Happy Tails : How Pets Can Help You Survive Divorce

By Julie Rogers

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0970610807
• ISBN13: 9780970610805
• Release Date: March 2001
• Publisher: Julie Rogers
• Length: 158 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.0" x 0.5" x 5.0"

Customer Reviews

Survivor Manual For The Broken-Hearted

Because I am not an animal lover, I wondered what the author's unique perspective could offer me. Having survived a bitter divorce, I try my best to keep an open mind and learn something new from others who have walked this painful road of divorce. The question remained: How can pets help you survive divorce? As I read through the chapters, phrases here and there immediately caught my attention. "I was about to grieve a death but I wasn't fully prepared for its complexity." Profound and so very true. Nothing can compare to the loss of a divorce. I find it's a two-sided sword. Regardless of who says it's over, both spouses are hurt. Common sense: One prepares for his or her wedding day but who prepares for a divorce?The author's description of Hansel, a wayward Belgian Shepherd, fit perfectly. She states, "This couldn't be happening to me. Not to me." Resounding and painfully true. I don't know how many times I felt wayward while uttering this painful "Not to me" phrase in the beginning of the falling apart of my marriage. I guess when it comes down to it, only one walking through the dark dungeons of betrayal, separation, court proceedings, and lonely nights can make such a deliberate, raw, and numbing statement. The POV of Ms. Rogers is authentic and heart felt. I appreciate the fact that she is not speaking from so-called research. She speaks from her heart, and shares her own first-hand experience, which is something as a reader I appreciated. That took courage."Ending a relationship through separation or divorce is complicated by the fact that both partners are still alive. Wounds run deep. One or both feel rejected." So very true. No matter how much ones tries to keep up the facade that everything is all right in public or in their own mind of denial in their lonely bedroom at home -- regardless of who leaves -- feeling and seeing the love that once was is no more being dismantled 50/50 by a judge, the church, and society is humiliating and devastating. And having others wonder out loud why your marriage fell apart doesn't make one feel any better. In Happy Tails, Ms. Rogers covers it all. She tells you like it is and doesn't paint a pretty picture of what it is you are to expect when it comes to going through a divorce. How fortunate for her readers that she also provides strength, empathy, inspiration, and hope not only to forgive yourself but to forgive your ex spouse so that you can move on with no regrets. The key to moving on is letting go. Ms. Rogers provides relevant and realistic pearls of wisdom.The use of animal analogies is brilliant. As I read through the book, I couldn't help identifying with Snickers, the feisty dachsund. That's me. My heart strings were pulled by the wounds suffered by Buck, the Shelty. That's me. I struggled holding back the tears thinking of my children as I read the story of the little boy, Jacob, and, Jasper, the baby raccoon. That's me, again!My only displeasure with th

The author forces us to face the raw emotions...

Although this isn't a tradtional book with beginning, middle, and end, it does pull you through, chapter by fascinating chapter. All the emotions you would feel before, going through, or after a divorce are expanded upon with vignettes of dog stories. You will experience the loneliness and fear of Gigi, who finds herself in a dog shelter. The author felt like Gigi - alone and afraid. She needed someone she could trust - someone to love her. Then there's the story of Woodrow, the cat. When he was so sick, they didn't know whether he would make it or not. After lots of love and nurturing, he developed into a 17 lb creature who delighted everyone. Was the author's marriage worthy of all that nurturing? She decides that it's not always wrong to quit; sometimes it's just plain smart. Through the various cats and dogs that streamed through her life, she learned about freedom, understanding, acceptance, forgiveness, and commitment. The author forces us to face the raw emotions, and gently helps us to deal with them. There is no such thing as a painless divorce. Then, she gives us hope for the future by sharing the story of how she met her second husband, and what she was looking for this time. She didn't want to make the same mistakes again! So, whether you are thinking about divorce, going through divorce, divorced and afraid to try again, or if you have remarried, you will definitely get some help from "Happy Tails".

Superbly presented self-help guide for men, women, children

Simply stated, Julie Rogers' Happy Tails: How Pets Can Help You Survive Divorce is a superbly presented self-help guide for men, women and children affected by divorce. Replete with helpful information about the stages of overcoming a relationship loss and establishing new bonds of intimacy, Happy Tails is a unique, practical, effective, and very highly recommended advisory for utilizing the compassionate bonds that develop between dogs, cats, turtles, fox squirrels, as well as other pets and their human companions in establishing and acquiring love, companionship and spirituality in the face of estrangement, separation, and divorce.