Spirit Dogs: Heroes In Heaven [Hardcover]

Susan Kelleher (Author), Rod Lawrence (Illustrator), Wildlife Artist (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 5, 2006

An illustrated short story about the narrator and her dog, Ivan, who make a trip to dog heaven after being in a car accident. The narrator is greeted by all the dogs she's owned during her life. One collie, who saved her life when she was a child, explains how a dog's ultimate goal is to serve humans in an exceptional way or to save a human life. He tells her that all dogs evolve to this point and that Ivan is almost there. He also explains that a dog's love for its owner is always available to that person, even after the dog has died. Ivan remains in heaven, and the narrator must return to Earth.

Editorial Reviews

Review

A SPECIAL MISSION Finding a place in your heart for this book should be easy. We all know what it s like to lose our best canine friend, but with this book nearby it will be a whole lot easier.

Why? Because they all have a special mission. As Susan Kelleher s delightful little book explains, the ones that came before are constantly training the ones that will be our next set of heroes. Their missions may be large, like helping rescue someone, or small, like that little tail wag that is meant just for us. Either way, every day they become our heroes.

And when they pass, they know they won t be forgotten. Kelleher lets us in on a little secret, the love we feel for them when they are gone is just as special to them as what we felt when they were right there next to us. --Donna Coomer, Between the Lines Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Josie's pain was too great, and she had lost most of her dignity. Susan Kelleher helped hold her fourteen-year-old retriever as the long-time companion nuzzled into her son Alex's lap, and the vet administered the injection. Alex and his mom wept for an hour, and then they took Josie to the woods to leave her in peace.

Susan Kelleher knows what it is to lose the undemanding friend of a lifetime. With the understanding of this experience and the knowledge of so many others, she presents us with a wonderfully lyrical look at the death of a family pet. She has given us the very real sense of the transition that takes us and our companions to a place and time beyond the moment of passing to offer us the promise of peace, acceptance, and tranquility.

Susan's is a story of the sadness of loss and the poignant acceptance of the peace that comes with the knowledge that such a loss leads us to another plain of reality. In this short, real celebration of life, Susan affirms the richness of the lives we live with our pets and shows us the rewards that remain for those of us who have the courage to look beyond the loss and see the promise of life.

Susan sings a song of peace and the acceptance that comes with passing.

Susan Kelleher's MS in psychology and her MFA in creative writing serve her extraordinarily well in this short, diamond of a story. She helps us understand our loves and losses by drawing from the heartfelt events of her own family.

Rod Lawrence, the artist, brings added depth to the story with his superb illustrations. He is the only artist to have won both the Michigan Trout Stamp and Michigan Duck Stamp contests in the same year. His portrait of the beloved Josie hangs in Susan's office, a constant reminder of how those we loved challenge us to live.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: Owl of Athene Pr; 3rd edition (September 5, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965049515
• ISBN-13: 978-0965049511
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,135,647 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read, March 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Spirit Dogs: Heroes In Heaven (Hardcover)

As someone who has gone through the trauma of losing two dogs, I was tremendously touched by this wonderful story. This is a book that should be available in every Veterinarian's office, every Pet Cemetery, at every Dog Show and every Dog Supply store. Dog owners who lose their pets need a book like this, particularly children.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a book of warm and wise consolation with great art., December 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Spirit Dogs: Heroes In Heaven (Hardcover)

To read Spirit Dogs is to talk with your best friend at one of the worst times in your life: I lost both my cat and dog within the last six months--accident and wandering away--and the comfort I got from this book helped me through those rough times. You hear this person talking to you. Susan Kelleher has a way of writing that is so clear and straightforward that it seems she is sitting in a chair in the living room and helping you deal with the fact that your best friend has left you, but that the love is still there, the love that you got from your pet and the love you still feel. And it is alright to have those feelings What really helped me, too, were the drawings in the book. I had never seen any of Lawrence's work before, but I would like to get a hold of some. The pictures are real. They look like dogs I've had and ones I've seen in the neighborhood. What counted for me, though, was when I read the book and got to one of the drawings, it just made me feel how real the book is and how much it seemed as though Kelleher knew what it was that I was going through.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Comforting and Confirming, May 19, 2001

By 

Susan Metzger (Silverthorne, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Spirit Dogs: Heroes In Heaven (Hardcover)

I found this story very confirming of all I've felt to be true about both dogs and humans after they die. Kelleher paints a picture that is exactly what I've always imagined a dog heaven would be. To know that my dear Daisy, my best doggie ever, is now in a better place, and to know I will see her again, makes this book something I will read over and over and share with anyone else who loses a beloved pet.