After Tara died, the two decided to honor her memory by working as dog-shelter volunteers and then by starting their own rescue group. As Rosenfelt’s relationship with Myers developed, so did his interest in dogs. Myers was already an avid dog lover who lived with a golden retriever named Tara. When Rosenfelt ( Leader of the Pack, 2012, etc.) met Debbie Myers, the woman who became his second wife, he never imagined that they would go on to become partners in both life and dog rescuing. We should all be as lucky as those lucky dogs they rescued.A mystery novelist’s account of how he became a dog rescuer and moved cross-country with his “very unusual, very large, very hairy family” of eccentric canines. Maybe there would be a little time for a vacation? Probably not. The dogs had plenty of room to run and play, and the shelters in Maine are no-kill, so the doggie population might now grow as quickly. And once they reached their little slice of heaven in the Maine woods, life would surely be easier. The time that went into just feeding and medicating the dogs was extensive, and this went on every single day. They had (at one point) over 35 dogs in their home. The couple must have plowed enormous amounts of time and money into the care of their dogs. Most of them were older dogs, many with health issues. What the author did convey, very well, was the love he and his wife had for their rescues. Mostly about things he couldn't do anything about! The counterproductive worry. Everyone else involved in the cross-country trek was realistic about the challenges that they would encounter, but all the author does is worry. But it bothered us that the whole trip just seems to happen to him. He doesn’t come across as a head-in-the-clouds daydreamer, and we felt sure he really could handle some more his self-titled manly things. We got that the author thinks he's not a 'real man' who is capable to doing all these 'manly' things. Yes, it's hard to master driving a large RV, and most of us wouldn't know the first thing about fixing a flat, or anything else that might go wrong on one. Many of us also agreed that the author, who also writes a mystery series, seems to be a little too self-deprecating. Moving cross country with three large RV's stuffed with dogs and people is at the top of most people's crazy list. People will do crazy things in the name of love (canine and human). David and his wife Debbie are going great things, and they had a fun adventure. Our group agreed on several points: this was a pleasant read, and nice after the hectic holidays.

Wednesday evening our group me to discuss Dogtripping by David Rosenfelt.