Official Review: Just a Shelter Dog by Sally H Cronk

[gen_g]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Just a Shelter Dog" by Sally H Cronk.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Sally H. Cronk’s Just a Shelter Dog is an amazingly inspiring read, mainly told from Singer’s point of view. Singer is a hound dog, and the novel traces the story of his rough birth in a shelter as the runt of the litter, to an intuitive and wise service dog to his beloved autistic human named Ollie. Singer is fiercely protective of the human beings important to him, and tries his hardest to bring about positive changes in the lives of his humans by showering them with love and affection.

Cronk narrates most of the story from Singer’s perspective, a somewhat novel concept which I thoroughly enjoyed. She also uses language that is simple and succinct, which actually has the effect of tugging at your heartstrings (in a good way) – I felt myself tearing up a few times reading about Singer’s overwhelming pain when his mother was adopted from the shelter, and the resultant fears of abandonment.

Singer is then adopted by Long-Haired, his name for the female human named Ansley who works at the shelter. He spends many happy times with her, and takes up the role of canine protector whenever Ansley suffers an attack due to the traumas from her past. However, she later gives him up to Ollie, when she realises that Singer and Ollie have a special connection. This is as Singer is the only one able to communicate with Ollie, who is afraid of the real world and unable to voice his fears due to his autism. With much patience and love, Singer succeeds at teaching Ollie to connect with the people around him, drawing him out of his shell.

Also, with Cronk’s choice to have most of the book in Singer’s perspective, the reader is therefore privy to all of his feelings and emotions, which personally led me to sympathise and emphathise with him. Despite not having a dog, I was still able to connect with Singer’s experiences, which allowed me to better understand how a domesticated dog’s life might be, and how much the dog relies on his owner for love and affection.

Another thing I liked is Cronk’s insertion of many nuggets of information into Just a Shelter Dog about autism and service dogs in America, making it an informative yet fascinating read. Also, I very much enjoyed reading about the lives of various characters in the book, as they were multi-dimensional; Cronk had obviously put effort into fleshing out their backstories to make it seem all the more realistic.

However, if I had to list a few flaws in the novel, it would be the sporadic grammatical errors present, which detracted from the overall reading experience. Also, the book did not seem to be well-formatted, as there were no breaks in between paragraphs, making it difficult to be read properly. However, a definite plus is the sub-heading present in every chapter informing the reader who the narrator is.

Nonetheless, I would still recommend this book to dog-lovers, as well as readers who are interested in learning more about service dogs and autism, as Cronk is a retired special education teacher, which makes her a reliable source of information. I would give Just a Shelter Dog 3.5 stars if I could, but am unfortunately forced to round it down to 3 out of 4 stars due to the formatting and grammatical mistakes present. Nonetheless, Singer is definitely not just any shelter dog, but a dog whose touching story will remain with me in the times to come; I hope it will also remain with you, dear reader, if you allow Singer time to tell his story to you.

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Just a Shelter Dog
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[420waystoreachthesun]

That shelter dog is a beaut! Thank you so much for this beautiful review.

[Ginnamassa19]

This sounds like an amazing story. As a volunteer at an animal shelter, I'm really tempted to pick this book up! Thank you for your review, it was very clearly written and thorough to boot

[gen_g]

That shelter dog is a beaut! Thank you so much for this beautiful review.

Thank you very much for your reply!

[gen_g]

This sounds like an amazing story. As a volunteer at an animal shelter, I'm really tempted to pick this book up! Thank you for your review, it was very clearly written and thorough to boot

Indeed, I was very surprised by Cronk's ability to weave such a story which had me deeply immersed right from the beginning. Thank you for your lovely comments! (:

[AbbyGNelson]

Thanks for your review! I'm glad it's such a good book, and it's sad that grammatical errors brought it down. It's great what people can do for dogs, and what dogs can do for people.

[gen_g]

Thanks for your review! I'm glad it's such a good book, and it's sad that grammatical errors brought it down. It's great what people can do for dogs, and what dogs can do for people.

I totally agree about the role of dogs in our lives! It was a great read, and thank you for your kind comments.

[Mildred Tabitha]

I like your review. The details reminded me of another book I read called"That Place of Knowledge".

I already like this book you have reviewed. I also like Singer already. I am looking forward to reading this book.

[gen_g]

I like your review. The details reminded me of another book I read called"That Place of Knowledge".

I already like this book you have reviewed. I also like Singer already. I am looking forward to reading this book.

Thank you very much for your kind comments! Singer is a really great dog - if you pick it up, I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did. I will also have to check out the book you recommended, the title already seems interesting!

[dtb]

I will have to give this story a look. I love dogs. We have three. Our neighbor has a service dog, Rudy, who helps his human family with so many things and is such a loyal and unwavering friend. Rudy and his trainers inspire me.

Thank you for a great review.

[Mildred Tabitha]

I like your review. The details reminded me of another book I read called"That Place of Knowledge".

I already like this book you have reviewed. I also like Singer already. I am looking forward to reading this book.

Thank you very much for your kind comments! Singer is a really great dog - if you pick it up, I hope you will enjoy it as much as I did. I will also have to check out the book you recommended, the title already seems interesting!

You are welcomed

[Samantha Simoneau]

In sounds like, in the spirit of Black Beauty, this book helps connect us to animals and understand that they are sensitive. I like books like this. They keep society at large from underestimating animals' and pets' abilities, intelligence, and importance. Thanks for the review!

[cpru68]

As a dog lover, I would probably find this book so enjoyable. It sounds like the author just has to do a few quick fixes to give it a top rating. I appreciate a book written by an author that has experience in the subject that he or she is writing about. That really carries through to the writing, and it seems from your review that it happened with this one. Good job on this. I enjoyed your review.

[trajoe1206]

Thanks for the great review, although it is a shame about the grammar and formatting issues. I love the idea that the book is written from the dogs perspective. I will add this one to my list to read

[gen_g]

I will have to give this story a look. I love dogs. We have three. Our neighbor has a service dog, Rudy, who helps his human family with so many things and is such a loyal and unwavering friend. Rudy and his trainers inspire me.

Thank you for a great review.

It is really heartwarming to hear about Rudy, I have never really thought much about service dogs until I read this book. I hope you’ll enjoy this book if you pick it up and thank you for your kind comments!