What Is a Dog?: A Memoir
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- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-08-05 06:51:36
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Chloe Shaw
- ISBN：1250210747
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Summary
On the heels of her family’s beloved dog’s death， one woman returns to the canines of her past in order to imagine the human she hopes to become in the future in her memoir， What Is a Dog？
Chloe Shaw is in a dog house of her own choosing。 A married mother with kids， the death of Booker， her children’s eldest family pet， has left her reeling and reckoning with her lifelong relationship with dogs。 Unable to shake the feeling a year later， she asks her family for some time alone to be with nothing but her thoughts and remaining canines， Safari and Otter—only to find the dogs of her past pawing at her every memory and running， sticks in mouths， back into her life。
What follows is a meditation on one woman’s life through the dogs she's loved and lost。 Since she was a child， Shaw had learned to escape the hardest parts of being human by immersing herself in the lives of her canine companions， an adaptive attachment that carried her to adulthood。 Yet， in marriage and motherhood， Shaw finds herself facing her most human struggles yet。 Her old ways of “being the dog” in the face of hardship prove destructive， and it’s not until she’s able to love herself and learn from the dogs of her past and present that can she truly thrive as a person， and show up for the family who needs her to be their person。
With artful prose and a philosophical touch， Shaw takes us on an emotional journey anyone who has ever loved and lost a dog will connect with—and discovers dogs do more than just make our lives better—they quietly （and sometimes loudly） pull us boldly toward the person we were always meant to be。
Chloe Shaw is in a dog house of her own choosing。 A married mother with kids， the death of Booker， her children’s eldest family pet， has left her reeling and reckoning with her lifelong relationship with dogs。 Unable to shake the feeling a year later， she asks her family for some time alone to be with nothing but her thoughts and remaining canines， Safari and Otter—only to find the dogs of her past pawing at her every memory and running， sticks in mouths， back into her life。
What follows is a meditation on one woman’s life through the dogs she's loved and lost。 Since she was a child， Shaw had learned to escape the hardest parts of being human by immersing herself in the lives of her canine companions， an adaptive attachment that carried her to adulthood。 Yet， in marriage and motherhood， Shaw finds herself facing her most human struggles yet。 Her old ways of “being the dog” in the face of hardship prove destructive， and it’s not until she’s able to love herself and learn from the dogs of her past and present that can she truly thrive as a person， and show up for the family who needs her to be their person。
With artful prose and a philosophical touch， Shaw takes us on an emotional journey anyone who has ever loved and lost a dog will connect with—and discovers dogs do more than just make our lives better—they quietly （and sometimes loudly） pull us boldly toward the person we were always meant to be。
Reviews
Christie Bane
，
I love the idea behind this book -- breaking your life into chapters based on which dogs you had at the time。 I've always thought of my life as broken up into dogs。 The one way I can tell for sure that I'm getting older is that the dogs change。 This book is very well-written and goes in-depth about how dogs are entwined not just in your own life， but in your relationships with other people。 I felt like at times there was a little more introspection and a little less action than would have been i I love the idea behind this book -- breaking your life into chapters based on which dogs you had at the time。 I've always thought of my life as broken up into dogs。 The one way I can tell for sure that I'm getting older is that the dogs change。 This book is very well-written and goes in-depth about how dogs are entwined not just in your own life， but in your relationships with other people。 I felt like at times there was a little more introspection and a little less action than would have been ideal for me personally， but this IS a memoir， after all， and that's what memoir does。 Overall a very well-written reflection on the meaning of dogs in our lives， and read by an easy-on-the-ears narrator。 。。。more
Amy Wochos
，
A sweet memoir about having dogs in your life and a thoughtful meditation on the nature of dogs and their role in our lives。 Highly enjoyed it。
Elise
，
I really loved Chloe Shaw's writing style and found What is a Dog？ to be a fresh and engaging take on the traditional dog memoir。 I really loved Chloe Shaw's writing style and found What is a Dog？ to be a fresh and engaging take on the traditional dog memoir。 。。。more
Onceinabluemoon
，
3。5 as a dog lover I assumed it would instantly be a five star read。。。 Its opening pages set the tone， declined the entire way for me。 Interesting concept， its her memoir with loads of childhood angst， I was anticipating a different read and just didn't follow her lead well。。。 3。5 as a dog lover I assumed it would instantly be a five star read。。。 Its opening pages set the tone， declined the entire way for me。 Interesting concept， its her memoir with loads of childhood angst， I was anticipating a different read and just didn't follow her lead well。。。 。。。more
Sheena
，
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH！！！！！Okay oh my god I cried through like the first 30% maybe。 Two years ago （3 DAYS AGO） I lost my first dog and listen if you have ever put down an animal/dog that you loved this book is going to be extremely triggering。 However， this resonated with me so much I was a literal mess wow。 What Is a Dog is about Chloe Shaw losing her family dog Booker， causing her to look back in a linear timeline of each dog that was in her life that she loved and lost。 It touches on a dogs l AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH！！！！！Okay oh my god I cried through like the first 30% maybe。 Two years ago （3 DAYS AGO） I lost my first dog and listen if you have ever put down an animal/dog that you loved this book is going to be extremely triggering。 However， this resonated with me so much I was a literal mess wow。 What Is a Dog is about Chloe Shaw losing her family dog Booker， causing her to look back in a linear timeline of each dog that was in her life that she loved and lost。 It touches on a dogs love， losing a dog， grief， and getting a new dog。 So many of her words just resonated with my heart。 I got a new dog after my dog died about 8 months later and it talks about being ready or not for getting a new dog and I feel like no one really discuses that？ I REALLY appreciated this because when I went through this a lot of people thought I was so dramatic when I was going through my grief。 Chloe Shaw， were were you when I needed you then？My only issue with this was that I was expecting wholesome dog stories but it touched on sex， sexual assault， motherhood， birth， and marriage that it kind of made it into a different book in the middle。 I felt like Shaw was going off on a tangent about her life。 I understand this is a memoir but I don’t know if it should have been marketed focusing on dogs。 At the same time， these aspect of her life are extremely important and I’m glad she had an outlet to share her story。 It always goes back to her dogs and her love for them。 Okay I wouldn’t say this was my issue but I think for me personally， it went from extremely relatable to not relatable at all which is fine so I don’t know how to explain what I’m trying to say。 Overall， I really did enjoy this book and I felt less alone in my grief all these years later。“There’s no imagining a life or a me without her。”Thanks very much to Netgalley and to the publisher for the advanced copy of this book。 。。。more
Tara
，
One heck of a tearjerker if you own a dog。 The author uses her relationships with dogs to tell some of her toughest life moments but they still felt unresolved。 Regardless， it’s a good way to study a metaphorical method of storytelling
Jackson
，
Shaw doesn’t just think about herself， but she thinks about the readers。 Shaw digs deeper into her life than she ever dreamed of。 Shaw makes parts of her life that may not be appealing， appealing。 Shaw couldn’t have chosen better words。 What is a dog is an impressive book。
Matthew
，
One of the most gorgeously written， deeply reflective books I've ever read。 Shaw is brave， generous and wise。 I loved the sentences， the wildly creative word choices but mostly how the whole thing holds together。 What a stunning book。 One of the most gorgeously written， deeply reflective books I've ever read。 Shaw is brave， generous and wise。 I loved the sentences， the wildly creative word choices but mostly how the whole thing holds together。 What a stunning book。 。。。more
Drea
，
Just lovely。 A memoir organized by the dogs in her life， author Chloe Shaw delves into complex family and personal relationships and the search for connection with oneself and others。 Love is the key。 Simple yet beautifully written， Ms Shaw had me tearing up describing her relationships with her dogs and the going’s on in her life。 Quick and lovely。
Rebecca
，
Shaw defines periods of her life by the dogs who have been alongside her – from Agatha， the black Scottish terrier puppy her parents gave her for Christmas when she was six years old， to Booker， the beloved 15-year-old dog she said goodbye to in 2015。 I enjoyed reading about the special dogs in her life， but the flashbacks to her Brooklyn upbringing felt endless and irrelevant， and the overall structure， i。e。， forming the book around a question， was unnecessary。 （Can you guess that the answer wi Shaw defines periods of her life by the dogs who have been alongside her – from Agatha， the black Scottish terrier puppy her parents gave her for Christmas when she was six years old， to Booker， the beloved 15-year-old dog she said goodbye to in 2015。 I enjoyed reading about the special dogs in her life， but the flashbacks to her Brooklyn upbringing felt endless and irrelevant， and the overall structure， i。e。， forming the book around a question， was unnecessary。 （Can you guess that the answer will be （view spoiler）[love （hide spoiler）]？） Recommended dog memoirs: Ordinary Dogs by Eileen Battersby， Dog Years by Mark Doty 。。。more
Reference
google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=What Is a Dog?: A Memoir
hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=What Is a Dog?: A Memoir&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft