Trigger Warning - The dog dies. Chloe Shaw's memoir What Is a Dog? frames her life around the dogs she has loved and lost. A tribute to the dogs who have shared her life, What Is a Dog? is a reflective emotional journey through time, which ponders what is a dog, what is a dog's purpose, and what role do dogs play in our lives?

Shaw's memoir is broken into sections which each feature one of the dogs from her life. She tells her life story while always keeping the dog that she owned at the time in the background, welcoming that dog into the fold of her storytelling, and sharing how her life events must have affected the dog, and in turn, how the dog affected what was happening in her life.

Interspersed throughout the book are Shaw's feelings about the dogs that she has loved and how they have molded and shaped her into the woman she is today. She details her care of her dogs from birth through death, and as my trigger warning states, he does expound on her dog's deaths, so sensitive readers should take care when reading this book. I found myself crying multiple times while reading this memoir because her dogs' deaths were difficult for me to absorb without transferring the feeling to my own dogs.

I struggled a little bit with the flow of this book. I think the way it was broken out into chapters based upon the dog she was focusing on at the time was brilliant. However, I found myself getting lost in the moments when Chloe would go down a rabbit hole tangent. All of the information is valuable to understand her perspective and her backstory, but I just found myself struggling to follow along at times.

I highlighted many quotes throughout the book as Chloe is deeply reflective about what a dog is. There are so many human versus dog comparisons. Some of my favorites are about how special dogs truly are.

This is definitely a book for those who have felt a bond with a dog firsthand, but it is not your typical dog memoir. I had a whole different idea in my head as to what this would be.

I think it takes an immense amount of courage to publish a memoir. As a huge dog lover I was surprised that I just didn’t feel totally connected to all of it. BUT that’s just my experience, and this book is about Chloe’s.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Okay oh my god I cried through like the first 30% maybe. Two years ago (3 DAYS AGO) I lost my first dog and listen if you have ever put down an animal/dog that you loved this book is going to be extremely triggering. However, this resonated with me so much I was a literal mess wow. What Is a Dog is about Chloe Shaw losing her family dog Booker, causing her to look back in a linear timeline of each dog that was in her life that she loved and lost. It touches on a dogs love, losing a dog, grief, and getting a new dog. So many of her words just resonated with my heart.

I got a new dog after my dog died about 8 months later and it talks about being ready or not for getting a new dog and I feel like no one really discuses that? I REALLY appreciated this because when I went through this a lot of people thought I was so dramatic when I was going through my grief. Chloe Shaw, were were you when I needed you then?

My only issue with this was that I was expecting wholesome dog stories but it touched on sex, sexual assault, motherhood, birth, and marriage that it kind of made it into a different book in the middle. I felt like Shaw was going off on a tangent about her life. I understand this is a memoir but I don’t know if it should have been marketed focusing on dogs. At the same time, these aspect of her life are extremely important and I’m glad she had an outlet to share her story. It always goes back to her dogs and her love for them. Okay I wouldn’t say this was my issue but I think for me personally, it went from extremely relatable to not relatable at all which is fine so I don’t know how to explain what I’m trying to say. Overall, I really did enjoy this book and I felt less alone in my grief all these years later.

“There’s no imagining a life or a me without her.”

Thanks very much to Netgalley and to the publisher for the advanced copy of this book.

Just lovely. A memoir organized by the dogs in her life, author Chloe Shaw delves into complex family and personal relationships and the search for connection with oneself and others. Love is the key. Simple yet beautifully written, Ms Shaw had me tearing up describing her relationships with her dogs and the going’s on in her life. Quick and lovely.