Bark Up the Right Tree: 06/25/09
Bark up the Right Tree is a memoir penned by a dog with some help from her owner, Ruth Tschudin. It recounts her transformation from an abused dog to a rescue(d) dog. In her old age, Jessie was left at a shelter when the child of her original owners had started mistreat her. As a senior dog she wasn't exactly adoptable and that problem was compounded by health issues and timidity from her prior abuse.
On the other side of the equation is Ruth Tschudin, also a senior, who had an idea for using a dog in her volunteer work. She wanted a dog big enough to pull a child's wagon but old enough to be calm enough to fit the bill. After extensive searching, Jessie fit the bill.
Most of the book though is about Jessie's adoption and her recovery with the Tschudins. Each chapter ends with a summary of what lessons can be learned from the trials and errors just described.
Although Jessie and Ruth work with group homes and adoption agencies (both human and animal) very little of their actual work is mentioned in the book. I would have preferred this book be twice as long to include descriptions of what they do and what projects they've worked on together.
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