The Happy Adopted Dog

July 7, 2011 4:06 pm | By Zootoo Editor Flinn D.

The Happy Adopted Dog, by Tammy Gagne, is an informative book aimed at anyone who wants to get a dog and is considering adoption as the primary option. Given the increasing popularity of the adoption movement and the multitude of no-kill shelters gaining prominence around the country, this book couldn’t have come a moment sooner.

The Happy Adopted Dog is available with a bonus DVD covering information about how to train your adopted dog after bringing him home. Gagne starts out with the basics of canine adoption, the pros and cons of adopting, and where you can go if you decide you are ready to adopt. Then the book segues into the nuts and bolts of post-adoption life, such as those behavioral problems commonly exhibited by adopted dogs and how to deal with them, and ways to retrain adopted dogs and instill new habits in them.

While Gagne has done an admirable job of laying out the various concerns specific to adopted dogs and their pet parents, her prose could do with a bit of levity. I know rescuing mutts is no laughing matter, but the serious tone and earnestness that seeps off the pages can get to be a bit much, especially considering the joys that many adoptive parents feel throughout the experience.

The information in this book, however, is second to none, and as a proud parent of multiple rescues over the years, it’s refreshing to see a book that looks specifically at their needs and the challenges inherent in raising them. With thousands of dogs around the country in desperate need of a home, and thousands more roaming the streets because shelters are full, let’s hope this book finds an audience.

Pros: Informative training tips; important for adoption advocacy.

Cons: Tone can be overly serious at times.