The third book by Radinger I'm reviewing! However, instead of telling us about the wisdom of wolves or reminiscing about nature, this time she's bringing us a non-fiction book about elderly dogs.
Using her own experiences with her old dogs Lady and Shira and experiences of fans/people she knows, Radinger writes a bunch of chapters on what it is like to live with old dogs, what lessons we can learn from them, what beautiful experiences they can bring and how people deal with finally letting go.
Just another overall good read. I like Radinger's writing style a lot, even in the translated Dutch versions I read. It's just a writing voice I can really get into. She can both convey information about a species very well (e.g. in The Wisdom of Wolves), but also often touches on her own experiences, which can bring various emotions (as seen in this book).
This book falls less into the informative side and more into the biographical side, where we tackle Radinger's experiences with her several old dogs. The first being Lady, a now-deceased rescue from the United States, and the second being her current elderly canine, Shira, a retriever mix. From here on out she highlights several events and anecdotes in her life with these dogs. You'll laugh, you'll cry.
Honestly, this book made me kind of emotional because it really made me realize that the time I have left with my dog (currently 11 years old) is limited. I have always known it will eventually come to an end, but this book is pretty confrontational in that if you read it while having an elderly dog yourself, it really smacks you with the reality that your pooch could be gone any day now. Which I don't want to think about with our Bode yet (or, by extension, the cat, who is also aging quite a bit).
Bode himself has been gray since he was just one year old, so I don't really notice him aging much in the aspect of fur color, but I definitely am noticing him getting older. He sleeps more and is less enthusiastic than he used to be about walks and playing. He has grown blind with age and overall just takes his time for things much more. Outside of his blindness, his health is still fine as far as we currently know, so I'm very glad that we may have quite a bit of time with him left, but you never know.
Radinger has been lucky so far that her two deceased dogs, despite both being large breeds, have both lived to be about fifteen years old. Bode is a medium-sized breed, so maybe he'll live to see fifteen, who knows. I just hope he feels good and happy during the time he has left.
Sorry for the personal tangent here, this book just got to me more than I expected it to. But overall: a nice and pretty emotional book I do recommend for dog owners, though it can indeed be a bit confrontational. Radinger has a very pleasant writing style and I liked reading these snippets out of Lady's and Shira's lives. The Dutch translated edition I have also came with many large photos, both in gray-scale and color, showcasing the beauty of elderly dogs.
Rating: 4/5
No comments:
Post a Comment