Customer Reviews

Bad to the Bone: Memoir of a Rebel Doggie Blogger

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If you have a sense of humor and a fondness for man's best friend then this is a must read. I was literally laughing out loud as I read it. I have never done that before. Great gift idea!

The book Bad to the Bone: Memoir of a Rebel Doggie Blogger has to be one of the funniest and most original books I have ever read. Where else can you spend hours laughing at a sneak-peak before sending a friend/family doggie-lover one of the most unique gifts they will ever have? In that case, you may have to order two --- one for you and one as a gift!

Written by a "one-time" reject shelter dog who has his own blog online now ([...]) which is also hilariously funny....Bo tells it as he sees it. Coming from the school of hard-knocks, Bo is adopted by the Hoefingers and teaches them to care for him .... properly! And when they end up moving to Georgia, their list of pros and cons did not have Bo's name on it, nor his best cat friend, Moose.

"My parents never considered the vast amount of land in our backyard I'd be giving up or the clear alpa dog stature I had achieved in the neighborhood. Nor was the fact considered what effect the sultry Southern weather would have on an extremely hairy dog. Nope, none of that mattered. This decision was ALL about them."

Instead, Bo's mother goes to the store and rents the movie "Gone with the Wind" prior to going house-hunting after they had moved to Georgia.....I tell no lies. This was done in order to forewarn Bo about their new living quarters so he would not be disappointed about where they would soon be living. This is just one of the many side-splitting moments in the book!

Buying this book is a once in a lifetime gift for yourself or someone else, a pathway to sheer adventure and pure warm fun.... from a dog's point of view! And if that doesn't get to your heart, nothing will. :)

OMD! I had tears of laughter streaming down my face as I read the book. You are an excellent writer, Bo, and I could totally relate! Anyone who has had the pleasure of the companionship of a dog should read this book.

I love it I love It I love It..I could not put it down..I had to keep going to find out what happened next..Great Reading...

I can't believe this book isn't on the front table of every bookstore! It is well written, very humorous and a great read. It was very easy to relate to many of Bo and his family's adventures, all the while laughing out loud. If you are looking for an upbeat book that will brighten your day, look no further. I highly recommend this to everyone!

This was a great read, I laughed until I cried!!! Anyone with a pet is going to love this book. This is going to make a great gift for the Holidays.

Length:: 1:12 Mins

Bo Hoefinger is not your everyday, run of the mill author; he's a mixed-breed shelter dog with an attitude.

Bad to the Bone focuses on how he and two seemingly normal people wreak havoc on an unsuspecting world while creating a lifelong bond in the process. All the stories are true and will eave dog lovers laughing out loud.


"A real treat. Bo is so distinctively adorable and funny, that no other dog will be able to follow in his pawsteps."
--Tracie Hotchner, author of The Dog Bible and host of DOG TALK (NPR affiliate WLIU-FM 88.3 radio show)

"You'll laugh, you'll howl, you'll practically wag with pleasure...Bo is truly the voice of his doggy generation."
--Dr. Marty Becker, Resident veterinarian on ABC TV's Good Morning America, Host of "The Pet Doctor with Marty Becker" on PBS, Author of 17 pet books, Nationally syndicated columnist, [...]


"A well-written and fun read...Bo takes you inside his family and you feel as if you're right there experiencing all the joys and pains with them. You'll want to hug your own dog after reading this book!"
--Suzanne Jalot, Editor-In-Chief of DOGliving magazine

"Bo's rebel adventures in naps and squirrels will stir the heart and stoke human understanding of how dogs must think. His "voice" is utterly original, sharp, and kind."
--Monica Collins, "Ask Dog Lady" columnist, [...]

"Witty commentary and hilarious observations."
--DOGliving magazine

A must read for any animal lover.

Woof!

-Bo

Meet Bo Hoefinger, part golden retriever, part chowchow, a "senior dog" by his own definition who is rescued from a shelter by a lonely couple in Albany, New York in what he calls a revenge adoption. It seems that this couple selected him as payback to the husband for watching a football game rather than helping his wife decorate the Christmas tree.

Bo, who says he types 60 words a minute and writes his own memoir, is quite a character. Nothing is sacred to him and he keeps no secrets. With not an ounce of shame he gossips about his devoted two-legged parents, as he tells the reader that his mother is a bad cook and that his father is perhaps a worse handyman. He even fell through a bedroom ceiling once when trying to lay a TV cable.

Members of Bo's four-legged family include a Rhodesian ridgeback named Copper and a feline friend, Moose, a grey-striped tiger cat, who is perhaps best known for her off and on battle with constipation.

Bo has a wicked sense of humor. His account of the efforts his parents went to and what they used to control his bleeding from a wound while they rushed him to the vet emergency room will leave you laughing. "I will say that my paw feels as good as ever, but a strange thing happens. Around the same time of every month my mother gets cranky, and my paw starts to throb with pain." This mutt, however, is capable of much empathy and love as evidenced in the chapter where he movingly discusses his mother's bout and ultimate recovery from cancer. "If you don't have a healthy owner, you don't have anything."


When the father gets a transfer at his work, this-- if we are to believe Bo's version-- slightly off-center family eventually moves from Albany, New York to a city near Atlanta, Georgia where a local ordinance requires that all residents have a gun in their home. Can you spell Kennesaw? According to Bo, the dogs bark more slowly in Georgia than in New York. In preparation for the move, Bo's mother reads GONE WITH THE WIND. She would have been much better off reading Anne Rivers Siddons or Celestine Sibley if she wanted an accurate portrayal of modern day Atlanta.

Bo includes along with his narrative a lot of photographs, charts, lists, etc: "The Top Reasons I Love My Mother," his favorite foods, his favorite non-food smells, a list of vanity tags and in a "Q and A with the Author" the following:

Q: If you had a gun with two bullets in it and were confronted by Michael Vick, Sylvester the Cat and Tweety Bird, whom would you shoot?

B: I'd shoot Michael Vick, twice.

This dog is well-read and worldly. He is familiar with Helen Keller, Evel Knievel, Johnny Cash, Rip Van Winkle, Willard Scott, Oprah Winfrey, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hugh Panther, Sean Connery, et al.

In this extremely well-written account of his life up to now, Bo comes across as feisty, stubborn, lovable and bright. We can then forgive him for believing that dogs are smarter than cats.

When reading Bad to the Bone, you will forget what you thought you knew about the canine mind, as you enter the world of Bo from his point of view. I literally felt like I was inside the mind of Bo. As a proud owner/master of an 11-yr old golden retriever I recognized the golden retriever heritage in Bo's personality and view of the world. I feel like I got the real dog thinking from Bo. I also feel like I know and understand my own dog better. So many of the things I thought was going on with my dog were confirmed in Bo's memoir.

This is a hilarious book. It is never boring and does not get old as Bo shares one experience after another. Some are so funny that I wonder if they are true and how the heck Bo got away with writing some of these antics of his parents. The author has confirmed to me that the stories are true! So enjoy.

Bo is honest and vulnerable in his story. He pulls no punches as he retells stories of escape, eating too much of the wrong thing, wearing a maxi-pad, a diaper, living with a cat and opening his home to another dog.

I think all dog and animal lovers in general will enjoy this book by Bo.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book. Bo's "mom," probably after seeing my review for A Big Little Life: A Memoir of a Joyful Dog, realized that I was so much the target audience for this book that I had a bullseye on my forehead. I agreed after explaining I wasn't guaranteeing a positive review. I also made sure the previous reviews were positive, because I wasn't looking forward to telling a geriatric dog not to quit his day job, especially with part of the proceeds going to rescued dogs. Mostly, I accepted because Bo was a shelter dog and I worked at a shelter for several years.

It's impossible not to like this book if you've liked other books or stories in the genre. If you and your spouse have ever sat around "speaking" for your pet, and attributing complex motives, you will probably relate to this story, because -- frankly -- I think Bo had some help with the putting paws to paper. If not, he's really up on his Robert Zemeckis movies. (Why is it that when I translate thoughts my pets are 20% wittier than when my husband translates them?) If you get really irritated by anthropomorphism, you probably might want to take a pass, and drop me a line to tell me how you've managed to escape!

What this story is, at it's heart, is the story of a family, a pack if you will. Bo, his parents, his canine and feline siblings, are the center of his world, and he's clearly much loved by them as well. Particularly touching was the portion where Bo's mom was sick -- who hasn't wondered how pets make sense of these things? Where has this person gone? Will she be back? Why is she so frail? How does an animal understand the change of routine and their role in the house changing for a time? Also, if Bo is an honest pup, he mourned the temporary moving out of his cat sister, which means he's probably up on the concept of Ohana -- nobody gets left behind or forgotten. I think he, in fact, might have taught his parents all about it!

I enjoyed the book from the beginning, but the feeling deepened as the story went on, and as I began to feel close to the family. Or maybe it was Stockholm Syndrome. This was a warm, comfortable, touching, occasionally laugh-out-loud funny book. And, thankfully, didn't end the way I'm always afraid these books will end. You all know what I'm saying. When I left the shelter, because I couldn't handle the pain, I made a vow to avoid certain topics because I'd done my share of being heart-broken, and as a pet-owner knew I'd be safe from what C.S. Lewis warned wpuld happen if I kept my heart too closed:

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable."

So, I promise you that any time I select a book about an animal I calculate the chances that I'll end the book sobbing, and I'm always glad when that doesn't happen. Also, glad Bo gets to enjoy his fame, because the cat -- er, it's an expression -- deserves it! I hope that Bo suggests that there needs to be a Kindle version!

We see Bo go from mischievous young pup to senior statesman and it all looks good on him! Yes, I recommend this to other members of the pack!