Book Review: Tales From the Bark Side: True Stories from the Family Dog Files

Tales From the Bark Side: True Stories from the Family Dog Files

By Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson

This is a short collection of cute stories about dogs that Brian Kilcommons and Sarah Wilson have worked with over the years. For those hoping for insights into training and caring for their own dogs, there’s really not much here.

The most significant bits for me was Kilcommons’ story about his childhood dog, Irish, and his relationship with his father, and then story about working with another famous dog trainer, Barbara Woodhouse. I met Kilcommons several years ago, when I attended one of his seminars with my dog, Addy. I found him to be incredibly good with the dogs, but his people skills were not so much awful as simply non-existent. It turns out he knows this about himself. His father was so routinely physically and verbally abusive, with son Brian as his favored target, that as an adult, if he wasn’t using mean words, he didn’t think he was being mean no matter what his tone and body language was. One of the things that helped him realize there was a problem was working as an assistant to Woodhouse–another trainer famous for great dog skills and lousy people skills–when she was touring the US, acting as the buffer for her. Those two sections are well worth reading, or listening to.

Overall, it’s a pleasant light read, the literary equivalent of empty calories.

I borrowed this book from a friend.

Reviewer Bio:
Lis and Addy

Lis Carey is a librarian with an odd sense of humor, who finds excitement in helping people find the information they need, and in the varied corners of library work–reference, cataloging, circulation, resource development, reader’s advisory. She reads voraciously and enjoys a wide variety of material–including, of course, fiction and non-fiction about dogs and cats. Addy, her Chinese Crested, is always happy to keep her company while reading, and occasionally tries to help write the reviews.

Check out her Blog Lis Carey’s Library for more Book Reviews.