Happy Dog Days at the PUG Cafe

This is a really enjoyable read for anyone who loves dogs..but Pugs in particular.

It tells the story of Bertie who was born as the runt of a litter of puppies. Sadly on his first walk in the big wide world, he fell ill and had to undergo surgery to save his life. Thankfully, he recovered but his owner worried that he had missed out on a crucial part of any dog’s life….gaining socialisation skills.

So that Bertie could make friends, she organised a meet up for Pugs in the area. This was more successful than Anoushka anticipated. The Pug cafe followed and Bertie became an internet sensation.

All dogs have special instincts and Bertie knew that Anushka was struggling inwardly with loneliness and anxiety. Despite her feelings, she had gone out of her way to make sure that Bertie made friends. Now it was time for Bertie to repay that kindness. He made a promise to his Mumma to discover his ‘Puggy Purpose’ and now it was time to put his plan into action.

The book shows that the author has an amazing understanding of the Pug breed. All their little quirks and characteristics come to life when Bertie narrates the story. I loved how the book displayed a huge depth of communication and bond between an owner and her dog. Even when a human tries to hide how they are feeling, their dog can not be fooled.

The story is warm and funny but also sad in places. I loved the wedding and all the suspense that lead up to it. The writing is simplistic but also endearing and compassionate.

A beautiful story for all dog lovers.

I was drawn to this book by the bright and breezy cover and the sight of Bertie the Pug on the cover just sold the book to me as it were. I couldn’t wait to start reading and without further ado I jumped straight in. Oh boy, ‘Happy Dog Days At The Pug Café’ was a simply adorable read and I loved every single second of the story but more about that in a bit.
I loved the relationship between Anushka and Bertie the Pug. Both enter the other’s life at the right time. Bertie is the runt of the litter and he is desperate for somebody to take him home with them but eventually Anushka visits Bertie and the rest as they say is history. Bertie sees that Anushka is a bit shy and uncertain as regards making new friends so he resolves to do everything in his power to boost her confidence and make friends. I empathised with Anushka as I am very much the same. Being owned by two loopy Labradors myself, I can honestly say that it’s easy to strike up conversations with people whilst you are out with the dogs and I have made so many friends through my two loopy Labradors. Life is never boring when you have a dog. I kept putting myself in Anushka’s position and oh my word when Bertie had to have an operation, I was in bits. I just kept imagining how I would feel in that situation. I was bad enough when my two girls went to the V.E.T.s to be spayed. Anushka and Bertie certainly make one hell of a team and a very close bond develops between the two of them.
I absolutely adored every single second of ‘Happy Dog Days At The Pug Café’ and then some. I started to read the book, whilst feeling a bit low for one reason and another and this book cheered me up no end. It really was a delight to read. I found that the more I read, the more I wanted to read and the quicker the pages seemed to turn. As I kept reading the story, I found that I kept chuckling away at certain things that Bertie says or gets up to- I just love the idea of pee mails and I loved the way in which Bertie loves his zoomies and his sniffies. This was one of those books that I was desperate to finish because I needed to know how the story ended but I didn’t want to finish reading the book as I was having such fun with the story that I just didn’t want it to end.
‘Happy Dog Days At The Pug Café’ is superbly written. It’s different to a lot of the books I read in that it is based on a true story. I love Anushka’s warm and friendly writing style. In fact reading this book felt like more a chat between friends than reading an actual book. I hope that makes sense. Anushka and Bertie’s stories are told in their own voices in alternating chapters. I particularly enjoyed Bertie’s chapters as dogs can be so expressive and so funny. I must admit that I do talk to my own dogs and I swear I can tell what they are thinking! They have such expressive faces but anyway that’s enough of me. Anushka uses such vivid and realistic descriptions that I felt as though I was part of the story myself. I found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable read, which cheered me up and gripped me from start to finish.
In short, I thoroughly enjoyed reading ‘Happy Dog Days At The Pug Café’ and I strongly recommend this book to other readers. I hope to read much more from this author in the future. The score on the Ginger Book Geek board is a very well deserved 5* out of 5*.

A pretty enjoyable read for all the dog lovers out there.

Bertie started his new life the day he was chosen Anushka and taken to his furever home, but it wasn't all plain sailing. Diagnosed with a condition which left him facing an operation and time to recuperate, he needed to make friends in the doggy world, so Anushka set up a meet-up for pugs which turned into a pop-up pug cafe. But there's more to these dogs and their owners than it first seems.

This is the story of Bertie the pug and his human, Anushka. It's a light-hearted tale of the world seen from the eyes of a pooch - and a very spoiled pooch at that. I feel I should hold my hand up at this point and say I'm a dog lover, but labradors are my dog of choice, so all the pug traits in this book were new to me, as were the health issues.. This reads very much like a memoir; no less enjoyable for it but if you're not a big pug lover then you may struggle. I couldn't find fault with this, it's a well-written, easily flowing novel and a very pleasant tale which will both amuse and entertain. Four stars from me.

My thanks to the publisher for my copy via NetGalley; this is - as always - my honest, original and unbiased review.

I fell in love with the cover and then I fell in love with the story.
It's poignant, heartwarming and heartbreaking at times. It made me smile and moved me to tears.
It's the perfect book for animal lovers and it's strongly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine