In the way of blogs, somehow mine attracted the attention of author, Kim Pearson. She asked if she could send me her book, “Dog Park Diary, the social round of Goody Beagle.” Thinking it might be cute, I agreed to review it here.
Weeeelll, the first thing I noticed is that Goody Beagle needs to lose a bit of weight, and nothing bugs me more than a fat dog; so I may have been a bit prejudiced right off the bat. I myself, am not a little person, especially now at 9 months pregnant, but I’ve always battled with my weight so I am sympathetic to my chubby contemporaries. My dogs, however, have NEVER been fat and are always kept in tip top condition. There is NO EXCUSE for having a fat dog! So it irritates me that this entire book is about a fat little beagle’s daily visits to the dog park where somehow she is still not managing to get enough exercise to be in good shape.
The next thing I can’t quite figure out is who in the world is the intended audience for this book? I don’t think it’s appropriate for children – as there is way too much about the “sniff butt” game, pictures of dogs pissing all over, and even a money shot towards the end of a terrier taking a dump. Lovely…. There isn’t really a lesson, so I can’t figure out why you’d want to let your kids read it. Not that all these bodily functions are not part of the reality of owning a dog – but do we really need to see it in photos? I see plenty of dogs going potty, it’s not something I really want to admire in pictures. So, is this for adults maybe? Except that I can’t imagine a grown up wanting to hear about, let alone read about, what another grown up thinks is going on in her dog’s head.
The photography is not the greatest, honestly, given a few hours, I could have gotten pictures of equal or better quality. And I don’t claim to be a professional photographer.
It’s a cute little story, I guess, if you are a regular dog park goer and interested in making up little social dramas of the dog park cliques. Except that none of it is very realistic, and is more of a happy la la version of what people like to think is going on. I just don’t get it. Maybe I’m missing something, but I was really put off by all the photos of dog ass, dogs sniffing each other’s butts, and dogs going to the bathroom. Okay, it’s not a cute little story. It’s an attempt to cash in on America’s love of dogs and our desire to view them as little people in fur coats, which they are not. Best of luck though, I read some other reviews and apparently other folks just thought it was adorable, more power to ya.
I’m sorry that I didn’t love it, and I feel bad knocking someone’s efforts publicly, which is why I put off doing the review for so long. Those are my feelings however, I just can’t recommend this book as anything other than a waste of 10 minutes of your life that you’ll never get back, and surely the terrier pooping will be burned into your retinas for a very long time. Trust me, don’t bother.
Posted on September 9th, 2008 by michelle
Filed under: Not my dogs, Random run ins, The Naked Part
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