A Dog Year

The Story of a Maladjusted Therapist and the Homeless Shih Tzus That Rescued Her

By: Allison Hilborn-Tatro

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

The obsessively controlled world of a high-strung therapist begins to come apart when she inherits a pair of old, neurotic Shih Tzus.

Ever since getting sober a few years ago, Allison Hilborn-Tatro has been dedicated to achieving what she calls "radical stability" in her life. She’s up before five each morning and asleep by nine every night. Her days as a family therapist and mother to one good-natured Labradoodle are orchestrated down to the minute, with little room for anything unexpected to barge in and knock her off the wagon.

That is, until the death of a neighbor she barely knew leaves her in possession of his two orphaned Shih Tzus. Not long after Coco and Nikki arrive at her door, Allison can feel her white-knuckled grip on her own existence start to slip. At first, her furry new wards demand more space in her life - and in her bed - than Allison’s willing to make for them. Before long, Coco and Nikki have not only barged into her tightly wound world, they’ve taken over. But instead of knocking her off the wagon, as she feared, they just might set her free.

Irreverent, honest, and utterly life affirming, A Dog Year reveals the ways in which a dog’s love can avail us to parts of ourselves we didn’t know were there. All the while Allison thought she was rescuing Coco and Nikki, she never expected they would be the ones saving her.

©2019 Allison Hilborn-Tatro (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC.

Critic reviews

“Allison Hilborn-Tatro is a fresh, funny, wrenchingly honest writer. I fell head over heels in love with A Dog Year.” (Gayle Brandeis, award-winning author)

"Bringing a rescue into our lives can be messy, and sometimes their quirks and needs can feel like too much, but what we find in Allison Hilborn-Tatro’s hilarious and vulnerable debut memoir, “A Dog Year,” is that by allowing a pet and rescue into our lives and our hearts, we can fix our own." (Guy Winch, PhD, author of How to Fix a Broken Heart)

"Dog rescuer finds herself rescued by the dogs she adopts. Is there anything truer? A Dog Year is a treat." (Seth Casteel, bestselling author of Underwater Dogs)

I love dogs

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It meant a lot to me when Allison realized she loved Cocoa.

Insight into how animals can reach our hearts

This book was a lovely reminder about how dogs can love us so unconditionally that we are able to love and accept ourselves.

Funny & gripping

Only on chapter 11....can’t stop listening! This book caught me right away as a dog lover at first....then a deeper meaning starts to sneak in. It’s light yet read, Or is it? I felt my own buried, childhood feelings bubbling up...growing up in a house where feelings were not popular unless they were happy or funny...I am not all that different than Allison. The author is brilliant with her parallels of the dog/person angst & hilarity of real life.

pillolla

Excelente muestra de cómo los perritos rescatan a los humanos que los rescatan. Cada mascota es un ángel que llena un hueco que no sabíamos que teníamos

What a lovely story about a disturbed young woman and the two newly orphaned dogs.

Anyone who loves dogs should read this. Relatively short audio book. Heartwarming and sad - a must read if you love dogs