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What the Dog Did: Tales from a Formerly Reluctant Dog Owner [Hardcover]

Emily Yoffe
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)


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Book Description

May 12, 2005
A playful look at all things dog.

Emily Yoffe never thought she'd find herself extracting her bra strap from a dog's rear end; in fact, she never thought she'd have a dog at all. This cat devotee was in for some unexpected surprises when she took in a neurotic rescued beagle named Sasha to satisfy her daughter's desire for a dog.

What the Dog Did chronicles Yoffe's journey from cat person to dog lover. The transformation begins with consternation and culminates with real affection: she becomes a foster mother to a series of homeless beagles; she studies (without success) to be a pet psychic; she visits the Department of Homeland Security to watch sausage- and incendiary device-sniffing canines in action. Everyone who has ever owned a dog, has a story to tell and Emily unwittingly becomes the repository for modern-day dog lore. Filled with adventures of heroic dogs, lovable and lazy dogs, malodorous dogs, phlegmatic and incontinent dogs, What the Dog Did delivers some of the most outlandish and certainly the funniest dog stories on record. But at its heart, What the Dog Did tells the story of how Yoffe's family turned Sasha, the skittish stray, into a wonderful pet-and how Sasha transformed Yoffe into a dog-lover for life.

Winner of the 2005 General Interest Dog Book of the Year from the Dog Writers' Association of America



Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Journalist Yoffe recalls her entry into urban dog ownership—a life experience this former "cat person" thought she could avoid—in this witty memoir. Yielding to immense pressure from her husband and young daughter, Yoffe finds herself the main caretaker of a rather high-maintenance, rescued beagle, Sasha. Like most books in the pet genre, this one is cute; unlike many, it's not precious. Yoffe relates amusing tales of bodily functions gone awry and house-training incidents (beagles are notorious for having difficulty in this area), as well as vivid recollections of Sasha's behavioral training. She also includes tidbits from people she's met at dog classes and competitions. "[A]lmost everyone I knew with a dog had a story. Maybe companionship and someone to lick your feet isn't what really motivates people to have dogs. Maybe being able to tell dog stories is." Yoffe fleshes out her anecdotes with fun facts about canines, on such things as the evolution from wolf to dog and the fatality of a dog bite. Not surprisingly, Yoffe eventually becomes a true dog lover, and Sasha becomes just the first in a series of beagle orphans to traipse through the author's home.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Laugh-out-loud funny."--O: The Oprah Magazine

"Yoffe chronicles her gradual conversion to full-blown dog lover with amusing and frustrating episodes of doggie care."--Washington Post

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 256 pages
  • Publisher: Bloomsbury USA; First Edition edition (May 12, 2005)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1582345643
  • ISBN-13: 978-1582345642
  • Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 5.8 x 1.1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (60 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #166,346 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

I would recommend this book highly, if you are an animal lover. Vicki G  |  20 reviewers made a similar statement
I laughed, I cried and I'm going to read it again. Linda Craze  |  18 reviewers made a similar statement
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
44 of 47 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Review from an enthusiastic dog owner January 29, 2006
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Emily Yoffe is an incredibly funny writer. Her tales of adventure/misadventure with her beagle had me laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes and had to clutch my belly in pain. I read this book on a plane flight and the person in the next seat surely thought I was out of my mind. It's not solely the hijinx of the beagle that are funny but the writer's thoughts and her descriptions of her life and actions that remind me of what it was like to be a new dog owner. Some of the other reviews that rated the book poorly picked out certain anecdotes in the book that the reviewers didn't find funny but I think if you read it with a light heart and memories of your first dog, anyone else will find it incredibly entertaining and hysterically funny too.
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29 of 32 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Jeez, get a sense of humor April 14, 2006
Format:Hardcover
This was by no means a perfect book. Ms. Yoffe's writing pace drags at times through tedious mawkishness over this or that adorable or precious thing that her perpetually incontinent dog has done. The book reads as I'm sure it was intended to - as a coffee table discussion among friends trading anecdotes over the things our pets do that are perplexing, hilarious, strangely human. For me, as a recent first time dog owner the story hits more often than misses. There are dozens of 'drop the book laughing' moments where I either see myself as the same sort of clueless pet owner as she or thank God above I don't have as high maintenance an animal as a beagle in my care. We're all human. We don't have it all figured out. As American humans, we most often don't even care to figure it all out before leaping into life changing situations much to our personal detriment. C'est la vie. Somehow, both we and our pets mostly find a way to soldier on despite our utter lack of competence at living life perfectly. This book's best quality is to show us our own ridiculous behavior in the context of funny dog stories and then smile at it. It's not War and Peace, folks. Just a funny book about being a dog owner. Take a breath and don't flame the funny dog story telling lady.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars A hilarious and touching read for dog lovers October 2, 2005
Format:Hardcover
I absolutely loved this book! Anyone who has gone through the trials and tribulations of of dog ownership (espcially when cats are part of the family) will truly appreciate Yoffe's sense of humor. If you own, or are planning on owing, a dog you must read this book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Kept me entertained from the beginning.
This book was given to me with an apology that I might not like it. I had a hard time putting it down. I am a dog rescuer and can relate to so much of this book. Read more
Published 3 months ago by steer
3.0 out of 5 stars Mostly Amusing
WHAT THE DOG DID is a light self-deprecating look at author Emily Yoffe's slow initiation into dog ownership and even slower grasp of how to manage dogs. Read more
Published 22 months ago by FQHBOOKS
5.0 out of 5 stars Laugh out loud funny!
As a long-time reader of Mrs. Yoffe on slate.com, I finally got around to purchasing/reading her book. I shouldn't have waited so long! Read more
Published 22 months ago by A. Beason
5.0 out of 5 stars Yoffe's book
I LOVED the book and it was a quick, satisfying read. I've been reading Emily Yoffe's columns for some time now and when I read that she wrote a book about dogs, I was determined... Read more
Published on August 2, 2010 by jul
5.0 out of 5 stars Full of laugh-out-loud dog tales
Yoffe's hilarious depiction of her conversion from a cat lover to the reluctant owner of a rescue beagle is full of laugh-out-loud dog tales. Read more
Published on June 18, 2010 by Indian Prairie Public Library
4.0 out of 5 stars Funny and heartbreaking
Very enjoyable read! Some of it is falling-on-the-floor funny. Some of it is heartbreaking. The proud owner of a Beagle (called mixed because there are no papers for her) I can SO... Read more
Published on April 22, 2010 by Dog Lover
4.0 out of 5 stars Come to the dog side!
Like Emily Yoffe, I'm a longtime cat person who finally went over to the dog side. I read "What the Dog Did" when we were first thinking seriously about getting a dog and found it... Read more
Published on April 9, 2010 by Silicon Valley Girl
4.0 out of 5 stars What the Dog Did, Tales From a Formerly Reluctant Dog Owner
I was only a few pages into reading this book, when I began to laugh and say aloud, "Oh, No !! He ate WHAT ?! Read more
Published on June 1, 2009 by Patricia Haarhaus
5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for beagle owners!
This book is one of my all time favorites. I had to stop reading to wipe the tears from my eyes many times as I laughed out loud. Read more
Published on March 10, 2009 by DDL
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Collection of Stories
I really enjoyed this memoir following the story of one woman's transformation from cat-person to dog-person. Read more
Published on January 20, 2009 by Yolanda S. Bean
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