The Good Dog

By: Avi

Narrated by: Robert Ramirez

The 300 dogs of Steamboat Springs, Colorado, all know their places. At the top is McKinley, a malamute who’s head dog of the whole town. All of the dogs - and McKinley’s human family - rely on him to protect them and maintain order. Avi, the Newbery Medal author of Crispin: The Cross of Lead, peeks into the secret lives of dogs in this thrilling adventure tale. Robert Ramirez’s narration gives voice to a dog willing to risk any peril to do the good thing.

©2001 Avi (P)2003 Recorded Books

20 years later

have not heard this book in almost 20 years. letting my children enjoy it the way I did in 2003, 2004 after my mother died.

such an amazing book for kids learning to read and very well written.

Wow!!

It is like dogs talking to each other.
It is soo creative. It could be a bit angry by reading the story.

Very entertaining, finished it in one day!

I loved the story, it was so entertaining and beautiful that I listened and read it all in a single day. Certainly a great recommendation for dog lovers!

Another Wonderful Book by Avi

I have yet to read or listen to a book by Avi that hasn’t been fantastic. My phone year old son’s 1st remark as the audiobook concluded was, “Is there another Good Dog book?”

Overall Review About The good dog

It was good at parts but was stretched out a bit and had a lot of details.

good story

I liked the story, with its several POV. the parents basically are clueless. Jack has a better understanding. The reading is slow; I had to speed it up. I probably would have loved this book when I was ten.

A disservice to dogs

I disliked the character McKinley, and the authour did a disservice to dogs. Tell me how does a dog build resentment towards humans, side with a wolf that initially wanted to attack his boy owner, and come to the conclusion that dogs should not be led by humans, but work alongside them like independent equals?? This isn’t Erin Hunter’s Survivors. That kind of thought process with these dogs does not suit the story of this book.

Mild Spoilers ahead - By nature, McKinley as a Malamute should be a friendly, gentle, and somewhat protective personality. Instead, we get a more cat-like personality with contempt for humans. He was basically annoyed that he had the “responsibility” to look after his boy owner because the parents were negligent. I did not care for the parents' nonchalant parenting at times, but as a dog, McKinley should love having a job and be loyal to his humans. Why then does McKinley think and behave like an annoyed teenager given a baby-sitting job?

Also, besides admiration, McKinley has no other reason to side with the wolf and start body slamming and pinning humans in defence of the wolf. The wolf is a stranger to McKinley’s territory and family. He should have been a protector or defender first, not a wolf sympathiser. McKinley is also a very insensitive and inconsistent pack leader. He treats the other neighbourhood dogs pretty callously except for his best friend and the greyhound.

In the end, an annoying main character, and a barely decent story.