A review by dyerra
The Possibility Dogs: What a Handful of Unadoptables Taught Me About Service, Hope, and Healing by Susannah Charleson

4.0

This book was a great read! I would recommend it to anyone who likes dogs, reading about dog training/rescue, or wants to learn more about what service dogs can do for humans. If you are considering reading this book, you will probably like it. The story of the author training her dog for service (and eventually finding dogs for others) is interspersed with stories of other service dogs and their handlers. These are very interesting and I'm glad they are included, because it gives the reader an idea of the variety of dogs, handlers, and tasks that can be appropriate for service dogs. However, the author's connection with these stories is unclear, and they are a bit jolting at first. They each have their own chapter, but don't segue nicely into/out of the author's story, and the author's involvement with these cases is confusing. I'm stingy with my 5 star ratings, and this confusion is what kept this book from receiving 5 stars.
I also think that the subtitle of this book is largely misleading. It was not what I was expecting given the title. From the title, I was expecting that the book would involve the author collecting dogs who failed adoption/handling/behavior screenings and teaching them how to be with humans to the extent that they would become service dogs. That is not what this book is, but this book is still fantastic.
If you are going to read this book, you may also want to know that yes, there is some dog death in this book. I think it is handled well, but maybe have a box of tissues nearby. Just in case you need them.