Book, Books Everywhere!: The Puppy Diaries: Raising a Dog Named Scout Jill Abramson

Monday, June 11, 2012

The Puppy Diaries: Raising a Dog Named Scout Jill Abramson

Overview from Barnes and Noble:

An instructive and marvelously entertaining chronicle of a puppy's first year, by the executive editor of The New York Times

One sparkling summer day, Jill Abramson brought home a nine-week-old golden retriever named Scout. Over the following year, as she and her husband raised their adorable new puppy, Abramson wrote a hugely popular column for The New York Times's website about the joys and challenges of training this rambunctious addition to their family. Dog-lovers from across the country inundated her with e-mails and letters, and the photos they sent in of their own dogs became the most visited photo album on the Times's site in 2009.

Now Abramson has gone far beyond the material in her column and written a detailed and deeply personal account of Scout's first year. Part memoir, part manual, part investigative report, The Puppy Diaries continues Abramson's intrepid reporting on all things canine. Along the way, she weighs in on such issues as breeders or shelters, adoption or rescue, raw diet or vegan, pack-leader gurus like Cesar Millan or positive-reinforcement advocates like Karen Pryor.

What should you expect when a new puppy enters your life? With utterly winning stories and a wealth of practical information, The Puppy Diaries provides an essential road map for navigating the first year of your dog's life.

My thoughts:
I listened to this audio book on my ipod while running and cleaning. While I have never owned a large dog, the largest of the five dogs I've had was a small beagle, I can definitely identify with the challenges of raising a puppy. House training, guilt about leaving the dog alone for longer than planned, destroyed items like shoes and more, and how to deal with a dog pulling on a leash. I can see how all of this would be even harder with a larger dog who would be even stronger and could pull harder, who could reach higher on counters and shelves and who could destroy even more.

I think anyone who has ever owned a dog, or anyone thinking about getting one for the first time would benefit from this book. At one point Abramson tells how she and her husband left Scout with their son while they were away on a trip. At that point in time her son and his girlfriend were thinking about getting a dog, when they gave Scout back upon the parent's return return the young couple informed them that, although they still wanted to get a dog at some point, they now knew they were not ready for one at this point.

Having a puppy is so much like having a newborn baby in the house. You give up sleeping late and not having to think about how long you are going to be gone. There are places you just can't take them, both babies and puppies, and a lot of people just don't take all those things into consideration.