An ex-cop with PTSD rescues an abandoned cocker spaniel. Soon after, he and his wife get news he has two dangerous conditions that could end his life. The traumatized dog and he become comrades battling to survive--together. This true story shows a dog who has the ability to know the unknowable.

Memoir

A young cocker spaniel is grabbed by a gruff man who hurls him into his truck. He abandons the dog on a deserted road and speeds off. The scared dog howls. That same night, Allen has a violent nightmare. His wife, Linda, leaves without waking him. Allen is reliving a trauma from when he was a cop.

Allen and Linda relax on a sandy beach at Leaf’s favorite riverside “Dog Park Heaven.” As if music has started playing that only they can hear, they hold each other with tender love and begin to dance. Leaf, wet and shaking off sand, runs out of the water, stands on his back legs, and joins in.

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Yes

Internal Journey/Rebirth,Other,Quest

Meaningful Message,Happy Ending,Philosophical Questions,Twist

Information not completed

Name: Allen

Age: 40 to 45

Gender: Male

Role: Protagonist

Key Traits: Empathetic,Complex,Heroic,Honorable,Lone Wolf,Selfless,Insecure

Name: Leaf

Age: 1

Gender: Male

Role: Emotional

Key Traits: Complex,Heroic,Lone Wolf,Masculine,Skillful,Charming

Name: Linda

Age: 40 to 45

Gender: Female

Role: logical

Key Traits: Complex,Leader,Decisive,Blunt,Faithful,Engaging

The author has not yet written this

Allen and Linda, a workaholic couple, write popular books about human-animal connection. They’re drawn to adopt a year-old cocker spaniel. He was abandoned on the side of a road, picked up by bikers, and left after hours at the back door of an animal shelter. On their first walk with the dog in a city park, they discover he loves rolling in piles of leaves. They decide to call him Leaf. Almost immediately Leaf turns their home, with two cats and a cockatiel, into a war zone. He has middle-of-the-night panic attacks and behaves like a dog who never lived indoors. Leaf’s experiences with human cruelty make him distrustful and fear-aggressive. Allen, who was a police officer for eight years, now suffers from PTSD with nightmares and flashbacks about working in a violent inner city. After seeing the worst (and sometimes, best) of human nature, distrust has affected his relationships at work and with Linda. Shortly after adopting Leaf, Allen starts having dizziness and headaches that lead to a neurosurgeon’s diagnosis of an unruptured brain aneurysm. Brain surgery might be fatal, or debilitating. Having seen his father suffer effects of a massive stroke, Allen fears that the worst fate might not be death. The growing bond and empathy between Leaf and Allen give them strength to face their ordeals and heal past traumas. A series of extraordinary incidences reveal a deep inner connection and show they entered each others’ lives at the right time for miracles to occur.

Allen and Linda Anderson are New York Times bestselling authors of A Dog Named Leaf. They wrote the award-winning Angel Animals series with a half-million books sold and published in multiple languages worldwide, including Angel Dogs, Angel Cats, Angel Horses, Angel Animals, and Rescued: Saving Animals from Disaster. They are co-authors with the president of American Humane Association/Film & TV Unit of the book, Animal Stars: Behind the Scenes with Your Favorite Animal Actors. Their books have been recommended or featured in O Magazine and Oprah.com, Today Show, ABC's Nightly News, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Amazon.com's Hot 100, and B&N's Top 10. They were interviewed for USA Today, Washington Post, NPR, Gannette New Service, Associated Press, BBC Radio, Los Angeles Times, Shirley MacLaine's radio show, and other national and regional media.

Age: 35-54

Target Gender: Universal,Female Leaning,Male Leaning

Information not completed

Status: Yes: with a Publisher

Publisher: Lyons Press an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield

Year Published: 2012

Yes

9780762781652