2024 the best dog book review

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Featuring sixty black-and-white photographs of old dogs shot by Pulitzer Prize–winning photographer Michael S. Williamson and narrated by Washington Post staffer and columnist Gene Weingarten, this is a perfect collection for dog lovers that celebrates “man’s best friend.”

Anyone who has ever loved an old dog will love Old Dogs. In this collection of profiles and photographs, Weingarten and Williamson document the unique appeal of man's best friend in his or her last, and best, years.

This book is a tribute to every dog who has made it to that time of life when the hearing and eyesight begin to go, when the step becomes uncertain, but when other, richer traits ripen and coalesce. It is when a dog attains a special sort of dignity and a charm all his own.

If you've known a favorite old dog, you'll find him or her on these pages. Your dog might go by a different name and have a different shape, but you'll recognize him or her by the look in an eye or the contours of a life story. There is the dog who thinks he is a house cat; the herder, the fetcher, the punk and the peacock, the escape artist, the demolition artist, the patrician, the lovable lout, the amiable dope, the laughable clown, the schemer, the singer, the daredevil, the diplomat, the politician, the gourmand, and the thief. Plus, as a special bonus, you will find the first Latvian elkhounds ever photographed.

Old Dogs is a glorious gift book and a fitting tribute to that one dog you can't ever forget.

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster; Illustrated edition (October 7, 2008)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1416534997
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1416534990
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.25 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 7.38 x 0.6 x 8 inches
Reviewer: gi
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Makes you love old dogs
Review: One reviewer remarked he found "nothing much to learn from" this book. I disagree. It is a meditation on the meaning of lives, on what is to be learned from the aged dogs whose lives reorganize our values and teach us love and humility in the face of mortality. This is not a book about "cute puppies." They come with different lessons. This is a thoughtful, insightful book in which photography and prose join seamlessly for a single, powerful effect. Nor is it a book that will be unopened after the first read. It's a book that grows more meaningful with every reading, the way art should."Cute" doesn't last long in life or memory. But these haunting, beautiful photographs of aging and aged dogs with their 200-or-fewer-word stories is poetry that stays and plays in the mind. Not a dirge, but an ode to joy and the meaning of love.Take Heineken, age 11 (neé Coors), a pound terrier who flunked Fundamentals of Mailman Relations, Bath-Taking Etiquette, Fundamentals of Not Digging in the Garden, and finally, Obedience School. His mistress, whose social aspirations had led her to rename him, was a slow learner, but she eventually "learned to co-exist with a good-natured dog with a mind of his own." Humility is a virtue terriers teach better and more more happily than any human being could ever teach it.Then there's Boca, age 10, the ugliest dog I think I've ever seen. She once was a rhinoceras. Then her owner spent two years and $10,000 to have the cancer removed and Boca cured. Her owner thinks she is beautiful.And Skippy is 17, the same age as his family's youngest human child. Skippy has given up the long walks he always took with his owner. These days he stays close to the grandmother, who is 80 and has a touch of Alzheimer's. At the table the mother keeps forgetting that she's not supposed to feed the dog, and the dog keeps forgetting he's not supposed to beg for food. "It works out fine," his owner says.It's hard to choose, but I think my favorite photograph is of Kobi, age 13, whose aged face is enigmatic and like John Keats' storied urn, teases us out of thought. Kobi is the dog who graces the cover of this fine little book.This is not just another dog book. It would make a fine gift to any dog owner, including oneself. And I think it would make a thoughtful consolation gift for one grieving the loss of an old dog. I gave it to myself and am now going to send it to a man whose first child, a proud southern woman named Martha, died this week. Martha was more hound than anything else, and she taught him and his wife the things they needed to know in order to raise human children.

Reviewer: Susan Santo
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Lovely Old Dogs
Review: These are beautiful photos of old dogs. Old dogs can make the best pet. They are already trained and tend to be very affectionate, just loving lying by your side and being petted.

Reviewer: Elsin A. Perry
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Gene Weingarten's wonderful book
Review: Ben Franklin said nothing is certain, except death and taxes. But here are two more certainties: you will cry when you read the last three words on page 13 and laugh when you read page 18 of "Old Dogs Are the Best Dogs" by Pulitzer Prize winners Gene Weingarten and Michael Williamson. People love books about puppies. They're so cute and cuddly. But they have no real personalities yet, other than "cute and cuddly." Old dogs, however, have their own distinctive personalities, quirks and traits, developed over a lifetime. This captivating book is a tribute to our old dogs, our best friends. Mr. Weingarten asked his readers at the Washington Post to tell him about their old dogs. In the acknowledgments of "Old Dogs Are the Best Dogs," he thanks the countless people whose dogs had their pictures taken but didn't get into the book. He writes, "For this omission we entirely blame the editors of Simon & Schuster, who, for reasons known only to them and for which they will no doubt have to answer in the Hereafter, balked at producing a 1,294-page book." "Old Dogs Are the Best Dogs" combines a striking full-face, full-page photograph of each old dog (taken by Michael Williamson) with a narrative opposite each. We meet Chester, the Pembroke Welsh corgi, on page 35. Herding is in that breed's DNA. What's a house dog to do? Every morning, Chester takes his own personal flock downstairs, one at a time, in his mouth. There are eight of them, including little gingerbread man, large gingerbread man, purple teddy bear, and mousie. He deposits each member of his flock under the coffee table and ignores them the rest of the day. At bedtime, Chester takes all eight of his flock upstairs, one by one. His daily job is done, his destiny fulfilled. Sparky, page 135, kept gaining weight. Her owners were puzzled. Finally they realized that when she'd wake them at three every morning to be let out, "She'd take a long time. Turned out she was going next door, walking into our neighbor's house through the dog door and eating all their dog food." The story of Harry S Truman in the front of the book is the most loving, moving tribute to an old dog I've ever read. (This is the narrative with the "last three words" mentioned above.) Harry S Truman was the author's dog. Gene Weingarten writes at the beginning of the book, "This is a tribute to old dogs, a celebration of their special virtues. All dogs profiled in this book were at least 10 years old when their portraits were made. If you ask us which of them are still alive,our answer is: They all are. May old dogs live forever." You'll love "Old Dogs Are the Best Dogs", even if you've never been owned by a dog.

Reviewer: E Schaper
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: One of my favorite books ever
Review: If you are a dog lover, and have ever been lucky enough to have a dog grow old with you, then i implore you to buy and read this wonderful book. It is filled with touching stories of people, like yourself, who have enjoyed growing old with a canine companion, and know that special bond and the joys that only an old dog can bring to one's life. The photos, the short essays that accompany each photo, are all superb. To have loved an old dog is one of life's true gifts, and to have this book is an added bonus in life. I am buying one for every friend of mine who is growing old with a little heartbeat at their feet---a true treasure, this book. One of my favorite books in life.....and dogs, and all my old dogs from the past---Rusty, Tiger and Duffy, RIP---we had a great run---now enjoy chasing those squirrels---this book is in your memory.

Reviewer: AmyF
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Awesome
Review: This is the best book. I have bought for 2 people who had old dogs that passed away. Made me cry.

Reviewer: jeanne d.
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title: Must have for the older pet owner
Review: This book is filled with charming and heartwarming stories of real dogs. If you are caring for an older fur baby or just remembering a beloved companion from the past, you will love this book. The book is a series of 1-2 page stories that illustrate the unique appeal of older pets along with a picture of each pet. It is uplifting, funny, and sweet. I have my own copy and have given it to three friends caring for older dogs.

Reviewer: Huyana
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Ein wunderschönes Buch für alle die Hunde lieben. Zuckersüße Senioren ❤

Reviewer: Beth
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: An absolutely beautiful book with stories and sensitive photos. Highly recommended to anyone who has loved a grey muzzled dog.

Reviewer: J.L
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Someone said,“No matter how close we are to another person, few human relationships are as free from strife, disagreement, and frustration as is the relationship you have with a good dog. Few human beings give of themselves to another as a dog gives of itself. That we cherish dogs because their unblemished souls make us wish - consciously or unconsciously - that we were as innocent as they are, and make us yearn for a place where innocence is universal and where the meanness, the betrayals, and the cruelties of this world are unknown.”Thanks, all the old dogs.

Reviewer: frosty b
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: I recently had to put my 4 year old dog down. He had cancer 🙁 It was the hardest thing I've ever been through. A month later a friend's cat was also very ill and I went with him to do the deed. While waiting I found this book in the waiting area of the emergency vet and I was able to read the first few stories. They were funny and so relatable to my old soul of a dog who had recently passed and they were able to make this girl smile for the first time in a month. I had to get my own copy to read the entire thing and I will pass it on to someone who needs it. I found it comforting and humerous. Who doesn't love an old quirky dog?!

Reviewer: PSMode
Rating: 5.0 out of 5 stars
Title:
Review: Wonderful book, although particularly heart wrenching, as I lost my old girl within a couple of weeks of purchasing it.I have bought another copy for a friend and my mother has also bought two copies..........it is a must for anyone who loves dogs.