Title: For The Love of Moose – How One Man’s Trash Became My Treasure
Author: Margaret Ludwig
Publisher: BalboaPress
ISBN: 978-1-5043-5673-2
Pages: 192
Genre: Non-Fiction
Reviewed by: Beth Adams
Pacific Book Review Star
Awarded to Books of Excellent Merit
Fellow dog lovers rejoice! Author Margaret Ludwig has written an all-encompassing journal of living with a pack of dogs with such insight, kindness and wisdom, in a way we all can share her stories vicariously without having to leave our favorite reading chair. In For The Love of Moose – How One Man’s Trash Became My Treasure, we are brought into the nonverbal communication of man’s best friends; enjoying such intricacies of personifications of canine personalities in their telepathy, dog’s body language, pack structure of social behavior and, of course, human interactions.
Margaret Ludwig has crafted an impeccable narrative of her life with her dogs, lover, home, work, family and friends. For The Love of Moose is all one giant reveal of Ludwig’s honest and unselfish care taking episodes of her life’s relentless struggles for harmony; learning how to deal and care for a house filled with dogs and cats, while all the time it was her dog, Moose, ironically taking care of her. Readers will soon get to know some wonderful characters, such as Lenny, Cowboy, Panzer, Ruby and Moose – all dogs with such diverse and unique personalities which come to life off the pages with such insight and conjecture of animal though processes.
Life moves forward at times in difficult and challenging ways. Being animal lovers extraordinaire, Ludwig and her husband Richard found it impossible to turn their back on dogs in need of being rescued. When a newly adopted dog killed their house cat, certainly tears were shed but the interesting aspect is they allowed the dogs to be dogs, altering their lifestyle around the needs of the K-9s. The constant doctor visits to their vet, along with the thousands of dollars of medical bills and home improvements, proved to have little effect on their decision to maintain the dog’s lifestyle in the most humane and enjoyable fashion.
From laughter when Moose was up on two feet trying to drink water from a garden hose and people walking by became thoroughly entertained, to tears when Lenny had to be put down with cancer taking over his body, Ludwig brings a full spectrum of emotions to readers paging this incredibly well-written genre of non-fiction. Honest and unabashed candor heightens Margaret Ludwig’s vulnerabilities as she writes about her own fears, heartbreaks with a failed marriage, dealing with the loss of her brother, and the multiple times her home was flooded, thus making For The Love of Moose not only about dogs.
Touching upon every personality characteristic aspect of the blending of different breeds of canine DNA, Moose and his pack are brought to life in a way which will immerse readers into this wonderful collection of stories that will find a welcome home in the minds of dog lovers everywhere. Truly a masterpiece of writing, covering a bunch of characters which will make you want to get out of your house and go for a walk, with your own best friend.
