Do we save dogs, or do they save us? Author Bruce Cameron makes his point very clear in answering that question through these books, which are the story of a dog and the people he meets throughout his many lives. Each time he dies, he’s reincarnated as a puppy and finds someone new to love.
I’ve never cried as much while reading A Dog’s Purpose and its sequel, A Dog’s Journey, but that’s because I read it in while in a very vulnerable place, in the weeks following the passing of my beloved nearly-16-year-old spaniel. I cried so many times when The Dog, in each of his reincarnations, comforted his humans in ways that brought back memories of how my dog comforted me in my teens and twenties.
Dogs love us so much. Their love is unconditional. They entertain us, accompany us, and give life an upgrade in ways we’re not always completely conscious of until they’re gone. This book really made it sink in for me what a gift dogs are to humans. Anyone who’s ever loved and been loved by a dog is lucky to have experienced one of life’s greatest joys.
A Dog’s Purpose begins as The Dog is born to a feral mother and taught to stay away from humans. He’s caught with his mother and siblings and brought to a place that he refers to as The Yard. The Yard is where a loving woman known as Senora cares for various strays she’s picked up over the years. She affectionately names The Dog Toby, and he believes that he loves her in a way that is special and different from the way she loves the other dogs.
Unfortunately, The Dog’s time as Toby is cut short when animal control seizes the dogs from the property and euthanizes him. The Dog is reborn as a golden retriever puppy, who escapes using a trick he’d picked up as Toby.
The golden retriever puppy ultimately makes his way into the life and heart of an 8-year-old boy named Ethan, who names him Bailey. This is by far The Dog’s most significant life. As Bailey, he has many adventures with Ethan and saves him when the two get lost in the woods for several days.
He comes to understand what it is to be loved by a human and realizes that Senora loved all her dogs, not just him. Ethan loves only him. She called me Toby, but she didn’t say my name the way the boy whispered, “Bailey, Bailey, Bailey,” in my ear at night. The boy loved me; we were the center of each other’s worlds.
He also alerts Ethan’s family when an arsonist sets their house on fire. He’s with Ethan through many childhood rites of passage, until Ethan goes off to college.
In Bailey’s next life, he’s a search and rescue dog who warms up the lives of two police officers. This chapter of his life is lovely all on its own, but deep down as the reader, you know that Ethan is Bailey’s true human. So The Dog is reborn as Buddy and makes it his mission to find Ethan – which he does.
When Buddy and Ethan meet, Ethan is a lonely old man hardened by the many decades of life he’s lived since he was a teenager with Bailey. Buddy is instrumental in reuniting him with his first love, Hannah, and the two marry and fill up Ethan’s farm with a happy entourage of grandchildren and family.
The last sentence of the first book: I had fulfilled my purpose.
Bruce Cameron does such a good job at making you care about his characters that you can literally feel yourself bubbling up with happiness when Buddy takes it upon himself to reunite Ethan and Hannah in their golden years. Can you even imagine living out your entire life alone, then reuniting with your first girlfriend in your last decade? Cue Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream,” please.
Well, the book was such a success (A New York Times bestseller for 49 weeks) that author Bruce Cameron penned another one, called A Dog’s Journey. It was published in 2013. I can be skeptical of sequels, but the Goodreads reviews assured me this one was worth picking up. So I did. And spent more nights reading until 2 AM.
This time around, The Dog is reincarnated into Clarity June Mahoney’s life every single time instead of having different owners and being reunited with her at the end, the way he was with Ethan Montgomery.
When Buddy meets Clarity as a baby, it’s immediately clear that she has a difficult life laid out ahead of her. Her mother is more than just self-centered and high maintenance: she’s a full blown narcissist. When Buddy reenters Clarity’s life, Clarity is a teenager who goes by the name CJ.
Buddy is now a female poodle mix named Molly, and Molly sticks by CJ through some truly terrible events. At one point, CJ’s mother even takes Molly to the animal shelter and claims she’s a stray. CJ runs away to Santa Monica and Molly defends her when a man tries to break into their car during the night. In these moments, I wasn’t sure if a human has never needed a dog more.
Buddy meets CJ two more times in her life – once, when she’s a struggling twentysomething, and again, when CJ is in her seventies and much, much wiser. She’s become a therapist and enjoyed a happy life with her soulmate, her high school friend Trent. And at the risk of spoiling the most important part of the book, I’ll say that in the end Toby/Bailey/Ellie/Buddy/Molly/Max/Toby meets a very happy and very final ending. There will be no more sequels, though Bruce Cameron’s Dogs of Christmas is a highly rated spinoff.
It has that beautiful Forrest Gump effect, where it’s equal parts happy, funny and sad. Like when Bailey the dog decides to dig up the freshly buried family cat. This comes directly after he means to assure them they shouldn’t be sad, because dogs are much better pets anyway.
I also loved the consistencies throughout The Dog’s lives – he’s so proud to be a Front Seat Dog and hates it when he gets neutered or spayed and wakes up with a cone collar.
In my opinion, these are the perfect books for helping you heal a broken heart. Whether you’ve lost a dog last week or a few years ago, the storylines and narration will fiercely remind you what a beautiful thing it is to have ever had a dog in your life.
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