What the Dog Said by Randi Reisfeld

12 and up

Grace Abernathy has had a rough year. Ever since her police officer father was killed a few months ago, she hasn’t wanted to do much of anything. She’s pulled away from her friends and her grades are dropping. But when her older sister Regan drags her into her plan to train a shelter dog as a service dog, her life takes another unexpected turn. Especially when the mutt named Rex starts talking to her. Has Grace lost her mind? Or is this dog something really special? An angel? A spirit? Either way, he just might be the therapy Grace needs.

What I liked most about this book is the service dog classes that Grace takes with Rex. The dogs in the book are taught to do amazing things like push elevator buttons with their nose and flick light switches. My favorite is helping a person in a wheelchair shop for groceries. It’s amazing all the work that goes into training a dog.

Service dogs are trained to help people with many different physical and mental disabilities, including muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, spinal cord injuries, blindness and hearing impairments, and autism.

It’s definitely not easy training a service dog and I could never train service dogs for a living. I know. I have one. I am a complete push over when it comes to him.