What I enjoyed the most about the book is that it is told by a veterinarian. I had no idea how some of them felt about their work and the animals they treat. Once again we learn that there are no bad pets, just bad owners. ( )

This is a memoir of a dedicated, introverted, animal loving Veterinarian. This was an uplifting book showing the positives of pet ownership.

Dr. Jessica Vogelsang begins her story as a young introverted girl who's parents think that getting her a dog will help her to meet people. It doesn't really. As she struggles to determine what she wants to do with her life, she decides on Vet School. She is worried about having to euthanize animals though. The book deals with her professional life as well as her personal life. We meet her friends (Kevin), her two children, she talks about her post-partum depression and her family. The professional side had laughs, some tears and a comaraderie developed in the vet practice. She talks about the on-the-job training that goes on, as well the cost and sometimes disrespect that goes along with the job. Of course you can't read a book about animals without some deaths along the way. When she has to explain the death of the family dog to her young children, her youngest misunderstands Heaven to be Kevin. This misunderstanding plays an important role in how she eventually perceives death of a pet. This is a book that I really can't explain, you just have to read it. I went through a gamut of emotions while reading and listening to this one. If you are an animal lover, you will enjoy this book. I recommend it.
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Very enjoyable audio, especially because it was read by the author---a wonderful way to really understand how she felt by listening to her voice as she read her memoir about her life with her dogs. ( )

In her acknowledgments, author Dr. Vogelsang thanks her editor for “taking a leap of faith on a debut author with Yet Another Dog Book.” Yes, this is Yet Another Dog Book. It is also entertaining, hopeful, sad, and infuriating.

Not all puppies and rainbows, this book. There is death. There is failure to cope well. There is a path of learning. There are tears.

There are also people I want to just slap upside the head.

This memoir is told in sections labeled by the dog in her life at that time. Her vet school experiences were enlightening, as was her telling of her growing practice, her mistakes as well as her achievements.

What I hated was the dissection of dogs in vet school. Those dogs were someone pets, or perhaps never had the chance to be loved. At any rate, they were betrayed by humans so that vet students could glop around in their organs. And the live animal lab - I absolutely hate vivisection and cannot understand the mentality of those who do it.

The author grew from an introverted, antisocial, overly sensitive person, and I can relate to that personality type. I enjoyed seeing her change, and I enjoyed most of the stories. The book was nicely written, not overly verbose for the story it was telling, and a good memoir for animal lovers.

But don't expect only puppy dogs and rainbows.

I was given a ebook acvanced reader's copy of this book for review. ( )

I'm going to begin by vocalizing my extreme annoyance. Someone at Publisher's Weekly and some reviewer at Amazon 'made me' select this book by making a tantalizing comparison between it and James Herriot's books.

I think by mentioning Herriot most people would assume that this would mean that the tone and approach to the material would be somewhat the same. I'm here to tell you that it is not similar. In fact I found the only similarity to be that dogs were mentioned. And I can only assume that the people who 'saw' a similarity hadn't read Herriot's books or else could no longer recall them clearly.

What we have with Dr. Vogelsang's book is an interesting autobiography that revolves around wonderful dogs. I think many dog lovers probably perceive of their lives in the context of dogs they have loved and learned from. What most of us can't do is open up the world of veterinary school. And, in fact, this was probably my favorite part of the book.

Not that I didn't enjoy the stories that came out her actual veterinary practice, but the insight into her years of education I found personally fascinating.

This is nice quick read. There are some tear-jerk moments --at least for me there were -- but generally the whole book was upbeat.

~review copy provided by NG ( )