Book Review of If I Should Die Before My Dog: a book tour

First I would like to THANK the authors! What an incredible book and I (although I don't plan on it, nor does my husband) would be thrilled to pass this book on with Sandie to a Sharpei Rescue here in Southern California.  We had been in dog rescue for years before we moved to the beach home and it is a world of wonder!

Second I would like to thank Sharon Martin for her talent and friendship and professionalism of a woman who reads more books than can fit in my home!  She is a delight to work with and all readers of books should visit her bookstore online and sign up to be in one of her book tours!

Third (but not finally) I would like to thank is the book's illustrator:

 by Rod Lawrence
Throughout the pages of the book "If I Should Die Before My Dog —" you will find the most delightful illustrations. In black and white, llustrator Rod Lawrence captures the color of a dog's life.

These drawiings are amazing and would make a splendid display framed and hung as a collection.

Dog Painter courtesy of Amazon

We (my husband and myself) were inspired to read this book when 

Sharon Martin assured me that it was not a sad novel.  To be sure I had my husband read to me pages 9 thru 19.  After filling up with tears anyway, I said that I would fill in this book after I spent time talking with our Sharpei Mix dog, 11 year old "Sandie."  I haven 't been able to do anything but go through the book and take some notes in my journal about it and have been waiting for a time when I'm in good health to finish all that I need to do.

I read where the Cathy and Joe wrote to Sharon Martin and said, "Both of Cathy's parents died within a few months of each other.  Cathy's father's last words were "Take care of my baby dog."  They left behind  little "Mandy", a twelve year old pomeranian.  Cathy's brother had been the caretaker of their parents for many years, so Mandy was very fortunate."   

Click on the book image to buy the book 

This book is:

A Dog Lovers lasting guide.......An beautifully illustrated interactive book that one fills in all of the information about their dogs life in the event they can no longer care for them to help ensure your pets are taken care of. 

Another Review of this book and then some!

This book is # 97 in TOP 100 of Amazon.com Dog Care Books!

A thought provoking check list for dog lovers, who unfortunately and with much sadness can no longer take care of their dog. 

This book will assist those who want to prepare for their dogs future in an easy to use format that will guide them through the process of telling the "story" of their dogs life, for their pets "Next Guardian".

John and Carolyn and Sandie

 

My Sandie, a kill rescue dog, is an "elder" and she would really need to go somewhere that had no cats (she's cat crazy) and no other dogs in the home because she is very dog unfriendly in her home.  Let's just say that Sandie came with a lot of issues and we were the perfect match for her because she picked us and told us all that she had been through (via her chart) and we asked her the first night, "Why did you pick us?"  How did you know you could trust us?  So I think we would need to find an Elder Rescue somewhere here in Southern California.  She's a beach dog but loves the grass too.   
 

I have to say that reading this line in the letter to Sharon Martin,  I was left to wonder about this brave family.  'Cathy's father's last words were "Take care of my baby dog."  They left behind  little "Mandy", a twelve year old pomeranian.  Cathy's brother had been the caretaker of their parents for many years, so Mandy was very fortunate. '  

I can't imagine my dog thinking she was fortunate if she were to lose us and have to go to Elder Rescue and start the next decade of her life with yet "another family."  She had 2 prior to us taking her and I hope that she forgot about those other 2 homes that were horrible to her.  

Cathy and Joe say, "This interactive workbook is meant to ease this trauma by going with the dog to the next caregiver.  This transition can be eased by having all of the needed information about the dog such as: habits, grooming, medical, words they know, nicknames, how they were trained and much, much more.  If this book were never needed it then becomes a precious keepsake of your dear companions life with you."

I can tell you who I wouldn't leave Sandie with and I better not mention them here since they could be reading this review.   But John and I really have to talk about this and now I am so happy for having read this book.  We will make this careful and thought out process with each other and Sandie. 

We also can say that we have been through this elder dog placement before with our rescue dog "Bear."  

Bear looked like this dog

http://blog.aspca.org/tags/adoptionWe rescued her as "foster parents" when she was at the end of her pregnancy and on LA's list to kill.  Los Angeles is just a mess with their kill shelters and especially where Bear came from it's amazing she didn't come to us filled with fleas! But the wonderful woman who takes care of finding these dogs left to nothing and matching them up with first with breed specific dog rescue as well as people like John and I who had a home with all the needs for a dog like Bear to come to and have her puppies! 

Bear's 11 pups had these colors and some had even more colors

 I will eventually write Bear's Story for her (since I do not know that she could "bare" to tell it herself in the first part of the story) and tell you that once she had her 11 puppies in our home and they all went to the adoptive shelter that we would only trust since we rescued our first dog from that shelter.  We had to give Bear to a dog breed specific rescue shelter with wonderful women who found Bear a home with a graduate student who lived next to a lake with a big tree where Bear could enjoy the peace and quiet with one woman who would love her to the end! 

We, like the Connolly's, have been "secret pet Angels" helping those who cannot afford  medical treatment, surgery, spaying, neutering etc. for their pets. We also help support many non-profit pet charities.

    

The authors describe themselves as what they consider themselves to be "accidental authors", they took a fleeting thought and after much research on the subject found nothing covering this category.  They had no idea what we were getting into!  After some time they found that "you don't just publish and go.   And then, watching television one night they saw that if you want to promote something------you join twitter!  
Twitter turned out to be one of the best things we could have done. "  

Authors Joe and Cathy Connolly

They met wonderful people there such as Barbara Brunner, author of "Dog-ma, Zen of Slobber" and Clive Eaton, author of "Pyramid Legacy". These authors gave them many marketing tips and great ideas on how to promote their book. 

About the Authors

Joe and Cathy Connolly have spent a lifetime owning, training and caring for dogs. Cathy grew up with a Collie breeder, dog groomer and dog handler while attending many different dog shows and eventually went on to work with other breeders as she grew older. They live in beautiful Northern Michigan with their 3 furry four legged children, one large dog, one small dog and the entire family is supervised by one bossy calico cat. 
 

Click here to read the rest of the TOUR!  My fellow bloggers are wonderful and wrote amazing reviews of the book that I want to call The Best Dog Book That We Have Read to prepare a dog companion with life with their next guardian!
 
       Please click the image here to find an adoptable dog! 

Image is from the ASPCA and the image leads you there to their adoptable dogs!

Image is from the ASPCA and the article is

This Valentine’s Day, Open Your Heart to a Shelter Pet

        To find ELDER DOG's For Adoption please click here!



John and I plan to write a number of books now that he is retired and I am going steady with my love of blogging to books!  We will pull from the best of our articles in this blog about dog care and life with Sandie and go on to publish what we have time to write and have approval and personal growth.  At ages 53 and 64 we think we have grown to be speakers for dogs that we have had in life so far!



Click on the image below and join up on the next book tour that is open.  These fill fast and also get in on the GIVEAWAY!