The Old Dog

Ben finds his old brown-and-white dog dead one morning, he doesn't understand why she won't wag her tail or open her eyes. Ben's dad explains it's because she's dead, but Ben still doesn't understand, he keeps expecting her to meet him at the door or bark at the ringing telephone. Ben cries when he realises that dead means that someone isn't there, and there's no old dog to comfort him. The end of the book is slightly spoilt by the quick replacement of the old dog with a young Dalmatian puppy.

I'm surprised that there is only one star as the average rating on this book. I thought this was a sad but accurate portrayal of a child coping with the loss of a family pet. The story was heart breaking but the illustrator did a wonderful job depicting the child's emotions of grief and loneliness. I did not like the ending however. With the progression of the story it seems like within the same day or next day the father has bought a new dog to replace the old one.To me the author should have left the ending out of this story. In my opinion, you don't go run out and buy another dog so quickly after one passes just so everyone isn't sad anymore. It is healthy to grieve and miss someone you have lost.

I think this is a good book for a child who may be dealing with the death of a beloved pet and feel some sort of comfort knowing he's not alone. Although it may be detrimental because not every child reacts the same to a pets death, and the introduction of a new pet isn't always the best way. But on the other hand I think that this book will help children to see how to empathize with others.

I think any child who is dealing with the death of a pet will want to hear this story. They can relate to the boy not being able to understand where his dog went. The oil paintings are touching and give the reader a sense for the boy's sadness when he exclaims, "I miss you," to the air. This book will show children how to empathize with others.

Pierce College Library
3-6 years

Not sure about getting a new dog so soon, and not sure about the illustrations by James Ransome. Just too brief. No idea who the target audience would be.

So, I've never had a pet (my family had cats when I was little but they weren't particular to anybody). So I don't know. But it seems to me that if you have a pet that is getting old or sick, it'd be smart to go to the shelter and pick out another that's sort of a companion to it, and that will eventually be your friend to comfort you when the first one dies. Does this make sense?

I did not really like this story. No one ever explained to Ben that his dog had passed away. He mentions death and the definition of death but no one ever actually told him his dog wasn't coming back, instead he is left to figure it out on his own. On one of the pages it says "Ben looked at his dog, but she didn't look back. She just lay still. Ben didn't understand." It was confusing to read and sad that his parents left him to figure out what happened. The plot did not really flow.

Another reason I did not like this book is because of the weird ending. Instead of explaining it is okay to feel sad or someone telling Ben what happened to his dog they just replaced the old dog. For example throughout the story it is saying what the old show more dog is not there to see or experience and on the last page it says "or to welcome the new white-and-black puppy Ben's father was bringing home." It was an odd twist to the story.

Another reason I did not enjoy this book is because they never used the dog's name she was called "Old Dog," throughout the entire story.

The main idea to this story is that some times pets die and you can replace them. show less

Ben went to pat his dog one morning and she didn't move, she was dead. Ben slowly realized what death meant. He then got a new dog from his father.
Age: 3, 4, and 5
Source: Pierce College Library