Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest opinion.

I love dogs and this was right up my alley. A few chapters got a bit snooze-y but overall I really loved this and found it hilarious and relatable!

I have to say I really didn't like this much at all, but I do love dogs...so to honor that, I'll go with a 2 star rating! It really is much ado about nothing.....the author elaborates on a variety of things that really don't make much sense, & then often goes off on a tangent that doesn't really have much of anything to do with the original idea that she brought up. It almost felt like she was just going on & on, to get more sentences in.... at some points it seemed a bit of a word salad! The writing style is 'conversational'....like she's talking to the reader, which can be kind of annoying/weird at times.
I received an e-ARC of this book from Grand Central Publishing via NetGalley, in return for reading it & posting my own fair & honest review.

The Particulars of Peter was a delight to read. Not only is this book a mood lifter but if your a pet owner you will really appreciate it! The author is funny and I loved all her obsessive behaviors towards her dog. The book is a fast read and I loved it so much I bought it for my friends birthday because she is a dog mom too.
Kelly decided to foster a dog and was told several times...you may not adopt the dog you foster. Applications are going in and your just holding onto the dog until they have made a proper selection. You already know what happened, Kelly feel madly in love with Peter and could not possible let anyone else have him. He was the perfect, most handsome, well behaved, best dog anyone could ever have and she wanted him all for herself. Well through some loophole or oversight Kelly was granted permission to adopt Peter and so it all began. Kelly tells you all about the doggie festival she went to, putting Peter in canine freestyle classes, doggie DNA tests and lots more. I'm really not exaggerating when I tell you I'm pretty sure I smiled through the whole book.

THE PARTICULARS of PETER: DNA Tests, Dance Lessons and Other Reasons to Hang with My Perfect Dog

By Kelly Conaboy



Is it possible to be too obsessed with your dog? To love your dog so much that it hurts? Author, Kelly Conaboy shares in her memoir, THE PARTICULARS of PETER(GrandCentral) that she can’t remember what life was like before she adopted her dog, Peter. He is the center of her existence. And she isn’t alone. My shih tzu, Sunshine is the love of my life, as I often share in my posts.

Once Kelly adopted Peter (which was a headache and too long to write about here), she decided to write her memoir focusing on him. The first thing she did was buy Peter a bunch of stuff he didn’t need. That’s one of the facts of being a dog owner; you’re constantly purchasing items your dog will either ignore or destroy. Kelly tried giving Peter puzzle toys, large noisy balls, a fancy bed, clothes and booties for walking in cold weather. FORGET ABOUT IT! But Kelly purchased a fleece blanket for herself, which quickly became Peter’s.

In THE PARTICULARS of PETER, Kelly interviews experts about almost all there is to know about having a pet. Do you know you can get your dog’s DNA? That became possible in 2005 and it allows you to find out what kind of breed your dog REALLY is. It can also help you fine tune her diet or predict health problems. German folklore has it that dogs can speak on Christmas Eve. There’s a huge business in pet psychics. Try googling “pet psychics” and you’ll be overwhelmed; it’s quite the lucrative business. You can also teach your pet how to become a ghost hunter. Peter didn’t take to that or dance lessons. He did well with competitive canine agility contests, as long as he was allowed to do what he wanted to do.

Here are some statistics Kelly shares to prove her point. Eighty-seven million, that’s 67% of families, all own pets. We dog owners spent about $75 billion, with a B on our furry friends. Of that, $480-million is spent on Halloween costumes. Peter doesn’t like to dress up.

The main thing we learn in Kelly’s book is that the love we receive from our dog is unconditional and all of us can use that.

#TheParticularsOfPeter #GrandCentral #KellyConaboy LoveHateRelationship #relationship Love #DC #Senate

This is a cute memoir by a first time dog owner. I have had dogs in my life since I was a small child, so dog ownership is not new to me. I know how they can change your life and open doors to new experiences you never knew could exist! But this author has not, so every experience with her dog Peter Paker is a new and wonderful experience. While reading this book I felt like a mom watching her child do something she knew was going to be a wonderful experience - yes, DNA tests are amazing, yes dogs can be your best friend, and yes, agility training is all about the dog and not about you. This was a fun read and all dog owners will see themselves in this story. Thank you Netgalley for the e ARC.

Those of us who have had dogs our whole lives have an awareness of the special place that these animals create in our lives daily. But do we take them for granted because they are always present? Are we so used to their antics and loving that we forget their exceptional ways? In The Particulars of Peter, by Kelly Conaboy, we go on a ride with someone who is adding a dog to their life for the first time. We experience the wonder and fun of someone who tries to capture the characteristics of her new pet and the unbelievable love that comes with him from first sight. I laughed out loud many times at Conaboy’s descriptions of her dog Peter. These actions I sometimes see every day in my dog but never thought as so super cute and thoughtful. In addition, the subtitle to this book: Dance Lessons, DNA Tests, and Other Excuses to Hang Out with My Perfect Dog, gives insight to her attempts at dog enrichment. Are these activities worth the time and money? Does the dog even care? Note a warning for strong language included, which reduces the amount of times I could use it as a gift. However, I mostly love her little comments on the fact that her dog and their relationship are the most special ever. Conaboy writes “The rest of us get to have lives full of friends and loved ones and all of these people who get to really know us, or at least attempt to, but our dogs pretty much only have us.” I think she’s got the right idea, and I highly enjoyed her take on pet ownership.

Light read about a woman and her love and adventures with her dog. This book didn't provide as much depth and exploration as I had hoped for, but it was a light and entertaining read. Anyone who loves their dog would appreciate it.

What did I do before Peter? I’m trying to remember. I have to imagine there were things. I did computer, I guess. Typed. Sat alone. Shuffled around the apartment in stockinged feet. Made dinner and ate it while doing, what? Looking at the wall? And who did I feed a noodle to? No one?

It's almost too gruesome to recall.

The author, Kelly Conaboy, a journalist, decides to foster a dog after spending some time volunteering as a dog walker, under their strict regulations that fosters may not adopt a dog that they foster. After many tearful requests, and fear-filled days of losing this little dog that has won her heart completely, he comes to live with her permanently.

’I know a person can exist without the ability to make a creature they love thrash with uncontrollable joy, wild-eyed and ecstatic, at the mere mention of din---; hush, that’s enough, they’re already excited. I know you can watch TV without a dog resting his paws and head on your leg, breathing quietly, warming you and allowing you to feel like you’re having a real human experience rather than idly ingesting The Sopranos. I know you can go to sleep without a dog in your bed and wake up without a little face staring down at you, whiskers in your eyes, and a nose dripping onto your skin, waiting for you to take him outside so that he might urinate. But...why? Why even wake up at all?

I began reading this, and knew almost immediately that I wouldn’t want to put it down until I finished it, which I managed to do. Alternating between laughter, smiles and a few tears when I paused my reading, momentarily, to look up a YouTube video she mentions, I read through her journey from contemplating the merits of fostering, to adopting, to falling head over heels in love with her dog, Peter Parker. One might say there is a bit of an obsession she develops about Peter over time, admitting early on that after his adoption, that he became all she wanted to write about. He replaced anything I previously found curious, and anything I was previously interested in. He is my great love and my obsession. But there is so much more to this memoir than that, there are physical journeys - one of which was her drive from NYC to Woofstock in Toronto. Having been to Woofstock, although not in Toronto, but in Hudson, Massachusetts, I smiled at the memory of being surrounded by so many dogs of all sizes and breeds and remembering how much my Halle loves going there, and reading how much they enjoyed their visit to the one in Toronto. There are also the fears of sharing your life with a dog when they are hurt or ill, and the stress that ensues until all is well.

Filled primarily with sweet and funny moments, the author tackles so many avenues to bond with Peter that offer some pretty hysterical moments, and others that are awww-somely sweet, but overall this is a feel-good, laugh-out-loud tale of a dog that finds a new life with a somewhat neurotically obsessive new life-partner. This calm, puppy-eyed, with the heart of a poet and the of, also, a poet… dog has found a new forever home, and someone to not only love, but to be loved back in return. A love story that includes some truly entertaining moments, a search that ensues for answers to timeless questions, lessons in Canine Freestyle, determining if Peter can sense the presence of ghosts, and many more amusing to hysterically funny moments, and some charming, sweet moments, as well.


Published: 8 Dec 2020

Many thanks for the ARC provided by Grand Central Publishing