I have a soft spot for dogs' stories. However, I stay away from them now since I read books like The Art of Racing in the Rain, Marley and Me, and movies like Togo, Quill and Hachiko. (Spoiler: Nope, can't take it. I am not setting myself to be reminded again that our best friends are not immortal).
I chose Paw for Thoughts because I was sure it is safe from the blurb, and I am really curious about guide dogs. It has a cover of a dog, it's about dogs, and tells me something I don't know. I was sold.
But besides some smiles and chuckles here and there for my favorite species, I'm left with some dissatisfaction.
Personally, it doesn't feel like a 'proper' book. Maybe I have certain expectations to begin with, but to me, it is a collection of short blog posts, and that is indeed the case. Of course, there is a common denominator that all the blog posts are about this guide dog named Fiji, told from Fiji's point of view, about her everyday life and duty, but that's about it. The 'chapters' are jumpy in, and there are barely any correlations in terms of content, because THEY ARE blog posts put together.
I get that as non-fiction, there are no extravagant plots, storylines or characters. Still, there is a need to have glue, something that binds the whole thing together as a big story, maybe more of Fiji relating all those stories to her training, for example. Maybe.
And this leads me to another thing that can be improved.
There is not much information about what attracts me to this book in the first place. I am curious about the training, even though it's 'fictionally' told by a dog. There are a couple of chapters that are done well, so I know they work, but barely enough.
I understand that there is another book and other sources by the author, which probably gives me what I initially wanted from this book, but I am reading this book, not the other one. I wonder if they should complement each other as one book instead of this one being standalone. It is also distracting and quite excessive when I keep reading about the reference to the other book or source and can't help but get the advertisement vibe.
Having said that, this has the potential to be a cute, lighthearted and inspiring story about the most wonderful creature and the tremendous contributions they give to us.
It also gives me some insight; I get to know about the amazing skills they can learn and do, and I am happy to know that they still get to be dogs. I can imagine the level of trust and bonding needed and how wonderful our relationship with them has become.
Rating: 3 Squirrels out of 5 Gardens
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