Surviving Henry – Book Review
Anyone who has ever owned a recalcitrant dog can relate to that familiar adage, “misery loves company”.
If you’ve ever fallen for a cute little puppy who morphed into Cujo the moment you signed the adoption papers, you know what I’m talking about.
Most owners of these un-Lassie-like canines are too worn down by their dog’s antics by the day’s end to tell their tales.
A few, enterprising owners, however, exact their revenge by sharing their wayward dog’s misdeeds with anyone who will listen to their tales of woe.
Surviving Henry – Adventures In Loving A Canine Catastrophe by Erin Taylor Young tells the story of Henry – a purebred boxer she adopted from puppyhood based on her childhood memories of the “perfect” boxer her family grew up with.
Alas – that is where Erin’s knowledge and experience with dogs began and ended.
Let Erin’s experiences provide prospective dog owners with a valuable lesson: buyers beware!
Do your homework and research on dog breeds and the dog’s background before you bring a cute little puppy into your home.
Remember:
- Puppies grow up.
- Puppies have minds of their own.
- Puppies can be quite destructive, quite time consuming, and quite expensive.
Surviving Henry is filled with anecdotes that are intended to be amusing about Erin’s “rogue torpedo of a dog”, but humor lies in the eyes of the beholder. A number of her stories detail how Henry refuses to respond to any of her attempts to train him – even with the use of shock collars, a practice we do not endorse.
My husband and I both read Surviving Henry with great anticipation, but agreed it lacked the charm of John Grogan’s Marley and Me, which we both loved.
While Surviving Henry will appeal to those who enjoy reading about the misadventures of uncontrollable dogs and their unwitting owners, this is not our top choice in this genre.
I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars.
Henry The Boxer Debuts His Haiku
Erin Taylor Young
Erin Taylor Young is a humor writer who works in a library, where she gets to wander among books. She has written for Today’s Christian Woman, Outdoor Guide Magazine, and MidWest Outdoors. A finalist in the Phoenix Rattler 2011-2012 writing contest and in the Genesis 2012 contest for her contemporary fiction, Erin lives in Oklahoma with her well-meaning husband, two polar-opposite sons, and a noncompliant dog
For More Information
- Visit Erin’s Website.
- Connect with Erin on Facebook and Twitter.
- Surviving Henry is available on Amazon.
For More Great Books
- Visit Create With Joy – Book Reviews.
- Follow Create With Joy on GoodReads.
Stay In Touch!
Follow Create With Joy On:
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the Baker Publishing Group for review purposes. The opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Copyright © 2014 by Create With Joy. All Rights Reserved.
If you see this content posted elsewhere, please contact the site owner.
Thank you for helping to prevent content theft!
I was hoping this would be a light-hearted book.
Although I have tried, and failed, to train a dog
I was hoping this would be a book of success.
How horrible that shock collars are used.
We now have 3 cats, much easier to train.
One of which sleeps with us.
Our cats sleep with us too!
As a matter of fact, we often find ourselves fighting for bed space…
Your review has me hooked – I think Henry sounds like a dog I need to read about!
Oh man, I don’t think I want to read this book. I’ve already lived it. We’ve had that dog – twice. Actually three times, if you consider the very hard-headed Malamute we had. I didn’t think it was funny at the time – it was actually monumentally stressful, but I could see where you could get some funny stories about it. We kept a memento to remind us of our pure-bred Golden Retriever pup – a hard plastic horseshoe about three-quarters eaten. #SITSsharefest
Malamutes – oh boy, they can cause a lot of damage!
My very expensive “free to a good home” puppy once ate – among other things – my picnic table and bench!