How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With by Clarice Rutherford and David H. Neil

     

     While I am not a huge fan of non-fiction - I prefer fiction and historical fiction - I read How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With by Clarice Rutherford and David H. Neil because I have a new puppy in my family. Santa brought my daughter Isabella an 8 week old Landseer Newfoundlander / Italian Spinone puppy on Christmas morning. Isabella named the puppy Sparkles, which is both cheesy and adorable. Sparkles is now 16 weeks and HUGE! She's likely over 40 lbs by now. Thankfully, she's a really well behaved, sweet, cuddly, and loving girl. However, it's been about 7 years since I had a puppy in my house, so I figured I needed to read this book and refresh my training skills. Mrs. Kirwan, a good friend and colleague, welcomed a puppy into her family this past summer, so she lent me the book. It's a great, quick, informative, and helpful book.

       Writing a review or blog about this book is rather challenging for a number of reasons: there is no plot to analyze, no characters to decode, no themes to unravel, and no setting to explore. It's a basic how-to guide in raising and training young dogs. The book is, however, very useful and engaging. So, while I would never have picked this book off a shelf without having Sparkles in my life, it's a great book for those who have puppies. I highly recommend it, but only for those who have new puppies. I even recommend it if you have had several puppies in your life and you know very well how to train them. This book still provides some great tips and suggestions.

       One thing I loved about this book is that it describes what your dog's movements, facial expressions, and body language really mean. I had no idea that a dog's yawn rarely means that she's sleepy! It actually means that she's bored, nervous, uncomfortable, restless, or frustrated. Quite the eye-opener for me!

       This book is an excellent resource guide because the chapters and sub-headings are clearly labelled and it's easy to flip to a particular section or tip that you are interested in. I read the book from cover to cover, following from birth to 12 months. However, you can easily read the book in whatever order you like. You can begin at the age your puppy is or read only the chapters you think you need. I do recommend that you read the introduction and at least skim through the parts you think you may not need because chances are, these other chapters will be helpful and informative too.

       When we received Sparkles, she was 8 weeks old, as I mentioned, but I still read the chapters about the first 8 weeks. It even begins with how to choose a puppy, which I obviously didn't need because we picked Sparkles out when she was 2 weeks old. Nonetheless, this chapter was still interesting and educational. I love reading any kind of book where I learn something new.

       I also learned about how much the first 8 weeks of a puppy's life can shape whom she becomes. I mean, I guess that's pretty obvious; it's just like human babies. The first few weeks are crucial to proper development. But it was still helpful in understanding why certain dogs behave the way they do in later years. It is directly correlated to their formative weeks.

       In conclusion, I enjoyed this book immensely and recommend it to new puppy owners. It's well worth the reading time and money to purchase it.