I thought that the book that I am reviewing today was tremendously good. "A Dog Called Hope" written by Jason Morgan and Damien Lewis tells the story of Jason Morgan and an extraordinary service dog named Napal.
Jason Morgan suffered terrible injuries in an accident while serving in the US military. His back was broken, and he was in incredible pain on a daily basis. During his recuperation, his wife left him with three young boys to raise. Anyone facing these hardships would of course be upset. However, things started to turn around for Jason when a Labrador named Napal came into his life.
Napal was a service dog trained by Canine Companions for Independence. This organization trains dogs to help people facing a variety of hardships.
In the beginning of the book, Napal is just a puppy being raised by Jim Siegfried. Jim suffered paralysis when just a young man, but instead of getting a service dog of his own, Jim became a puppy raiser helping to train up the young dogs before they went to their placements. I thought that adding the story of Napal's time with Jim was a great. It really added depth to the story.
After Napal comes into Jason Morgan's life, Jason begins to interact more with others. He begins to train for wheelchair athletic events, and he becomes a speaker helping to spread the message about the importance of service dogs.
This is a very well-written book. Damien Lewis is a well-known writer of dog books. I've reviewed three of his other books here on the blog. Sergeant Rex, The Dog Who Could Fly and Judy are also very good with Judy being exceptionally good.
I would recommend this book to everyone who likes an inspiring story. It always amazes me when I read about the difference that dogs can make in someone's life. They can be trained to do so many things. One of their most important ways that dogs help, and this was true with Napal, is that they provide emotional support and help us to make it through the hard times. My dog Toby did that for me.
No comments:
Post a Comment