He Loved the Dog: The Bill Tarrant Story | 
 enlarge | Author: Mike Gould
Publisher: LJM Press
Category: Book
Buy New: $22.00
New (3) Used (1) from $22.00
Rating:  4 reviews
Sales Rank: 604080
Media: Paperback
Pages: 218
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.7
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6 x 0.5
ISBN: 0971789509
EAN: 9780971789500
ASIN: 0971789509
Publication Date: March 1, 2002
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: In stock soon. Order now to get in line. First come, first served.
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Nonfiction. Bill Tarrant, who passed away in November, 1998, was the dog's best friend. Bill Tarrant's personal mission was to promote a new paradigm for treating and training dogs: humanely and thoughtfully. Through his powerful gift of writing, Mr. Tarrant educated people that brutality had no place in dog training. In this new book, Mike Gould honors his friend and continues his legacy. Mr. Tarrant was the author of twelve dog and training books, and was the shooting dog editor for "Field & Stream" magazine for twenty-three years. He was the winner of 27 national writing awards. For his book "The Magic of Dogs," he received a Pulitzer Prize nomination. Other noteworthy books include: "Hey Pup, Fetch It Up" "Bill Tarrant's Gun Dog Book A Treasury of Happy Tails" "Training the Hunting Retriever The New Program" "Gun Dog Training New Strategies from Today's Top Trainers"
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| Customer Reviews:
 What The Heck? February 13, 2008
W. Katzinski
As soon as I finished reading this book, I couldn't wait to review it. Very seldom do I get hornswaggled by a book, especially a dog book or a biography. This, it turns out is neither.
I have read a couple of Bill Tarrant's books about hunting stories and training dogs and really liked them. I believe you will get a better picture of Bill Tarrant and his philosophies by reading his books.
In this book, Mike Gould applies the "Earthier than Thou" writing style common among hunting and hunting dog enthusiasts of the more modern persuasion. I can overlook this if the content is usable. In this case, I did not think the content was of as much value as it could have been.
I was engrossed with the first part of the book that mentioned some of the high and low points of Bill's life from a perspective I had not heard: Bill's political career, his time as a boxer in the USMC, his success with training dogs in the painful and traditional methods and his eventual decision to stop playing that game, etc. BTW: I subscribe to Bill's (and Mike's) dog training methods that use the dog's natural inclination to hunt, please, and have fun.
But this book is none of that. It devolves into a long winded theology from a Native American shaman, curiously mixed with sprinklings of some kind of Christianity. I still have no idea where the last chapter came from. It was completely lost on me. I kept reading, waiting for the punch line, but when I got to the last page, I felt like I had wasted the previous two hours. Something in my head told me to stop, but I gave Mike the benefit of the doubt. I wondered if Mike had lost his mind and simply could not figure out how to end the book.
I can recommend the book if you are really interested in Native American philosophy and lore. The folks I know that subscribe to that sort of thing seem to never be able to get enough of it. After reading this book, I have had enough for a life time. If you are more interested in Bill Tarrant or dogs, read Bill's books.
Did I miss something? September 23, 2006
Robert J. Hicks (MI USA)
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
I just finished this book, and I was disapointed. The subtitle "The Bill Tarrant Story" should be more like "inspired by Bill Tarrant". The book contains very little about Bill, the story of his death, a couple of stories about judging dog trials is all. The rest is a bunch of narrative about Mike Gould's philosophy about dogs and Native Americans. Nice enough I guess, but I expected something more like a biography.
 A Great Book about a Great Man April 18, 2002
Mark A. Vandehey (Tigard, OR)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
What a wonderful tribute to a great human being and one of dog's best friends. Whether you've heard of Bill Tarrant or not, if you are a lover of dogs you will enjoy this book. I've read all of Mike's books. This book, like the other's was a joy to read. I really enjoy Mike's style of writing. The book not only provides a sense of who Bill Tarrant was, it provides many inspirational stories and messages. The last chapter is incredible!
Learning from Man's Best Friend April 16, 2002
Steve Bernard (Idaho, USA)
7 out of 8 found this review helpful
This book is an inspiring story about a champion for truth, one of those rare heros who stands for what he believes no matter the cost. It is a powerful story, but also a very important story, told by a master storyteller, a painter of vivid word pictures.
It is not just about "the best friend the dog world will ever know", it's about who we are, what we've become, how our pursuit for power, control and dominance threatens our humanity. To learn all that "from a dog" is quite humbling.
Perhaps there is more to the tale that God created the sky, the moon, and the stars; He made the earth, the water, and the brimstone, but He didn't make the dog, because He already had one. After you read it, find a quiet place to think about it.
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