Similar to Bruce Cameron’s best sellers, A Dog’s Purpose and A Dog’s Journey, A Dog’s Promise follows Bailey, who becomes reincarnated into several dogs with different names. Each of these books are told from the dog’s point of view, which of course make the story hilarious at times, like when the dog is very focused on food, or squirrels, or smelly goats, to the point where he is not aware of other events happening around him. If you have owned a dog, you know that dogs tend to focus on food or something to chase or play with. Cameron’s telling of the dog’s perspective is right on the money (or should I say “treat”)?
A Dog’s Promise occurs in the near future when farming is switching to robotics where drones harvest the crops instead of laborers. One of the last holdouts to old-fashioned farming is Chase and his two sons. Only fifteen-year-old Grant can work the fields with his dad. Burke is thirteen and confined to a wheelchair.
The current version of Bailey is named Cooper, who is a big dog, Great Dane mixed with malamute. Cooper enters the story when he is only a few weeks old and is living with his littermates and his mother who is a stray. An animal rescue group finds them and adopts out the puppies, but not before Cooper finds his soul mate, Lacey, in another litter of puppies.
Cooper is adopted to work as a service dog for Burke who trains the dog himself to follow many commands including how to pull Burke up and downstairs when he is not in his wheelchair. The first half of the book focusses on how Cooper learns to assist Burke and give him a more normal life so he can finally go to middle school, hang out with kids, and get a girlfriend.
Grant resents that he has to do all the work in the fields, while Burke is frustrated that he can’t be normal. Fights occur leading to some near disasters between the two boys.
Once Burke turns seventeen, an operation is performed, and through a lot of effort, Burke develops the ability to walk. Although the story goes into detail on how Burke struggles to walk, I would have liked to know more about his condition and how the operation helped. Also, how could the family afford the surgery and the physical therapy when they were scraping by on the farm?
Here is where the book makes a major turn that I didn’t really like. The boys grow up, girlfriends get switched, many fights occur and they both leave the farm. Cooper dies but is immediately reincarnated to another dog, Riley, and then Oscar.
I won’t spoil the ending, which involves the trials of a family living under difficult conditions for several decades and the various dogs that help them through it. I would have preferred the book to focus more on Cooper and Burke as a team, fighting to get an assistance dog into the middle school, life on the farm, and the robo-farmers (which I thought was a really interesting concept).
In all of Cameron’s books, I really get into the initial characters and the dog. But when the first dog dies, I‘m just am not as interested in their reincarnations, even though they remember their past and are the same dog with a different body.
All three of Cameron’s books have been best sellers. Have you read any of them and what did you think? Please leave a comment.
For another review, please see the following link.
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/w-bruce-cameron/a-dogs-promise/
I read A Dog’s Purpose. I loved it though it’s a tear-jerker.
I haven’t read this one and really appreciated your review. The service dog aspect sounds really interesting. That type of bond hasn’t really been explored in his other books.
Yes, I found that aspect the most interesting part.
I haven’t read any of those books. I’m not sure why, but the basic plot of dogs being reincarnated and joining the same family over and over doesn’t really appeal to me.
I haven’t read them (I used to be a reader but lately I just fall asleep when I read lol.) I really like the idea of the beginning of the book. It sounds like a compelling story.
I am not a dog book person. I nearly read one but someone told me the dog in Marley and Me dies so I wouldn’t touch it – my failure but I know I am not alone.
The books sound interesting to dog lovers and especially those who may believe dogs come back in some way (as some people believe cats do). He must be doing something right if they are best sellers I think, and it is interesting to see someone explore a new and unusual direction.
I have not read them but now I must as they sound really great, thanks for sharing
That sounds like a good book. I’ll have to look it up. Thanks for the report on it. I hope you and your doggies are doing well. Sincerely, Chester L. W. Spaniel and staff from The Daily Bone.