Reviews for Memories of the Pit Bull Terrier and His

The average rating for Memories of the Pit Bull Terrier and His based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2014-09-16 00:00:00 Michael White This is a mediocre book written by horrible dog owners. Marley sounds like an amusing guy; but I think pets are like kids - you don't get nearly as much joy from people telling you stories about their kids as you do from watching your own. I have dogs whom I love very much, and often things they do I find to be very entertaining even though others might not derive the same level of enjoyment if I were to tell them all about it. For this reason, there are no parts of the book that are truly funny. Perhaps I would have laughed at some parts of the book if Marley was my dog, or if I at least knew Marley - but he's not, and I don't. Unfortunately, this isn't what I disliked most about the book. What really stands out is that the author and his wife are horrible pet owners. At best they are negligent parents. More accurately, I think quite a bit of their behavior borders on animal abuse. In the half of the book I read, they did the following: * Decided to get a dog for purely selfish purposes (parental practice) * Read nothing about the breed before choosing to adopt a Lab * Failed to do any research into the breeder * Failed to seek out a trainer to work with Marley's quirks despite obvious behavioral issues * Failed to provide Marley with adequate protection from storms which completely terrified him * Used a choker with zeal, while almost deriving joy from Marley's near self strangulation * Allowed Marley to escape from a moving vehicle, seemingly finding humor in Marley hanging out a moving car by his collar The worst part comes at the end. During the last few weeks of his life, Marley becomes very sick. What does the author do? He leaves the dog at the vet's office and packs the family into the van for a Disney vacation. Fortunately he gets back just in time to have Marley put down. I then get the impression that he expects us to feel sorrow for his loss. I can't imagine going on vacation while either of my pets are left, deathly ill, at the vet's office. I had already developed a strong dislike for the author's idea of pet care. This last incident really validated that opinion.

Review # 2 was written on 2014-04-08 00:00:00 Lisbeth Kalsveen This is the first book that has ever, and I emphasize EVER, made me laugh so hard and cry so much. All in one book! Marley & Me is the predictable and somewhat cliche story about a dog and his owner. If you pick up this book expecting a unique story, put it down and look for something else. If you pick up this book expecting to learn about how to train your dog, put it down and look for something else. If you pick up this book wanting to read a touching, but very entertaining story about being a dog owner, you've come to the right place. This book basically chronicles the Marley's life with the Grogan's from puppyhood to his last few breaths. Most of the negative reviews I've read about this book criticized the author's poor training methods. No one's perfect. And just like parents, dog owners can make mistakes too. Additionally, you can't celebrate life without understanding death, so to completely discredit this book because of Marley's inevitable end is to ignore one's own mortality. Overall this is a great book. You might not learn anything new (or for that matter, correct) about dog training, but you'll at least learn to appreciate the unconditional love and affection a canine companion can bring to one's life.