I can't read books where dogs die

Consider me another who can’t read those kind of books. :frowning:

I made the awful mistake of watching “Marley & Me” a few years ago. I cried for a long time after that one. I’ll never watch that again. And there’s no way I’d ever read the book.

I did enjoy “Dogs of Bedlam Farm,” by Jon Katz, though. It was years ago that I read it, so I don’t remember if any dogs died in it. I don’t think they did, though.

Honestly though after having just lost my beloved Zappa barely over a week ago now after two hard weeks of fighting a sudden and still unknown disease, I’m having a hard time reading ANYTHING dog related right now, though. I miss my boy so much, it’s so hard to even think about dogs right now. :cry:

[QUOTE=libgrrl;5913510]
I can’t either.

I have a whole library of books – gifts from family members – that I’ve never read, and never will read – including Marley, Art of Racing in the Rain, etc. I’m sure I’ll receive more this holiday season :slight_smile: Unfortunately, friends and family know that I love dogs, and love to read, therefore…[/QUOTE]

Join paperbackswap.com and trade them out for ones among the 5 million books listed that you’d like better instead. :yes:

I just on Sunday had a wish granted off my wish list, a Patsey Gray horsey book, hardcover, published 1966, far out of print. It was mailed this morning and is heading my way. :cool::smiley:

This club is the greatest thing since peanut butter. And lots of horsey books, old and newer. Don’t rule out getting out of print stuff. The Patsey Gray book above is so old it never even got an ISBN number.

Okay, commercial over. I make no money from them, just an enthusiastically satisfied fan. :yes::slight_smile:

By the way, a dog book I really enjoyed was the Great Dane Thor by Walter Farley. Yes, that Walter Farley. Apparently his one and only dog book, but I actually think it’s better written than the Black stallion ones.

Where The Red Fern Grows.

I tear up just thinking about that book.

A couple people mentioned Nop’s Trials. I still shudder thinking about the fur coats made from dog pelts- the dobie turned into a “sealskin” jacket…it was well written and I enjoyed learning about the life of a herding dog, but that slaughter stuff has kept me, an avowed die-hard re-re-re-re(etc)-reader from picking that one up again.

On the other hand, I also loved his book Eminent Dogs Dangerous Men. Great photos, too.

And I still adore James Herriot’s books, because as skillfully as he uses evocative humor, he also carefully describes the pain of loss, and he never was maudlin or gratuitous. I go back to them often despite knowing they’ll pull some tears from me (i still use his famous phrasing for throwing up…-"'E’s wommiting bad, just wommited his dinner…")

Well no one has mentioned Albert Payson Terhune’s Lad and Sunnybank books. I think there is only one story in which a dog dies, from distemper acquired at a show in the days before vaccines. For you pit bull lovers, there is a short story by John Taintor Foote (I think) called Allegheny. It’s about a pit bull, bred to fight, that saves a young child from a rabid Dane. Great story. Foote’s Blister Jones racing stories are great too.

I went to see Marley and Me at the theater and literally became physically ill during the euthansia scene. If was very realistic and brought back too many memories of being with a beloved dog at the end, having the vet ask, “Are you ready?” and giving that nod that sends them to the Bridge.

Champion Dog Prince Tom. Sigh. Beloved book of my childhood. All the Albert Payson Terhune books NO DOGS DIE. Bob, Son of Battle. Well the wife dies, and one dog dies in the end (but he deserved it and justice is meted out by other canines).

I can NOT, WILL not watch “Dance with Wolves” again. Nope. Won’t do it.

Billy Zane’s first movie, with Sam Neill and some well known woman where he plays a crazy on a boat in the middle of the ocean. Very scary. Dog dies, don’t watch it.

Why would I read Marley or any of those other ones? Many of those authors had only ONE dog and they get to write a definitive story?? Please. I’ve had over 50 dogs in my lifetime. I could write a thousand stories (and one day I might) but when you’ve had that many you realize that … many dogs are similar and your story is perhaps not that unique.

Love the Terhune books.

Another great set of dog stories was by Col S P Meek. Usually set in some branch of the military, most books about a different breed. Dignity a Springer Spaniel, Rusty a Cocker Spaniel, Ranger the Labrador, etc.

He also got in a few good horse books, although most of them were dog books. Frog: The Horse that Knew No Master is still pulled off my shelf occasionally to read.

[QUOTE=dressagetraks;5913681]
By the way, a dog book I really enjoyed was the Great Dane Thor by Walter Farley. Yes, that Walter Farley. Apparently his one and only dog book, but I actually think it’s better written than the Black stallion ones.[/QUOTE]

Didn’t he do “Big Red” too, about the Irish setter? That was a great one…

I don’t think Marley and Me is someone saying that their stories about their dog are better than others, but the book is the author’s way of dealing with the grief of losing his friend and companion. It has been years since I read the book, but from what I remember the book was a celebration of Marley’s life written by someone trying to come to grips with their loss. I think that is why I could finish the book, knowing what I knew was coming.

Big Red was by somebody with a name a mile long starting with K. I always wondered how to pronounce it. :slight_smile:

The same guy also did Irish Red, Outlaw Red, etc. Those are good ones, too.

[QUOTE=SarahandSam;5914358]
Didn’t he do “Big Red” too, about the Irish setter? That was a great one…[/QUOTE]

No, that was Jim Kjelgaard

Finn the Wolfhound by Dawson…I first read it when I was ten, and it started my lifetime of woldhound ownership. Finn has many heroic adventures, is stolen, lost, joins a circus, goes to Australia, has a family with a dingo, but it has a very happy ending…a true odyssey.

[QUOTE=Kryswyn;5914289]
Champion Dog Prince Tom. Sigh. Beloved book of my childhood. All the Albert Payson Terhune books NO DOGS DIE. Bob, Son of Battle. Well the wife dies, and one dog dies in the end (but he deserved it and justice is meted out by other canines)I can NOT, WILL not watch “Dance with Wolves” again. Nope. Won’t do it.Billy Zane’s first movie, with Sam Neill and some well known woman where he plays a crazy on a boat in the middle of the ocean. Very scary. Dog dies, don’t watch it.Why would I read Marley or any of those other ones? Many of those authors had only ONE dog and they get to write a definitive story?? Please. I’ve had over 50 dogs in my lifetime. I could write a thousand stories (and one day I might) but when you’ve had that many you realize that … many dogs are similar and your story is perhaps not that unique.[/QUOTE]

^^^^THIS. So this. I hated Billy Zane ever since that flick. And I’ll watch Dances with Wolves up until they get close to the wolf shoot. :no: a wolf AND a horse.

My parents bought me that racing in the rain book last Christmas. After all, I’m a dog lover and I read a lot. They told me it was amazing and a real tear jerker. Um, gee thanks. They ask me once a month if I’ve read it yet. Um no, I have not. Maybe in the dead of winter when I have nothing better to do but bawl for days on end and hubby is out of town?

My husband has banned me from watching any sort of dog movie and I’m sure it’ll apply to that book as well! It doesn’t matter if it’s sad like Old Yeller or has a happy ending like Homeward Bound. I’ll be inconsolable, crying like my dog just died for hours on end…

My husband thinks I’m nuts because I can’t even read a children’s picture book if it has an aged, dying dog in it. I’ve burst into tears more than once during my daughters’ story time when they pick out a “life lesson, pets grow old” type book from the bookmobile.

[QUOTE=wireweiners;5914371]
No, that was Jim Kjelgaard[/QUOTE]

Thank you, new library books for me!

In addition to Big Red (which was made into a movie too), the same author wrote Irish Red and Outlaw Red.

I loved Thor! And I still have all of the many Albert Payson Terhune books, all of which I read many times. I can’t part with them! I think they still hold up, although are rather anachronistic in language and attitudes in some ways. Yes, the dogs very rarely die in them.

It always irks me when an author kills off the dog, but then somehow it is supposed to be OK, because he has left a puppy or puppies behind.

I always hate it when an author kills off the dog, cat or whatever, gratuitously, to make a point or advance the story or whatever. Cheap shot.

But, in some cases the death of a fictional dog is something I can tolerate reading about after all these years and all the dogs I have lost. It depends greatly on how it is handled, just like the deaths of human characters.

Me too. A friend at work brought the book to me and said “Here, you HAVE to read this! I just finished it, and it’s a GREAT book!” I told her thank you so much for thinking of me but no, I can’t read it. I did not go see the movie either. She’s read the book and seen the movie about 5 times each now and I just cannot do it. I refuse to read or watch stuff where animals die. But then I don’t watch or read any kind of sappy sad drama stuff either. Has to be comedy or action/thriller or I’m not interested.

If anyone reads Stephen King, do NOT read his short story “The Memory”. I found it online and it was the most disturbing thing I think I’ve ever read.

My understanding is he expanded that story for the novel Duma Key so I have my doubts about it too!

SPOILER
The protagonist sees a dog hit by a car and strangles it to finish it off so it doesn’t suffer.