The Good Shepherd: A Special Dog's Gift of Healing [Hardcover]

Jo Coudert (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1998

Lana Davis experienced every parent's nightmare of witnessing the death of her son, Jeremy, due to cancer. During his suffering, she was amazed at the special care and encouragement he received from the family's German Shepherd, Grizzly. However, she would become more amazed later with the inspirational work this special dog performed as she and he became involved in animal-assisted therapy. A touching, true story of an amazing dog and the lives he's impacted.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Grizzly, a German shepherd, and his owner, teenager Jeremy, were inseparable through the boy's harrowing battle with bone cancer in Oregon in the late 1980s. After Jeremy's death, his mother, Lana, was so emotionally, mentally and physically devastated that she considered suicide. Grizzly's attentiveness at this time played a major role in Lana's recovery, according to this absorbing report from Coudert (Seven Cats and the Art of Living, etc.). Jeremy's last wish was that Lana and Grizzly find a way to help other sick children, a wish realized by Lana's founding of the Good Shepherd Association, then of the Utah Animal-Assisted Therapy Association. Through UAATA, dedicated owners and their specially trained pets (cats and a rabbit in addition to dogs) visit ill or handicapped children in hospitals, bringing cheer and comfort. Coudert's account of Grizzly's role in bringing joy to Jeremy and in healing his mother, as well as of the creation of UAATA, is smoothly written and of great potential appeal to those who relished Animals as Teachers and Healers, by Susan McElroy, who contributes a foreword here. Photos.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 180 pages
• Publisher: Andrews Mcmeel Pub; First Edition edition (October 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0836267567
• ISBN-13: 978-0836267563
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #725,060 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing story of inspiration and hope, September 17, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Good Shepherd: A Special Dog's Gift of Healing (Hardcover)

This is an amazing story of inspiration and hope about a very special German shepherd named Grizzly, his young master who battled long and valiantly with terminal cancer, and the boy's courageous mother who was rescued from her own crippling grief by this incredible dog. Fulfilling her son's dying wish, Lana Davis began bringing Grizzly to hospitals to visit sick children, and soon began training others to do the kind of work she and Grizzly were doing. During the next six years, Lana and Grizzly co-founded two successful animal-assisted therapy organizations, including the Utah Animal-Assisted Therapy Association, trained hundreds of volunteer teams to carry on their work, and helped to heal the broken hearts of dozens of abused and emotionally troubled children. Today, though blind, Grizzly continues to inspire others with his almost unbelievable intuition for discerning what people need, be it his special brand of talk or a furry body to hug.

Here's what some early reviewers have said about this book:

"I cried throughout this incredibly moving book. It proves what I claimed in Dogs Never Lie About Love, that dogs have a greater capacity for love than do humans. And they are more sensitive, and wiser and more compassionate, the list goes on and on. This book shows the profound love and compassion that dogs feel, mysteriously and wonderfully, for us. A book for anyone who loves dogs, and children, and the love between dogs and children." - Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of Dogs Never Lie About Love and When Elephants Weep.

"Do not be fooled into believing that this is merely a book about a brave boy, a mother with a fierce and tender heart, and their uncannily intelligent dog. It is, of course, about these things but, more important, it is about relationships and about healing. The Good Shepherd teaches us just how broad and strong and miraculous the horizon of relationships can be when we include animals in the mix as friends, family, and--yes--as mentors and healers." - Susan McElroy, author of Animals as Teachers and Healers, in her Foreward to The Good Shepherd

"This book of love and courage demonstrates the healing powers of animals when our hearts are open to them. It gives new meaning to being 'touched by an angel.' Many angels are animals, and many animals become angels in our lives." -Dr. Michael W. Fox, veterinarian and author of The Soul of the Wolf and numerous other books.

"Tears of sadness and tears of joy streamed down my face as story after story opened my heart to the love, miracles, and healing shared by Grizzly and Lana. A must-read for all animal-lovers." - Dr. Allen M. Schoen, author of Love, Miracles, and Animal Healing

"Jo Coudert's words touch one like gentle hands on an animal--and reach the same level of communication." - Betty White, actress and author

"After reading The Good Shepherd, no one can doubt the ability of animals to teach and heal. Readers will enjoy abundant moving stories of troubled individuals changed by the power of the human-animal bond and animal-assisted therapy. Following the examples of Lana and Grizzly, I hope thousands of people-animal teams will seek training to share their special kind of love with people in need in their own families and communities." - Linda Hines, President and CEO, Delta Society

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very good book that I would reccomend to any one., March 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Good Shepherd: A Special Dog's Gift of Healing (Hardcover)

This is a book that is well worth reading. If you like stories about dogs who help people in ways that they very much needed, then this is the book for you.