I Bought a Dog and Lost My Wife

By Mike Brower

An estimated 62 percent of United States homes have dogs. Thats close to 72.9 million homes. More than 83 million dogs are owned in the United States. Author Mike Brower is one of those owners. In I Bought a Dog and Lost My Wife, he shares the story of how he became a dog owner and the positive impact it made on his life.

With a humorous approach, Brower narrates his experiences with Abby and Dylan, Havana Silk dogs. When he first brought Abby home as an eleven-week-old puppy, he couldnt have imagined the affect the dog would have. From eating habits, to bed and sleep, to grooming, apparel, toys, and training, this memoir recounts a host of situations where owning dogs changed Browers outlook.

With photos included, I Bought a Dog and Lost My Wife communicates the joys of pet ownership and how getting a dog was one of Browers best decisions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Mar 23, 2016
• ISBN: 9781491789490

Mike Brower

Mike Brower earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Rutgers University and is vice president of a nutrition company and a consultant in the nutrition industry. Brower and his wife, Pam, live in the Chicagoland area with two Havana Silk dogs. He has two sons and one grandchild.

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I Bought a Dog and Lost My Wife

Copyright © 2016 Mike Brower.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

The following is nonfiction and mostly depicts actual persons, places, animals, and events.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

ISBN: 978-1-4917-8948-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-8949-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016901992

iUniverse rev. date: 3/23/2016

Contents

Acknowledgments

Canine Bits

Introduction

Chapter 1 What Dog?

Chapter 2 Food

Chapter 3 Beds And Sleep

Chapter 4 Grooming

Chapter 5 Apparel

Chapter 6 Toys

Chapter 7 Houseplants And Landscaping

Chapter 8 Medical

Chapter 9 Security

Chapter 10 Friends—Part 1

Chapter 11 Friends—Part 2

Chapter 12 Training

Chapter 13 Showtime!

Chapter 14 Chips

Afterword

Acknowledgments

I owe much to my brother Lew, who painstakingly read each chapter and offered many valuable suggestions. I would also like to thank Joe and Agnes Szilagyi for their dedication in creating the many illustrations in the book.

I would be amiss if I did not recognize Abby, the featured canine and one of the sweetest animals in the world, as the inspiration for this endeavor.

Last but not the least, I greatly appreciate my wife, Pam. Her support and encouragement to complete the task of writing this book was beyond admirable. She made the decision to bring a Havana Silk puppy into our lives despite my vigorous protests. She knows me better than anyone and knew I would cherish having a dog.

Canine Bits

• An estimated 62 percent of US homes have dogs. That’s close to 72.9 million homes.

• The total number of dogs owned in the United States is 83.3 million (American Pet Products Association).

• Anywhere from four hundred to six hundred different breeds of dogs are recognized by different kennel clubs worldwide (APPA).

• There are more than 525 million dogs on our planet. That would equal the human population of the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, and France (SC Psychological Enterprises Ltd.).

• In 2013, $56 billion was spent in America on pets, more than most countries spend on national defense.

• The average dog lives to around fifteen years of age.

• The oldest substantiated age for a dog is twenty-nine years and five months—a Queensland heeler.

• The relationship of humans with dogs as pets dates back twelve thousand years.

• Humanization has given new meaning to the old idiom man’s best friend, elevating the long-established role of pets from companions to beloved family members with favorable demographics and rising pet ownership spawning a proliferation of products and services and fueling sustainable growth (Brown, Gibbons, Lang GL Pet Industry