Weekends with Daisy

De: Sharron Kahn Luttrell

Narrado por: Jane Jacobs

She was supposed to teach Daisy how to be a good dog…but Daisy taught her to be a better person.

When Sharron Luttrell joins a weekend “Prison PUP” program for a service dog organization, she knew it was just what she needed to help her move on from the death of her own beloved dog. The position seemed ideal; pick up a puppy on Friday, return it on Sunday night, work with a new puppy each year, no strings attached. Well, it turns out there were strings—and they tugged at her every time she had to return “her dog” to its weekday caregiver.

This memoir chronicles Sharron’s year co-parenting Daisy, a sweet Lab puppy, with Keith, the inmate who is Daisy’s other trainer. As Sharron and Keith develop a relationship she likens to “divorced parents handing over the kids,” she becomes curious about Keith’s life story. When Sharron uncovers the tragic event that set Keith on his path, she realizes she must take a lesson from Daisy and “think like a dog"—react to circumstances in the present, not the past.

Sharron applies this way of thinking at home, too, using the lessons she learned from Daisy to mend her rocky relationship with her teenage daughter. Where once a dramatic eye roll from her daughter would have sparked a battle, Sharron has learned to employ the patience and understanding she practices with Daisy to become a better mom. As Sharron and Keith work tirelessly to ensure Daisy passes her service dog test, she is taught priceless lessons in empathy, compassion, and affection. In the end, Sharron’s weekends with Daisy have taught her more than she could ever have imagined.

Dogs! Love em!

Where does Weekends with Daisy rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This rates about an 8. I love a good dog read.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The narrating character and of course daisy! she was interesting and not too predictable.

Have you listened to any of Jane Jacobs’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I usually listen to books in one sitting but like the story to last as long as possible, so this one was O.K. That way. It was satisfying.

Any additional comments?

I liked the view point of this story. The secondary plot was informational and sensitive . It was a little hysterical about the inmates issues though.. I would be curious too but didn't really see why she felt so threatened. The relationship with Daisy was fun and a good ride In the positive aspects of helping others and the blessings that so many people can receive just incidentally .It was encouraging and I did look into local volunteering as a trainer in my locality.

Distracting Narration

Where does Weekends with Daisy rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

average or slightly below

What other book might you compare Weekends with Daisy to and why?

None

What three words best describe Jane Jacobs’s voice?

extreme, distracting, inappropriate
Ms. Jacobs' enunciation is so very precise that it had no "everyday" quality for this tale of a family's relationship with training dogs. She is an expressive storyteller, but her diction was like an opera singer crooning "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." I laughed right out loud when she read the few instances of cursing: "Oh shit!" "He was pissed off!" Those words would never have come from the mouth (or the pen) of the person this narrator suggests. Distracting!!!

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

no

Love a heartwarming pup story

Any additional comments?

I appreciated the intelligent narration. I always love when people can find their way through a hard time by simply learning how to relate to a pet.

Lots of self-analyzing

The basic story is good - how raising a puppy to be a service dog affects the handler. However, The story bogs down with the author's introspection. She also analyzes almost every interaction. It was too much for me and I would skip over those parts.

Daisy's Smile on the Cover is a Perfect Indicator

Redemption. Dog-love. Compassion. Frustration. Life.

Woven into this heart-warming story are all these components. As fascinating as the relationship between Daisy and the week-end puppy raiser (the author) is the relationship between the inmate-trainer and the author. How does a middle-class, law-abiding citizen relate to an inmate serving a long sentence for who-knows-what? Once the nature of the offense is discovered, how is the relationship changed? How does this happy and devoted puppy redeem them both? It would be hard to dislike this book.

Worthwhile read!