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Readings and musings

Notes on A Dog's Purpose

2/18/2012

8 Comments

 
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Sorry, been away from the blog for a while (been super busy IRL).

I did read a wonderful book a while ago that I wanted to post my notes on. It was A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron. I knew I had to read it simply from the cover (I think the dog shown is my favorite breed: Neapolitan Mastiff); in this case, I truly judged the book by its cover.

It was a tear-jerking story told from the perspective of a dog (it's subtitle is "a novel for humans"). I really liked how changing the storyteller to a dog allowed the author to make some interesting commentary on our behavior as human beings.

This was the second book I've read that was "written" by a dog (the first one was The Art of Racing in the Rain. I liked this book just as much. The interesting twist of this book was how the same dog "soul" was reincarnated from "life" to "life" and learned lessons along the way that allowed it to play a pivotal role in saving people's lives and bringing people to love. That was awesome. It was also fun to play "detective" as it took a bit of thinking to figure out what was "happening" from the human perspective since the only clues given in the book are what the dog could sense and understand.

You clearly have to be a dog lover to want to read a book all about a dog's life, but I encourage those who want to consider their dogs from a new perspective (and gain more appreciation for them) to check this book out.

Biggest lessons/thoughts/takeaways:
  • Lessons learned from one life helped in next life to serve bigger purpose
  • Humans have so many more emotions than dogs
  • Humans capable of so many amazing things but often just make words
  • Dogs rescue people from despair of life
  • Dog's purpose is to find and save people
  • Dog's job is to do what people wanted
  • Dog's purpose is to comfort boy
  • Dog's purpose is to lick owner and make happy
  • Dog always friendly and positive until end
  • Often misinterpreted by people
  • Very adaptable

My full notes are below.

Ch. 1
  • Birth
  • Suckling
  • Siblings
  • Avoid and fear men 
  • Picked up by animal control
Ch. 2
  • Good life in shelter
  • Food
  • Playing with new dogs
  • Mother runs away
Ch. 3
  • Wanted to stay in shelter with new pack
  • Dog social hierarchy
  • Mating impulse
  • Neutering
  • Play fights
  • Bones
  • Top Dog
Ch. 4
  • Very adaptable
  • Positive attitude
  • New dog Spike challenged order with fight
  • Got into fight and leg hurt
  • Taken to pound
  • Dog's purpose is to lick owner and make happy
  • Put down at pound
  • Dog always friendly and positive until end
  • Often misinterpreted by people
Ch. 5
  • Reincarnated as new puppy (retriever)
  • Seized by question of purpose
  • Why was he a puppy again?
  • Now at kennel or pet store
  • Human reader in role of trying to understand dog (reversal)
  • Escaped from kennel
  • Picked up by man on road
  • Man forgot him in car to go drinking; got closed in car with no ventilation (big heat)
  • Woman saved him
Ch. 6
  • introduced to child (boy)
  • Dog's purpose is loving boy
Ch. 7
  • Don't understand commands and games
  • Boy goes to school, closed dog in garage
  • Bored, accidents in house
  • Mixed messages from humans
  • Dog's purpose is to comfort boy
  • Dog door
  • Dog house
Ch. 8
  • Boy's friend Todd from bad parents, glue addiction, pyromania, stole dog
Ch. 9
  • Went to farm
  • Skunk incidents
  • Saves boy and retrieves from water
Ch. 10
  • Ate food in kitchen
  • Humans have so many more emotions
  • Astronaut lands on moon
  • Boy shy around girl
  • Left alone in house, parties with dog
  • Played with grandpa's gun
Ch. 11
  • Noise in house
  • Lost in woods
  • Found by search team
Ch. 12
  • Hospital
  • Back home
  • Go Kart race where dog helps him win
  • Todd threw rock in window
Ch. 13
  • Cat died
  • Felt anger in people
  • Boy got together with girl
  • Todd bad guy, dog smells his evil
  • Todd gave poisoned meat to dog
Ch. 14
  • Todd set house on fire
  • Dog attacked Todd
  • Couldn't find Ethan (boy)
Ch. 15
  • Dog revealed Todd as criminal; dog hero
Ch. 16
  • Boy came home
  • Cats useless
  • Stayed on farm
  • Leg problem
  • Boy had to leave again
Ch. 17
  • Felt betrayed because boy left
  • Broke up with girl, missed her
  • Parents divorced
  • Mom met new man
  • Boy would visit sometimes
  • Dog grew older
  • Stopped eating, felt pain
  • Sleepy, put to sleep
  • Thoughts of boy at end
  • Remembered sense of dying
  • Dog's purpose is to love boy
  • Felt like puppy again
Ch. 18
  • Born again as puppy
  • He became a female for the first time
  • Front seat versus back seat dog
  • Smarter than usual
  • Smells of paper and people
  • Name: Ellie
  • Dog's job is to do what people wanted
  • Can a dog have more than one purpose?
  • Trained by new owner Jacob
  • Dreamt of old boy
  • Spayed and space cone
  • Trained to be canine police dog
  • "Find" command
Ch. 19
  • Bomb squad
  • Dog's purpose is to find and save people
  • Depressed owner
  • Ocean in Los Angeles
  • Finding another victim
Ch. 20
  • Found girl victim
  • Officer shot
Ch. 21
  • New officer
  • German shepherd
  • Cats in new home
Ch. 22
  • New owner
  • Certified search and rescue dog
Ch. 23
  • Saved person but got into toxic waste and lost sense of smell
  • Owner got married and dog carried ring
  • Humans capable of so many amazing things but often just make words
  • Became school volunteer to teach kids about search dogs
  • Found another kid hiding in sewer
  • Understood death
  • Learning across lives helped him become rescue dog
  • Fulfilled his purpose
  • New owner had little girl
  • Cat saw dog as new mom
  • Ready to not be reborn
  • Put down
Ch. 26
  • Reborn again
  • Born as exhibition dog
  • Preferred to be alone and ponder self
  • Got new owner and went to apartment
Ch. 27
  • Abandoned by new owner
Ch. 28
  • Recognized old place from previous life
  • Found himself new home himself at old place but searched for Ethan and Hannah (girl)
  • Escaped purposeless life
Ch. 29
  • Lived homeless
  • Lessons learned from one life helped in next life to serve bigger purpose
  • Remembered old locations and retraced steps
  • Found Ethan
Ch. 30
  • Taken to shelter
  • Ethan took him back
  • Dog always forgives
Ch. 31
  • Ethan never got married
  • Sad
  • Got his old collar and smelled himself from previous life
  • Found Hannah for Ethan
Ch. 32
  • Reunited
  • Got married
  • Fulfilled his purpose
  • Learned to love and save people
  • Dogs rescue people from despair of life
  • Could tell Ethan got sick
  • Realized his dog was Bailey (first name)
  • Sat by owner while died
  • Finally fulfilled his purpose
  • Ends with dog tending owner to death (reversal)
8 Comments
snore stop now link
7/17/2013 07:59:06 pm

thank you for making a good read here on the new book. this is something different that you have tried uo here. the article is really good and the way you had made up the concept of a dog thoughts is really good. thank you for the perfect read

Reply
Clarissa Perez
2/26/2015 11:09:37 am

Your notes were really useful. Thank you very much

Reply
Pat
3/17/2015 11:46:11 pm

I read the book last year, recommended it to my book club who is reading it for the April meeting. I enjoyed your summary and review as it was a great refresher so I didnt have to reread the book. Loved your notes at the end, VERY helpful!

Reply
Mwallygurl05
11/16/2015 03:14:17 pm

These spark notes help(ed) a lot, like you don't even know. I didn't have to read the book over and over again, thanks!

Reply
kangaroo12
3/21/2016 05:54:40 pm

thanks i didnt have to actually read!!!!!!!! lol

Reply
daddyn
2/26/2017 06:41:22 pm

me too lol

Reply
Adarsh
3/1/2017 12:19:37 pm

Hi, there's just one thing I can't get my head around. In the last chapter, was Ethan hallucinating when he addressed Buddy as Bailey? Or did he somehow figure out the dog was indeed Bailey; if so, how?

Reply
:(
1/22/2019 03:23:28 pm

i know i’m late, but i have a book report due tomorrow and i haven’t finished this book. thank you for literally saving my life with these notes

Reply

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