I liked this a lot more than I thought I would!
It was also much deeper and darker than I anticipated and had a few surprises.
The reason I've not rated this higher is due to the fact I found George really insufferable. I know we are supposed to empathise with him but he comes across as twisted and nasty.
I also feel that some things were never explored further or explained, for example, it doesn't make sense to me that Dan pursued a relationship with a patient (former or otherwise) with no professional repercussions.
Overall, I enjoyed this and felt that the dog illustrations were a lovely touch.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

Dog Days is a powerful and emotive look at life with our furry friends. How we love them, how they help and enrich our lives and how we deal with loss. This book is a wonderful read,

This was an inspirational, emotional novel. I loved the inclusion of dogs, and the human characters were great too. Its a story about navigating life and death, with the help of your furry friend.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a copy of this E-book to review via Netgalley.

Any book that involves dogs makes me want to read it immediately. The dogs in this book were lovely and inspirational and helped bring some positivity into the lives of the characters involved. These people were a mixed bunch but all were in need of love and guidance. There are three parts (or groups) of characters in this book. Dan is a counsellor/therapist and is attracted to his patient, Atticus. The two men are obviously gay but are hesitant of becoming involved with each other. George, an older, recently widowed man is cantankerous, rude, selfish and has completely lost his grip on life following his wife’s death. His neighbour, Betty, promised George’s wife before she died that she would look out for him and tries to help but George is nasty, hurtful and downright spiteful towards this lovely woman. The third set of people comprise Lizzie and her young son, Lenny who are living in a Women’s Refuge after Lizzie leaves her husband. Has he been violent towards her as her scars indicate, or is there more to her story? All of these scenarios gradually unravel to reveal some very deep and hitherto hidden scars on the lives of these people. The shocks and surprises in the book took me completely by surprise and I was eager to see if any or all of the characters would beat their demons and emerge into a happier existence. The dogs owned by Dan, George (very reluctantly as his wife had bought it just prior to hr death and he really doesn’t want it), and the dog that Lizzie walks for someone else all help to bring calm, love and hope to their human counterparts. With the exception of Betty, I honestly didn’t care very much for any of the people in the story and the extremely bad language was a real off-putter for me. I would have liked to see an occasional glimpse of a warmer side of some of the people to elicit a little more sympathy and for there to have been a lot less of the strong language. My thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a pre-release copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Anyone that follows me on social or has ever met me knows that my life revolves around my (almost) 12 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, McNulty. Upon seeing a blurb about Dog Days, it shot right up to the top of my TBR pile and I loved it. The mix of characters and their dogs kept me on my toes. It's a book about perserverance and the dogs that help us navigate life and death and how and why we love them. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it.