My Life In Dog Years, Gary Paulsen. Theme: courage can come from anywhere.
If the author wanted me to get one idea from the book, it would be that dogs are a man/women's best friend. This memoir compared a lot to the world I know, because I have heard many courageous stories about dogs. This book has taught me to be open minded, people/dogs can surprise you.

M.L.I.D.Y is a memoir, taken place all around the world. The action is in the middle and end of the book. The author does a great job of describing, making it feel like you are in the story. The main characters are Gary, and all of his amazing dogs. The dogs are very believable and realistic, as they are based on real dogs. They are adequately described.

Gary's parents are always drunk and never around. As he grows up, he gets very lonely. He takes up the love of dogs, and this memoir is about some of Gary's dogs throughout his lifetime. He has Cookie: a courageous lifesaver, Dirk: a fighter, Casear: a huge but lovable dog, and, Rex: the smartest dog he ever knew. There are many other chapters in the book about Gary's other dogs. He had a bond with all of his dogs.

I thought that M.L.I.D.Y was average. I only liked some chapters in this memoir. I didn't like how this book was all over the place, and there were many irrelevant details included. I thought it was boring.

I think anyone who likes dog or has a dog would like this book. They would like this book because it is based on dogs.

I Like dogs

The book My Life in Dog Years by Gary Paulsen is a autobiography about him and the dogs he had in his time.


In the book he talks about the many companions and adventures they had over their life.One of the dogs he talks about is his dog Cookie.Cookie was a sled dog that was given to him by a man who thought she could no longer run but she was later found out to only have worms.Cookie once saved Gary's life when they were out trapping beavers,the ice below his feet cracked and he feel through and Cookie seen him falling and got the rest of the dogsup to save him.More dogs he talks about have also saved his life and he cared for them the same but he dedicated the book to Cookie.


The book was interesting.I think it was a new type of book that i read.The way it was told was like a memory.He did a good job at the description of he dogs and the way he feels about them.He could make you feel his love for the dogs.The way the book was broken up was that every chapter was a different dog.Each dog has its own story and none of them are less special than the first to him.

One of my favorite parts of the book is when he talks about his dog Ike.This was my favorite story.He met Ike when he was going hunting and he mistook Ike for a bear and was going to shoot him.After that mishap him and Ike became a good hunting team.Ike would wait at the bridge for Gary and Gary would bring a sandwich for him.Gary said that Ike was never anything less than an equal.I liked that part a lot because
that showed me how close a person can be wit an animal.Then one day Ike stop waiting for him at the bridge.He never knew what happened to Ike until 30 years later while he was in a hard-wear store.He was telling the owner about how one of his dogs saved his life and the owner began to cry and told him that he too had a dog like that.The owner said that him and his dog used to go hunting with and he was sad that he had to leave him to go to the war.He then says when he returned from the war the dog was there waiting for him.Gary thought to himself and asked the man was his dog named Ike,the man said yes and asked him how did he know.Gary tells him that him and Ike were friends.I liked the ending of this story because eventually he found out what happened to his best friend.

I think this book would be a good choice for animal lovers or people fans of friendship books.Another book that this reminds me of is another Gary Paulsen book called Dog Son.It reminds me of it because it also show the connections between humans and dogs.

I love starting the school year with this one as a read aloud. The kids love Paulsen's dog stories and ask after each chapter, "Wait, is that one really real? It really happened?"
Already I have several readers picking up more of Paulsen's books to read on their own.

We went into a small, independent bookstore here on Atlantic Beach yesterday, and I was pleasantly surprised to see a copy of Gary Paulsen's Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod in the juvenile lit section of the store.

Naturally, I then had to walk over and torture the employee for a few minutes, with my questions. I needed to know the who/what/why of HOW that book was there, in such a limited space.

The employee admitted that she knew nothing about it, and that she'd never been interested in any of Mr. Paulsen's books before, and I admitted to having no interest, whatsoever, in his fiction, throughout my entire life.

But then I let her in on a little secret that I've known since 2020, when I discovered Paulsen's How Angel Peterson Got His Name: his non-fiction is absolutely amazing, and I was pretty amazed to find a non-fiction book of his in their store.

Coincidentally, my 12-year-old and I were reading this non-fiction book of his, My Life in Dog Years, a book that I casually picked up a couple of weeks ago at a library sale.

This led me to look up Mr. Paulsen's bibliography when we got back to our rental.

In three words: holy, holy, holy.

If you are a writer, you will just cringe if you see Paulsen's complete listed works of fiction and non-fiction. Apparently he wrote a book every time I have prepared a meal for my children. What in the hell? How could someone write that much? Are he and Stephen King related?

The man was a beast, an absolute beast of a writer. I can't contribute a thing about his fiction, as I haven't read a single novel of his, but I can tell you that, so far, his non-fiction is some of the best out there.

I read this book to my daughter in two nights and I hiccuped, I sighed. . . I cried, I cried, I cried.

This is one of the greatest tributes to dogs I have ever read, and I've read quite a few (both E.B. White's and Mary Oliver's being two of my favorites).

I can't imagine a single dog lover, anywhere, not loving this short book on Paulsen's most memorable canine companions.

Mr. Paulsen was born in 1939, and his parents's savage alcoholism rendered him nearly homeless for many years of his youth, so he became a hunter and he always supported responsible hunting, so I can only invite any readers of his work to view that aspect of his life in the proper context.

Beyond that: these stories herald the heroes of his life, the dogs that worked the farms and sleds with him, and the dogs that saved his lives, numerous times.

I am a “dog person.” I make no excuses for unabashedly loving them—all of them, even some that have bitten me. I have always had dogs and will have dogs until I die.

Amen, brother.

There was nothing too bad or annoying in this book to qualify it as a bad book but there was also nothing too outstandingly astonishing in this book for it to really qualify as a great book. Overall it was decent, interesting enough to not become bland and boring but not interesting enough to be anything over three stars. It was also the perfect length for a book like this, not too long and not too short. Any longer and it probably would've become repetitive, drawn on to the point where the book would've felt like a student trying to add extra unneeded detail to an essay to make it the required amount of words. Any shorter and it would've felt like there was more the story that wasn't being told.

Up front, Paulsen says, “I am – I say this with some pride and not a little wonder – a “dog person.” I make no excuses for unabashedly loving all of them…” In this book, Paulsen lovingly tells the story of seven or eight of the many dogs in his life in short vignettes. These are not his Iditatrod dogs, but those he rescued, had thrust upon him, chose, or otherwise knew. There was a purebred or two, but lots of mutts, and they ranged in size from the one with four inch legs to the Great Dane. The stories are heartwarming and gentle. There is little more to say, but if, like Paulsen and me, you are or know a dog lover, this is a pleasure.

5 stars. I don't give a lot of 5 star reviews to children's books. But in this book, Paulsen captures the hearts of adventurers, dog lovers, and those who appreciate the art of written language.

In my library, I don't usually read aloud from chapter books. Paulsen makes this task easy with Dog Years. One chapter written about any of his beloved canine friends would be enough to hook my young readers.

Some of the episodes are quite endearing because dogs can be wonderful, but overall he let many of the dogs run riot in public which sets an appalling example for children reading or listening to this book. Such blatant irresponsibility for his animals is not cute, funny or acceptable.

This biography was a heart wrenching one. Gary Paulsen writes about the many dogs he's had in his life and how they have helped him through his toughest times. He writes about his alcoholic parents and getting beat up in alleys while working a minimum wage job as well as living in basements and friend's couches. He really shares his struggles but in each part of his life, Paulsen had a dog to keep him company and help him. These dogs were his family and it shows through this descriptive and emotional writing. Paulsen has traveled and lived in many places such as Alaska and New Mexico with a dog in each place but with very different stories. A very interesting and captivating book.

yay dogs

In this autobiographical text, Gary Paulsen tells the unique story of a dog who has impacted his life. Through each of these seven stories, he gives the reader a glimpse into who he was during that period of time. Paulsen begins the book with a dedication to Cookie, his lead sled dog, who saved his live while trapping and led his team during his first Iditarod race. Aside from Cookie, this book focuses on the stories of the dogs that Paulsen had as pets rather than his sled dogs. The first chapter focuses on Snowball, a stray Paulsen found in the Philippines as a child. Snowball was Paulsen’s first dog and his companion on his explorations of the island.

This stories continue chronologically telling each about Paulsen’s childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, and adulthood up to the time he wrote the book. While you won’t get an in depth look at all of Gary Paulsen’s life through this book, this book gives a general understanding of his background, how he got to where he is now, and a wonderful look at the importance of dogs throughout his life.

I think this book would be a great addition to a unit on biographies and autobiographies because of the unique perspective from which it is written. Even thought the book is an autobiography about Gary Paulsen, each chapter could be looked at as a biography of an individual dog. Additionally, this book would be a great way to engage any dog-lovers and outdoor-lovers in your class in an autobiographical text.

I found this book to be especially enjoyable because I can relate to some of his emotions towards the dogs and the impacts they have had on him. I really enjoyed the lighthearted approach Paulsen took when discussing heavier subject matter and difficult times in his life. The use of the stories of each dog allowed him to tell these heavier stories, such as those about his parents’ alcoholism and being bullied as a child, without losing the overall uplifting nature of the book.