Customer Reviews

The Good Dog

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have read several of Avi's books. I must say I have yet to be disappointed. Nearly every one of his stories is written in a different style. Avi does not get type-cast or pigeon-holed... he finds a way to stay fresh and creative in every book he writes. I can't help but be blown away by his originality. Well, enough gushing about the author.
Avi takes a page from Jack London in this story. It is a take on the classics like, Call of the Wild and White Fang. McKinley is a loyal, smart, loving, caring dog. He is devoted to his family, and takes great pride in caring for his human pup. He is loyal to his human family and watches over them carefully.
But, McKinley is also the leader of a community of dogs. So he spends time rounding up the dogs in town and caring for them. One of his dog compatriots says he cares too much for other dogs. And that appears to be true.
When McKinley goes to help a dog named Duchess who has run away
from her abusive master, he meets up with a wolf. His life is forever changed from this point on. McKinley must decide if he will be loyal to his human family or break away and head into the wild with the wolf pack... Interesting stuff. Avi does a wonderful job of getting into the head of the McKinley. He gives us some insight into what he sees as the thought process of a dog.
The ending is dramatic and ties together nicely. McKinley gives an amazing statement on what he sees as a dogs relationship to humans. The care relationships dog's have to humanity is expertly rendered by Avi.
I couldn't put this book down and devoured it in a couple of days. The pace is fast and carries the reader along. I hope you read it... you will not be disappointed! :-)

I like this book because it has lots of details and it's from the dog's point of view. It is about a dog named McKinley and a wolf. McKinley is the head dog of the pack in Steamboat Springs. He has to pick whether to stay with his human pup Jack, or to go out with the wolf Lupin. He also has to deal with the lost dog Duchess.

I highly recommend you to get this book. You won't be sorry once you have read it!!!

Good Dog is not for the dogs! It is an excellent adventure whereby a wolf comes to town seeking dogs to join up with the wolf pack and live a life of freedom in the wilds of Colorado. People are secondary in this story - it is the dogs' interactions which make the plot exciting.

Avi writes fabulous animal stories. How he manages to think like a dog is beyond me, but he has hit the characterization on the head. Great book for kids who need something really exciting and different.

I liked this book because it was a great book and it had great details. There was a great detail in the story when it was talking about McKinley grabbing the food out of the refrigerator and how he did it. Also, this book was about dogs and I really like dogs .

This book was about a dog named McKinley. He had an owner named Jack who was about 12 years old. In the book, McKinley is the leader of this dog pack in Alaska. One of the dogs in the pack, Duchess, runs away because she hates her owner Pycraft. A dog named Redburn does everything that his owners tell him to do. Pycraft made a reward for anyone who found Duchess. Of course, Redburn does everything that his owners tell him to do so he goes and finds Duchess. Duchess was hiding with a wolf named Lupin and when Redburn finds her, the wolf comes out and gets shot in the shoulder by Mr. Sullivan, Redburns owner. McKinley and his best dog friend, Aspen, help the wolf out by giving her food like meat and they bring her to a hiding place where people won't find her. McKinley helps Duchess escape from Pycraft. Now Lupin needs to get back to the wilderness because if she doesn't, they will shoot her. They help Lupin but McKinley almost gets shot in the process. Redburn thinks that he should be head dog now so he calls a meeting at Howl Hill. He makes a speech and then McKinley makes his speech. Then the pack votes and keeps McKinley as head dog. Duchess goes off to live with Lupin and to help her wolf pack. Will McKinley go too? Will he leave his humans and go and live with a wolf pack? Read the book and find out.

I think that fantasy readers would like this book because it is a great fantasy book with great details. Also, I think that kids from ages 10-13 would like this book and also dog lovers because this is a great dog story.

The Good Dog is a great book by Avi. If you have never read a book by Avi, you should read one as your next book! I liked The Good Dog because of how Avi explaned how the dogs talked and called things, like a T.V. a "glowing box" and skis "sliding sticks". The book starts with McKinley, the head dog of the pack of steamboat Springs, is walking down the street and he sees a poster on a lamppost with a picture of a dog on it. He recognizes the dog as Duchess and thinks she propaly ran away again and her owner is looking for her, but McKinley's adventurs dont end with findind Duchess. I think this book is very good, but there is one weakness to it that it is pure adventure and barely any story behind it. I have to say that this book is great and any adventure-and-dog-lover will love this book!!!

Two of my friends suggested this book to me and I think that it is Avi's best yet. The story is clever and the plot is intense. I've read it five times and I still want to read it again. It is the perfect story for adventureous dog lovers. It is by far my favorite ever. I also think that if you liked this book, you should try "Child of the Wolves" by Elizabeth Hall. I was very suprised at how these two authers think and write so much like I do. I also know that many other people are like that too. I strongly recemend "The Good Dog" to anyone.

Lots of things are happening to McKinley, the Malamute. First, Duchess has run away. Nobody can blame her, since her owner abuses her. Next, Duchess makes friends with a wolf, comfirming that McKinley's human pup, Jack, really DID see one. And the wolf is encouraging the town's dogs to join her diminishing pack, and become free. Plus, there's Redburn, who wants to overthrow McKinley and become leader of all the dogs in town. How does McKinley deal with it all? Read the book, wonderfully written by Avi, and feel like you're one of the pack yourself!

For anyone who would like to know how a dog may see the world and humans around them, read this story. It is about an Alaskan Malamute named Mckinely who lives in Steamboat Springs, a small town in the mountains of Colorado. He is the leader of all of the dogs who live around him. It is Mckinely's job to protect his family, particularly his "human pup" Jack, and to solve any problems that involve any members of his dog pack. When Mckinely hears about a runaway Greyhound(Duchess), who has been mistreated by her owner, he sets off to find her in the hills. After finding her, and learning that the Greyhound has been living with a wolf named Lupin, Mckinely realizes that he has a big responsibilty:To keep Duchess hidden from her cruel master, to somehow prevent his young master from going off into the wilderness to search for Duchess and the wolf, and to prevent a rival dog(an Irish Setter named Redburn), from leading his master to Duchess. This story has suspenseful parts in it, especially when Mckinely is leading a wounded and ailing Lupin away from Redburn and the humans hot on her trail. The reason I gave this story four stars instead of five is that I would have liked to have seen Mckinely and many other dogs live with Lupin in the wilderness to help replenish her dwindling wolf pack(which is the reason she came to the dogs in the first place). Also, what happened to Duchess? It was said the Greyhound followed the wolf up north to live with her pack. Overall, a very good story, but not long enough. I await a sequel of this story.

What does it mean to be a good dog? What sorts of things does trying to be good make a dog do?

These questions become very important to McKinley, a sled-dog, who lives in the Colorado Mountains with his human family. He is especially fond of the human pup, Jack. Funny thing about humans: they think they own their dogs. The way McKinley sees it, dogs and people need each other equally.

McKinley always has to protect Jack, who is prone to misadventures and scrapes. Gil and Sarah, Jack's human grown-ups, never seem to know half the trouble Jack dreams up for himself. Sometimes, McKinley doesn't know how he's going to save Jack at all. Like the time when Jack saw a wolf in the mountains and decided to go live with it! How can McKinley stop that?

And what happens when the wolf, Lupin, tries to recruit McKinley to join her pack?
What can McKinley do? Where do his loyalties lie, with dogs or humans or Lupin? Is it love and honor that motivates a good dog?

This fascinating book, told from McKinley's point of view, examines the dilemmas of a conscientious dog.

--- (...)

Wow! This is a fantastic book! It is sure to get dog lovers to wag their tails! Action, creative, original, and it has cute little puppies! What's not to love!!!!