Book Review: Things Your Dog Doesn’t Want You to Know

Since becoming a dog mom two years ago, I have read every dog book I can get my hands on. So, when I was contacted to review a new dog book, Things Your Dog Doesn’t Want You to Know, of course I said yes!

When I received the book I had high hopes for several reasons. The reviews on the cover from Steve Martin and Tony Schaloub were encouraging. I loved the shape of the book, and the colors and illustrations. The book is written from the point of view of 11 different dogs, and as you can tell from this blog, I love to pretend I know what dogs are thinking. Some of my favorite books (A Dog’s Purpose and A Dog’s Journey) are written from the canine point of view. Here is how the book’s website described it:

Things Your Dog Doesn’t Want You to Know answers the questions that dog owners have asked for centuries. The book is a collection of 115 humorous essays that reveal the truth behind some of the most baffling canine behavior, their hopes and dreams, their grudges and pleasures, and what they really think about us humans.

After I started reading, my high hopes faded a bit. The book is divided into different essays, that alternate between the different dogs. I wish that they had kept each dog’s stories together as it was hard for me to remember their stories and I had to keep flipping back to the page with their bios. I also had a hard time buying into some of the stories. For example Sarge, a German Shepard who kept getting ‘fired’ from his jobs, which basically meant he kept getting abandoned by owner after owner. Maybe I am just too sensitive about stuff like that, but it made me sad! I did enjoy a few of the stories, especially Axelrod the lab and this thoughts about life as a dog.

As many of my fellow dog bloggers mentioned about the book, I would have loved to see a pittie as one of the characters. There was a bulldog and a boxer, but a pittie who explained why she loves to snuggle, or how she was upset that everyone was scared of her for no reason, might have been a good step in helping the reverse the stereotypes out there. But, I know there are hundreds of breeds and the ones represented in the book are some of the most popular.

All in all, I am glad I read the book and was asked to review it. Although I don’t think it was my favorite dog book, I did enjoy it. It was a quick, entertaining read and was very visually pleasing. If you are looking for a light-hearted book that will give you a few laughs and has cute dog photos throughout, you will enjoy Things Your Dog Doesn’t Want You to Know.