When one of her dogs, Beau, given as a birthday gift by a friend, suffers from the pains of old age, the writer Anna Quindlen wonders if it is time to put him down. Beau is a black Labrador, fifteen years old, and blind. His hearing is lost, and a few other ailments have left him somewhat crippled.

Inside the book, Beau's existence and his relation to her two other dogs make Quindlen reflect on her family's life with the dogs. She says: ”The life of a good dog is like the life of a good person, only shorter and more compressed.“ Through Beau she has learned many lessons like rolling with the punches, taking things as they come, living in the present, and finding out that contentment can be very simple.

When Beau gets older, the family acquires a yellow Labrador, Bea, with the hope that she will make Beau feel younger. The dogs get along well, and Bea encourages Beau to get more exercise.

Toward the end of his life, Beau cannot even visit the veterinarian; instead, the veterinarian makes house calls. Here, the family’s resistance to putting the dog down and the writer's own hesitation can be felt by many a dog owner. The veterinarian's last house call takes place with the entire family present, after it is decided that it is time for Beau to leave the world.
While this book is a eulogy in essence, it is also a memoir. Its writing flows in Anna Quindlen style, straightforward, emotional, reflective, philosophical, and accepting. The book also abounds with the stunning photos of many other dogs that are now deceased. These photos were sent to the author by other pet lovers who have lost their dogs, after her article about Beau was published in Newsweek.

any dog lover who has lost a pet.

the writer's approach to the subject. The book is not full of grief, but rather, it is a celebration of the life of a dog and of dog ownership.

read another book by Anna Quindlen, although I have read a couple of her novels.

Anna Marie Quindlen worked as a journalist in The New York Times and the New York Post, winning a Pulitzer Prize for commentary in 1992. In 1995, she left journalism to dedicate her time to novel-writing. Her books are: Object Lessons, One True Thing, Black and Blue, Blessings, Rise and Shine, Living Out Loud, Thinking Out Loud, How Reading Changed My Life, A Short Guide to a Happy Life, Loud and Clear, Imagined London, Being Perfect, The Tree That Came to Stay, Happily Ever After, Naked Babies, and Siblings.

It is very easy to empathize with Anna Quindlen not only for what she says but for how she says it. Within the pages of this book, I found many parallels to my life in relation to my family and my pets. I am quite sure other dog lovers will experience the same or similar feelings while reading this book. As a deeply personal narrative, Good Dog. Stay. will not disappoint the readers.

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Created Jul 20, 2008 at 10:40pm • Submit your own review...