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wook77Rant ahead.
I love Warrior's Cross by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux. I really really do. I love it so much that it is one of the few m/m books I go back and re-read. Often.
However, I don't know that I can read it again after I noticed something in my most recent re-read. My main problem is that it is obvious, from reading this book again, that neither Ms Urban nor Ms Roux have ever had a litter of puppies. Or even a puppy. Or a dog of any age.
These four cute, adorable, awesome Westie puppies never poop. They never have any sort of bodily habits. They never need to go outside. They don't roll in their own poop. They don't play in it. They don't do anything that puppies actually do. I mean, these dogs are cooped up in this loft open-floor plan/open concept apartment in Chicago (I think it's Chicago) and never go outside. They hang out in a play pen. Unless this playpen happens to have a magical poop disposer (and I really want one, if it does), then Ms Urban and Ms Roux think that puppies are actually like cats and can simply find a litterbox and go in it and/or train themselves to poop in a toilet and flush after themselves.
As the owner of multiple dogs and as a foster parent to a lot of puppies, I call bullshit. Here, see what I mean, have an excerpt:
So Cameron, the owner of the puppies, only heads back to his apartment to feed the puppies. Not to clean up their mess. Not to take them out on walks. Not to keep them from destroying his house as puppies are wont to do. Oh no. He only has to pop in every once in awhile as if these puppies were adult cats.
Here's a hint. Puppies destroy stuff. A lot of stuff. And they do it often. Puppies are horrible horrible creatures if you happen to have electronics, shoes, clothes, panties, bedding, carpet, toilet paper, almost anything else, in your house and you let them roam. If you are keeping four active Westie puppies in a small playpen or, even worse, keeping them in a crate, for really long stretches at a time, that is being a horrible, awful person who should have his/her puppies taken away from him/her. Seriously. Puppies are hyperactive cause, yanno, they're baby animals. They act like baby animals.
If they're stuck in a playpen for that sort of stretch of period, your house is going to smell like puppy shit (which, by the way, is one of the worst smells I have ever smelled in my life) and they are going to be covered in it because that, at least, is a source of stimulation for them.
I am just so disappointed. Seriously. This is an issue that even one or two lines would've corrected. How about this, for example: Cameron felt like he was being followed as he walked the puppies after getting home from Tuesdays. He wasn't sure if it was paranoia from knowing more about what Julian did or if it was merely his imagination, but he felt unsafe and alone this late at night. He found himself hurrying his puppies along on the walk to get back to the apartment.
There. Now i know that Cameron walks the dogs, just not when Julian is around. OR. How about changing that above excerpt to include more responsible pet ownership?!
Anyway, obviously responsible pet ownership is a hot button topic for me which is why this so thoroughly ruined my enjoyment of this book. But it did take quite a few re-reads (this was at least my fifth re-read) to notice because the book was that good. So if you don't care about details like the above, then you'll still enjoy the book. As for me, I just can't see someone leaving even one adult dog alone for days at a time except to feed let alone an entire litter of small, needy puppies.
I love Warrior's Cross by Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux. I really really do. I love it so much that it is one of the few m/m books I go back and re-read. Often.
However, I don't know that I can read it again after I noticed something in my most recent re-read. My main problem is that it is obvious, from reading this book again, that neither Ms Urban nor Ms Roux have ever had a litter of puppies. Or even a puppy. Or a dog of any age.
These four cute, adorable, awesome Westie puppies never poop. They never have any sort of bodily habits. They never need to go outside. They don't roll in their own poop. They don't play in it. They don't do anything that puppies actually do. I mean, these dogs are cooped up in this loft open-floor plan/open concept apartment in Chicago (I think it's Chicago) and never go outside. They hang out in a play pen. Unless this playpen happens to have a magical poop disposer (and I really want one, if it does), then Ms Urban and Ms Roux think that puppies are actually like cats and can simply find a litterbox and go in it and/or train themselves to poop in a toilet and flush after themselves.
As the owner of multiple dogs and as a foster parent to a lot of puppies, I call bullshit. Here, see what I mean, have an excerpt:
CAMERON took a couple vacation days from work and stayed at Julian’s house most of that weekend, venturing out only to return to his place and feed the puppies. He found himself spending most of the time trying desperately not to laugh about how miserable Julian was because of his shots and the dog bites. There was something so wrong yet so funny about such a large, stoic man whimpering about being drugged and sore
So Cameron, the owner of the puppies, only heads back to his apartment to feed the puppies. Not to clean up their mess. Not to take them out on walks. Not to keep them from destroying his house as puppies are wont to do. Oh no. He only has to pop in every once in awhile as if these puppies were adult cats.
Here's a hint. Puppies destroy stuff. A lot of stuff. And they do it often. Puppies are horrible horrible creatures if you happen to have electronics, shoes, clothes, panties, bedding, carpet, toilet paper, almost anything else, in your house and you let them roam. If you are keeping four active Westie puppies in a small playpen or, even worse, keeping them in a crate, for really long stretches at a time, that is being a horrible, awful person who should have his/her puppies taken away from him/her. Seriously. Puppies are hyperactive cause, yanno, they're baby animals. They act like baby animals.
If they're stuck in a playpen for that sort of stretch of period, your house is going to smell like puppy shit (which, by the way, is one of the worst smells I have ever smelled in my life) and they are going to be covered in it because that, at least, is a source of stimulation for them.
I am just so disappointed. Seriously. This is an issue that even one or two lines would've corrected. How about this, for example: Cameron felt like he was being followed as he walked the puppies after getting home from Tuesdays. He wasn't sure if it was paranoia from knowing more about what Julian did or if it was merely his imagination, but he felt unsafe and alone this late at night. He found himself hurrying his puppies along on the walk to get back to the apartment.
There. Now i know that Cameron walks the dogs, just not when Julian is around. OR. How about changing that above excerpt to include more responsible pet ownership?!
Anyway, obviously responsible pet ownership is a hot button topic for me which is why this so thoroughly ruined my enjoyment of this book. But it did take quite a few re-reads (this was at least my fifth re-read) to notice because the book was that good. So if you don't care about details like the above, then you'll still enjoy the book. As for me, I just can't see someone leaving even one adult dog alone for days at a time except to feed let alone an entire litter of small, needy puppies.
