chicago Tribune advises, "If you're short on inspiration, read Amazing Gracie." "You don't have to be obsessed with dogs to love this story" (Philadelphia Enquirer), "Two paws up" (Portland Oregonian), "humorous yet poignant" (ASPCA Animal Watch). Booklist comments that "Dog-loving teens, especially reluctant readers, will eat this up." AMAZING GRACIE was nominated as a Young Adult Choice for 2002 by The International Reading Association-proof that it's a great crossover book.

Gracie was a deaf and partially blind albino Great Dane with a delicate constitution and a penchant for small miracles. Dan is the man-sad over the loss of his last dog and trapped in a dead-end job-who adopted her. Three Dog Bakery is the burgeoning and much-publicized chain of canine bakeries that, inspired by Gracie, Dan and his friend Mark founded. A love story, AMAZING GRACIE describes how Dan saves Gracie, the loneliest pup in the litter, then how, over the next ten years, Gracie saves Dan and Mark, teaching them the real meaning of happiness. There's the moment of meeting, when Gracie gets to her feet like a clumsy foal and nuzzles Dan's nose. Gracie's romance with the pint-size Boston Terrier next door. And the eureka moment (born of Gracie's anorexia-inducing dislike for commercial dog food): Dan teaches himself to cook and within three days begins baking the dog cookies that will transform their lives. AMAZING GRACIE is a dog-lover's treat.


My rating: Champion or not....a German Shepherd is a German Shepherd: (4)

I'VE BEEN REPLACED!

Oh wow, looks like my owners are packing up the van with dog crates and supplies, water and food dishes as well. I see luggage and lawn chairs being put in the van also. I can�t wait. My tail is wagging faster and faster. I�m turning around in circles now. My eyes are wide open with delighted anticipation. They brush by me and say to me, �Buck get out of my way and go lay down someplace will you?�

Go lay down, what are they crazy? I can�t lay down with all this excitement around me. I know where we�re going. We�re going to a dog show and we�re even going to stay in one of those fancy hotels that allow me to stay in the room with my owners. I can�t wait to share one of those big old king size beds with my masters. And if I�m really good, my owners will bring me some left over steak from one of those fancy restaurants that they always seem to find no matter what city we go to. Yup life is good being a show dog.

But wait what is this that I see? Why is my owner going over to the kennel and getting that young male dog out of his run? What�s that about and where does he think he�s going? I see him jumping up and down now as they put a collar around his neck that I would like to bite right about now. They know better than to bring him into MY house. Then where is he going to? I press my cold nosy nose against the window pane watching where they�re taking him. What�s this? They�re putting him in the van in MY dog crate. Just where does he think that he�s going to? Just wait until I get out there and get into that van and give him a piece of my mind. Hey, why are they closing the door? I haven�t been put in there yet. They probably forgot that I�m waiting for them inside the house.

I see they give a piece of paper, some keys and a handshake to the kennel helper. They get into the van and I watch them drive down the driveway. Surely they�ll turn back for me once they realize that they forgot to put me in the van. I wait and I whine and I sit staring out that window but the familiar van that I love to go for rides in doesn�t come back to get me.

The kennel help comes into the house now and sees me looking out the kitchen window. I don�t go over to greet him right away because I know once my owners realize the mistake they made; they�ll be back for me. I let out some cries and the kennel guy comes over and pats me on the head and says, �That�s alright fella�, come away from the window now and I�ll get a treat for you.� He tries to coax me with one of those dog biscuits made to look like a real bone. I never liked them very much anyway and like it even less now as he tries to make �nice, nice� to me because he knows like I know, I�ve been replaced.

Sure I�m old and gray and walk with a more cautioned step now because of that darn arthritis in my rear legs. Am I supposed to make apologies for what the passing of time has done to my less than youthful body? Have they forgotten all the trophies that my younger body brought home to grace the shelves in their family room? Have they forgotten all the lovely ladies that I �entertained� and helped fill their bank accounts so they could put that swimming pool in the back yard? Come to think of it, I haven�t entertained any lovely ladies in awhile now because that young Bronco that they just put in the van has seen to it that I haven�t. Have I been replaced?

I�ve decided I don�t feel like eating the food that my kennel help offers me. It�s not made with love like my master makes it for me. The long week end goes by and there�s something in the air. I can just tell these things. I run over to the big kitchen window and I wait patiently for the van to appear. Here it comes up the driveway now. I start to cry and turn in circles in happy anticipation for my owners to come in and apologize for their obvious mistake a few days ago. I hear the key in the door turn and in they walk. But for some reason my enthusiasm for them has changed from one of excitement to one of temperamental disdain. They�re not going to get away with this so easy. No sir!

Oh here she comes over to me saying, �Where�s my baby? Where�s my big boy?� The nerve of her to act like nothing even happened. I turn my head away from her for a moment as I watch my other owner take �HIM� out of the van and put him back in the kennel where he belongs. Good thing too, because I was ready to rock and roll with him��arthritis and all!

She continues to muss on me scratching my ears and trying to rub my tummy acting like nothing ever happened. The kennel boy tells her I barely ate a morsel since they left. �Oh Buck is that true?� she asks me, like I have a human vocabulary to answer her back with. She gives me some more loving even though I�m still slow to warm up to her. Then the kennel help says the words that I want to but can�t. He tells her, �I think old Buck feels like he�s been replaced.� With that she turns and hugs me tight and says, �Never, no one could ever replace you Buck. No matter how many dogs I have, no one could ever replace you.� With that, I give her a big kiss, roll over on the floor and allow her to scratch my belly and plan my revenge on that young �wanna be� the next time I see him.

Moral of the story: Our old guys know when the playing field has changed and they can no longer do what they once did. But even though their body ages, their hearts remain forever young as long as they feel that they haven�t been replaced.


From the book: "CARING FOR YOUR AGING DOG"..........Today, veterinarians know more about small-animal geriatrics than ever before�making it possible for dogs to live longer, better lives. But science and technology alone aren�t enough: we have to do our part, too. And this thorough guide to the older dog teaches us how. It introduces the basics of caring for a senior pet; examines issues of genetics, environment, and nutrition; presents a �prevention primer� for forestalling disease and old-age conditions; and explains how to recognize vital signs of change, from cloudy eyes to achy joints. Most important, it offers comforting advice on what to do when your beloved pet does get sick, and how to deal with both the financial and emotional costs. Throughout, dog owners tell their inspiring personal stories.


My rating: Letting the older dog know he's still very much loved and valued: (4)