I received this book from the publisher to review. I was glad that I got this book, being a pet owner. I enjoy reading books about pets and their owners, and how they affect our lives.

Dr. Trout is a veterinary surgeon, and this book focuses on two dogs who could not have more different lives...Cleo, the cherished young min pin who was the beloved pet of Sandi and Helen, a geriatric stray cocker spaniel who was rescued by Eileen.

Dr. Trout writes about the connections between these two dogs, himself, and the owners of the dogs. Perhaps the most telling quote about the connections comes at the end of the book:

"Perhaps Jim had gotten it the wrong way around ("never breathe your soul into a dog") and what he should have said is "never let an animal breathe its soul into you," for once we become smitten, true love will always come at a price. For all the smiles, the laughter, the simplicity, certainty, and ease of sharing each other's company, at some point in the relationship, the price that must be paid will take the form of emotional pain.

Pain will come for us when we are parted from our loved ones, cheated by our loved ones, face the fear of losing our loved ones. Sometimes it is this awareness of pain that makes us realize we must be in love, pain that signifies a love worth fighting for."

This book examines that bond between humans and animals, and shows us that our animal companions are worthy of our love and care, that what we receive from forming these bonds is more than adequate payment for the pain that we feel when we realize that we might lose our beloved pet.

Dr. Trout writes well, and the story moves along at a good pace. I laughed out loud, and cried a few tears while reading this book. I felt good at the end of the book...I went and sat with my dogs for awhile, and was grateful to have them with me. ( )

Dr. Nick Trout, a veterinary surgeon practicing at Boston's Angell Animal Medical Center, gives us the stories of two dogs and their loving owners, who had a profound impact on his life. The first is a pampered fourteen-month-old minpin named Cleo, who has just suffered the third leg fracture of her young life. The other is a rescued stray cocker spaniel, found by a kind-hearted couple in the parking lot of a restaurant in suburban Boston. At least ten years old, matted, filthy, and in dire need of dental work, Helen is despite her history is a sweet, loving dog eager to be a part of her new family. (She is also, unexpectedly, fat rather than emaciated, because she's a clever, sweet, charming little beggar well-known at that restaurant.)

Cleo belongs to Sandi, who has found in animals the emotional expression that both her mother and her daughter Sonja, for very different reasons, have never given her. For Sandi and Sonja, Cleo becomes a pathway for emotional communication. After Cleo has twice broken her leg while in doggy day care, Sonja and Sandi agree to have Cleo stay with Sonja, her husband, and their minpin Odin in Bermuda for the winter. While there, she breaks her leg again, at the site of the surgical repair of the last break. Sonja's vet in Bermuda recommends stabilizing Cleo and then taking her to Boston to be treated by Nick Trout at Angell.

Helen belongs to Eileen and Ben, who rescued her from that restaurant parking lot and decided to keep after failing to find an owner. Getting Helen healthy is a piecemeal process, starting with getting her clean, then parasite-free--and then they want to get her the dental care she so badly needs. But because she's an elderly cocker spaniel and has a relatively high risk of heart trouble, their veterinarian refers to them to a veterinary cardiologist first. As a result of that exam, a tumor is discovered at the base of her lungs. Helen, also, is referred to Nick Trout for surgery.

These two dogs, their personalities, life stories, and medical predicaments, affect not only Dr. Trout, but everyone who comes in contact with them. Their stories intertwine in unexpected ways, affecting each other's families as well as Nick Trout, other veterinarians at Angell, and other Angell patients through their effect on Trout. One dog survives, the other does not, but they both, in their different ways, open his mind and heart to a new understanding of the bond between pet and pet owner, and a new appreciation of the joy they bring to life even in the midst of loss.

He tells these dogs' stories in alternate chapters through the first half, and then intertwines the stories of other patients and clients as well. Some readers have found this distracting or confusing; I found that it added depth and perspective.

This is, ultimately, a feel-good story that will be appreciated and enjoyed by most who have shared their lives with a much-loved pet.

Highly recommended.

I bought this book in paperback at my local bookstore. ( )

I wanted to like this book. I have read other of Nick Trout's books which I found warm and funny. This one I found depressing, disjointed and, if there was supposed to be some connection between the two dogs culminating in a larger message of love, I missed it.

Frankly, I skimmed through most of the book only to get to the end to find out what happened to Helen. I found the two cases he chose to highlight in this book to be odd. Both cases were sad and even tragic. There was no hope or enlightenment to be taken from this book.

I can't explain the positive reviews here but I can only recommend that people give it a miss and try one of Nick Trout's other books. ( )

As so often happens, a name that fits the occupation....although i doubt if Dr. Trout does surgery on many (any?) species of fish. What a perfectly wonderful book, especially for people who are deeply attached to their pets. I felt like giving Dr. Trout a hug for his writing! I'm delighted that he has written many more books for me to read, including a new novel! ( )

I love dogs and I can't wait to get my hands on this book!