8 “dogmoirs” I can’t wait to get my paws on
“Dogs never bite me. Just humans.”
— Marilyn Monroe
We are halfway through the year 14,154. For the 3 million Canadians who adopted fur babies during the pandemic, that’s 2022 in dog years.
I’ve had a few very “ruff” weeks, which is why I reached out and interviewed a “Burn Out Coach” (which you can read in part two).
I’m feeling a little more pawsitive now, after taking a break from social media and the news. Instead of reading morning headlines — forecast: shitty, shitty, and shittier — I’ve started my days reading the Dogington Post. Billed as the internet newspaper all about dogs, the Dogington Post is currently celebrating its 10-year anniversary. (WOOF! WOOT!)
With entertainment and celebrity news and the latest in dog training, canine health, and a steady stream of pup-related stories, I can see how it’s quickly become dog lovers’ daily fix. (The site garners an average of around 2.5 million visitors a week.)
Founded by Dr. Harlan Kilstein, a marketing guru who recently added a furry friend to his family, he was inspired to “penetrate the ever-crowded pet-niche by creating an online news source for all things dog-related.” But even he wasn't prepared for the tenacity of such an enormous audience. In its early days, there were site shutdowns caused by overwhelmingly high traffic, and the server that was hosting the Dogington Post reported the site was getting over 57k hits per minute.
The Dogington Post introduced me to a new genre of memoirs, which I am now calling the “dogmoir.” (More on that in a sec!)
There are hundreds of memoirs about our furry friends — heartwarming true stories of loyalty and companionship that inspire you to hold your four-legged BFFs a little closer, that leave their paw-prints on your heart while giving new meaning to the dog-eat-dog world that is publishing. (I’ve even added eight of these dogmoirs to my TBR list!)
One dogmoir that re:books has already featured is Helen Humphreys’s And a Dog Called Fig: Solitude, Connection, Writing Life that came out this year. What started as a quest to fill a void in her life by getting a dog at 60, became not only the story of how that dog changed the author’s life, but of how years surrounded by dogs influenced her writing life — just like how canine companions helped other writers, such as Virginia Woolf and Emily Brontë. We described it as, “A heartwarming memoir for owners and non-dog owners alike, drawing inspiration and support from the unlikeliest of places.”
Dr. Kilstein, the founder of the Dogington Post — sorry, I can't write about this enough! — is as funny as the obit writers I interviewed here about their craft.
"If you’re having trouble deciding what New Year’s resolutions will make the year ahead your very best yet, look to the purest, most innocent soul you know for inspiration," he posted at the beginning of 2022 (or 14,154 if you’re a dog).
In “If your dog wrote your New Year’s resolutions,” he writes the following:
“I resolve to keep snacking. I know there is a lot of evidence that dogs are overweight. But yours truly is not interested in getting into a bikini any time soon.
Exercise is overrated. Sleep is in. I’m calling on all of you to restore nap time. Just think how much better the world would be if everyone took a nap (or more than one) during the day!
Relax. You humans take everything so seriously. Do you see me worrying about taxes or inflation? No! The only thing I care about is someone to fill my bowl with yummy food and dish out the belly rubs…Seriously, name one issue that can’t be solved with a belly rub.
Train my dog parent better. So far, they do a passable job. They buy me healthy nourishing food. They never feed me treats made in China. But I’m like the only one in the family without his own Apple Watch or iPad. How do I tell them I do a better job of sharing than their kids? When I get a tennis ball, do I keep it for myself? No. I let the human throw it over, and over, and over, and over. Yet, not one person has offered me their iPad so I can watch squirrel videos on YouTube.”
(We can learn a lot about living our best lives from this awe-inspiring list from a dog’s perspective!)
Back to the dogmoir (which should be its own category on Amazon by now). There are more than 100 memoirs about dogs on Goodreads alone. Did you know that Dean Koontz, the international bestselling master of hundreds of suspense novels, also wrote a dogmoir about his dog Trixie, who lived less than twelve years, but “in every way that mattered…lived a big life?” And that Trixie also penned — or would it be pawed? — a book before she passed?
I’ve had some embarrassing moments in my life — like the time My Guy saw my television viewing history — but when a dog gets 100 times the reviews you get, with 10 times the amount of love, and becomes a New York Times bestseller, it can make you yearn for the dog life!
First, leading the pack (pun intended) of dogmoirs, is Koontz’s A Big Little Life: A Memoir of a Joyful Dog Named Trixie.
Koontz believes he was a dog in a past life. “Every time I wrote a story that included a canine, my yearning for a dog grew,” he said. "Readers and critics alike said I had an uncanny knack for writing convincingly about dogs and even writing from a dog's point of view. When a story contained a canine character, I always felt especially inspired, as if some angel watching over me was trying to tell me that dogs were a fundamental part of my destiny if only I would listen.”
He did.
I fetched five inspirational quotes from this dogmoir (written after Trixie passed) off Goodreads:
"No matter how close we are to another person, few human relationships are as free from strife, disagreement, and frustration as is the relationship you have with a good dog. Few humans give of themselves to another as a dog gives of itself. I also suspect that we cherish dogs because their unblemished souls make us wish — consciously or unconsciously — that we were as innocent as they are, and make us yearn for a place where innocence is universal and where the meanness, the betrayals, and the cruelties of this world are unknown.”
“Dogs might love a place, as people do, but the only place they love beyond all others is the place where you are.”
“This may be the primary purpose of dogs: to restore our sense of wonder and to help us maintain it, to make us consider that we should trust our intuition as they trust theirs, and to help us realize that a thing known intuitively can be as real as anything known by material experience.”
“Dogs eat with gusto, play with exuberance, work happily when given the opportunity, surrender themselves to the wonder and the mystery of their world, and love extravagantly.”
“Their perpetual readiness for play is endearing, and their willingness to forgive deception time after time is one of the key differences between the heart of a dog and the human heart.”
Koontz’s dogmoir was a hit! (Perhaps it’s because Trixie already had a following, which is incredibly important to publishers.)
Prior to A Big Life, Trixie had her own book deal. (Who negotiated Trixie’s contract? Did she get a lifetime of belly rubs instead of royalties?) This famous author (pawthor?) definitely garnered bigger advances and probably made more sales than I ever have, but we did have one thing in common: naps, glorious naps!
Bliss to You: Trixie's Guide to a Happy Life, co-authored by Trixie Koontz and Dean Koontz, is written from Trixie’s perspective, so of course, the grammar isn’t purrfect. Then again, neither is mine!
(It “begs" the question: Do I write as well as a dog?)
In any case, Bliss to You is described as a "whimsical and uplifting collection of lessons about living life to the fullest and finding joy in everyday experiences.”
“The world is fun. Meadows to run. Ponds to swim. Hills, valleys, shores to explore. A bajillion things to smell. So much to learn, to see. Cats to chase,” Trixie writes. “Warning: can't achieve bliss if catch cat. Cats are only for chasing. Catch cat, get lacerated nose, go to vet, get cuts sewn shut, needle in butt, and everybody laughing, especially cat.”
Trixie had some rave reviews worthy of some extra-long walks:
“I am totally and completely a Trixie Fan. I swear that if she had a Fan Club - I would want to be President of it. Or at least in charge of the membership drive! LOL,” wrote one reviewer.
Another: “A great & happy tail told through the eyes of a Wonderful Dog. This book makes me so happy :-) I read this in 2009 and in 2012 I listened to the audiobook with the introduction by Dean Koontz. Read again on New Years Day 2013. Read again in 2014.”
Spoiler alert! Below are Trixie’s “8 Steps to Bliss,” which is a theme most dogmoirs focus on and often why dogmoirs are listed alongside categories like “Dog Care” and “Self Help Happiness.”
1. Be Calm — Reside in Quiet Heart
2. See the World in all its Beauty
3. Fun
4. Find Your True Purpose
5. Love and Live for Others
6. Humility
7. Accept Loss
8. Gratitude
I mean, aren’t these all just good life lessons and observations? Which is what almost all these wonderful dogmoirs offer. You don’t need to have a canine companion to enjoy these dogmoirs (or co-pawthored books).
The overall point of dogmoirs is to celebrate that dogs live happy, carefree lives, and are here to love and be loved. Treats are always appreciated.
We should be following in their paws!
We could learn a thing or two about taking a break from our hectic lives and finding some peace and calm.
Now, I’ll let you in on a little secret: Bliss to You: Trixie's Guide to a Happy Life was Trixie’s SECOND book.
Her first? Life is Good!: Lessons in Joyful Living, edited by her father, Dean. No joke! Under “About the Author” on Amazon, her bio reads: “Trixie Koontz is a dog with a famous last name. She is a retired assistance dog for CCI. This is her first book. She lives with Dean and Gerda Koontz in southern CA, and all her shots are up to date.”
Trixie is more generous than many humans, and Trixie has a wonderful sense of humour for someone who can only bark IRL.
Trixie also offers advice: “Accept affection. Encourage affection. Position yourself in a hallway or another high-traffic area. As giver-of-affection approaches, look cute, reach out with one paw, then roll onto back with all four paws in the air, offering glorious furry belly for rubbing. If you don't have glorious furry belly this might not work as well.”(Swap the word “paws” for “arms and legs,” take out “furry,” and this works for humans, too. I tried it last night with My Guy. No doggie-style jokes, please!)
And then there was Koontz and his dog Anna. Anna came into his life approximately 3 months after Trixie passed over the Rainbow Bridge. Anna’s debut, ASK ANNA: Advice for the Furry and Forlorn, featured the problems that plagued Anna's “clients” and how she counselled them, in a “Dear Abby” format.
“96 pages of absolute cuteness on 4-legs. Anna's advice is 110% better than some I have heard from the two-legged species.” wrote one reviewer.
Which brings me to publicity pup-licity!
People love seeing pets on social media. A loyal friend like Trixie or Anna can help introverted authors promote their book(s). Whether they’re playing dress-up or are there to hype viewers up with their antics, dog posts give people extreme joy.
Based on research commissioned by pet-insurer ManyPets, 25% of pet owners have created social media accounts for their furry companions that exceeded their own followers, and also admit they spend more $ on their pet's birthday than on loved ones. (I’m going to wait to adopt a rescue dog until after my birthday next week. Please don't tell my My Guy. He's already the proud “grand-paw” of two!)
I’m still paw-ndering getting a dog of my own, but here are…
8 Dogmoirs I Can’t Wait To Get My Paws On!
The Particulars of Peter: Dance Lessons, DNA Tests, and Other Excuses to Hang Out with My Perfect Dog by Kelly Conaboy
A funny exploration of the joy found in loving a dog so much it makes you feel like you're going to combust, and the author's potentially co-dependent relationship with her own sweet dog. Readers follow Peter and his owner to Woofstock, "the largest outdoor festival for dogs in North America," and to lessons in Canine Freestyle, a sport where dogs perform a routine to music. From learning about Peter's DNA to seeing if dogs can sense ghosts, this is described as a smart, entertaining respite from the harsh world of humans into the funny little world of dogs.
When Harry Met Minnie: A True Story of Love and Friendship by Martha Teichner
An instant New York Times bestseller, this is described as a tour-de-force of storytelling. “Martha Teichner not only charts the course of two remarkable friendships, between two people and two dogs, but she also invites us to consider our own relationships. The stars that had to align to put someone special in our life. This is a love story, masterful, warm and funny, heartfelt and heartbreaking. I absolutely loved this book,” author Louise Penny wrote.
The Education of Will: Healing a Dog, Facing My Fears, Reclaiming My Life by Patricia McConnell
In addition to information sure to appeal to dog lovers, the author provides a compassionate account of the reclamation of her life from abuse and shame. An uplifting story of hope about how both dogs and humans need "a sense that they are not helpless victims," according to a Kirkus review.
A Marriage in Dog Years: A Memoir by Nancy Balbirer
When the author learns her beloved eleven-year-old beagle has kidney failure, she’s devastated. She and her husband had gotten Ira as a puppy — a wedding gift to each other, and their first foray into “parenthood.” Now, her dog is terminal, her marriage is on life support, and Nancy is desperate to save them both. In a single year, she loses her two best friends, but Nancy’s life is about to take yet another unexpected turn.
With humour and heart, Nancy Balbirer shares her story of relationships, loss, and canine friendship in this memoir about the lengths people will go to keep love alive…and the power of finally letting go.
Huck: The Remarkable True Story of How One Lost Puppy Taught a Family—and a Whole Town—About Hope and Happy Endings by Janet Elder
“Janet Elder's wonderful story of Huck reminds us that the best stories about dogs are really about people or, in this case, community. Few things in America these days can bring people together more than a shared love of dogs. Dogs enter our lives for all kinds of reasons, and Huck entered Janet Elder's life for one of the most important. This is a wonderful story, gripping and heartwarming. And I can't say I've ever read a dog story with a more meaningful or uplifting ending. You are likely to cry some happy tears," writes Jon Katz, author.
You Had Me at Woof: How Dogs Taught Me the Secrets of Happiness by Julie Klam
The New York Times bestselling You Had Me at Woof is described as the often-hilarious and always charming story of one woman's discovery of all she really needed to learn about life through her relationships with her canine companions. Klam shares how her love for dogs and the lessons she's learned caring for them has shaped her heart.
Dog Medicine: How My Dog Saved Me from Myself: A Memoir by Julie Barton
“A heartfelt page-turner about depression and how dogs can save us from ourselves,” according to a Kirkus review. “Dog Medicine captures in unforgettable language the anguish of depression, the slow path to recovery, and the astonishing way animals can help heal even the most broken hearts and minds.”
What Is a Dog?: A Memoir by Chloe Shaw
Kristin Iversen wrote for Refinery29, “Shaw tells the story of her life ― laced with loss, loneliness, and love ― through the lens of her dogs' lives... At every step along the way, Shaw relates more closely to her dogs than she does to other people ― and even to herself. The quiet triumph of this deeply felt, lyrical memoir is Shaw's willingness to confront those things that scare her about being human...and break through to a place where she can find inner strength and her toughness.”
Many agree ― “just looking at a dog can make you smile.” Imagine what reading these dogmoirs could do?
If you’re an avid reader and lover of all things dogs, don’t miss the Dogington Post’s must-read Dog Memoirs of 2021 and 2022!
Until next time,
Flip your hair, and flip the page! (And remember, don’t dog-ear these pages!)
xoxo.
Rebecca