Old Dog

Old Dog - Barney Bardsley 2 and a half star rating rounded up.

I love reading books about dogs as I just love animals and I find most of the stories heartwarming and inspirational.
This was an ok read, I did enjoy parts of it but in other parts it grated on me...quite a lot.
From reading the book's description you know it's going to be a very emotional read and at the start of the book you are made aware of the death of Muffin. This means that throughout the whole book you are awaiting the inevitable which, for me, left me a bit emotionally detatched as I was continually expecting that bomb to be dropped at any moment.
The constantly shifting timeline made this book somewhat difficult to read as it just made it a bit of a mess, it felt like it wasn't planned or thought out very well and it definitely lacked structure. Another problem for me was the author's relationship to Muffin, I was constantly questioning it. In some parts Muffin is the back bone of the family but in other parts Muffin is referred to as 'The Dog', that, to me, seems a bit cold towards a much loved family pet. I added a star just because I enjoy reading about animals and Muffin sounded like a wonderful companion.