A Dog Named Slugger by Leigh Brill

ISBN:   9780984325658


Grade:   A+


A Dog Named Slugger should be read with a few boxes of tissues and a warm furry companion.  Slugger's story and Leigh's story will warm even the coldest most callous hearts and will stay with you long after the book has been read.  This is a tribute fit for a king who devoted his life selflessly to a woman in need.  

A Dog Named Slugger is the story of a woman named Leigh who has Cerebral Palsy and her first service dog Slugger.  Leigh's CP makes daily activities challenging, she drops things a lot and falls down lots.  Walking is challenging as well.  Everyday things that most of us don't even think about.  As a child Leigh was taught to keep her disability a secret and try to blend in with the rest of the kids at school.  She is singled out by her fellow classmates as a cripple that no one wants anything to do with.  She endures doctor appointment after doctor appointment and numerous surgeries with those doctors and nurses talking at her, about her and down to her instead of talking to Leigh as a regular person.  After a particularly callous college professor chastises Leigh for being 15 minutes late to class after she took a tumble and struggled to pick herself and her things up, she realizes that she needs help.  Thus begins her search for a service dog who will forever change her life.   

This is a story that everyone should be able to relate to because at some point in all our lives we were a little different from the norm and treated differently because of that difference.  Leigh compares herself to barn kittens being terrified of being discovered, and that can resonate true for many others.  She also begs God for the right answer.  She felt like a circus freak when people would stare at her because she was different.  These are feeling that most of us have had at some  point in our lives.  Maybe not due to a disability, but whatever the difference was we've all tried to hide it and blend in as normal. 

Upon meeting Slugger, one of the questions Leigh had was would Slugger like her.  Being a proud mom to a larger than life yellow Lab mix, I can attest to the fact that a Labrador heart is filled with nothing but love and goodness as Slugger comes to teach us readers.  We also learn about just how much time and hard work goes into training service dogs...2 years to train a puppy!  When Leigh describes Slugger as the color of sunshine, we know that she is in the presence of something great and was destined to be partnered with Slugger.  Leigh needed Slugger just as much as Slugger needed Leigh to tell his story as his story is one of greatness and selflessness that needed to be told.  We learn about Slugger's love for cheese and rolling in manure and that just adds to his charm and personality even though most of us readers have never met Slugger.  Leigh does such a wonderful job of describing Slugger that we can picture a big goofball with poop stains on his fur, drool on his jowls and a sparkle in his eyes.  

"The purest devotion can pass from one heart to another without a sound."  That line there touched my heart in its truth.  All a furry companion needs to do is look into its owner's eyes and say what cannot be verbalized.  The eyes are pathways into the souls. 

A touching part was Leigh calling what others refer to as dust bunnies, dust puppies.  That was a sweet way of looking at the ever present balls of fur that become a constant part of our lives as dog owners.  Some of us have dust puppies and dust kitties, often comingled together.  We get to learn about Slugger's abundance of personality, after all he does get to be a regular dog too.  He discoveres a turtle who he proceeds to bring home to lick spotlessly clean.  Even though the turtle escapes, Slugger claimed that turtle as his and kept bringing him back to clean.  I'm sure if that turtle is still around, he still smells like a dog tongue.  

Parts of this story will make you angry, like the doctor telling Leigh that she's so pretty  but no guy wants a cripple.  The ultimate 'up yours' to that doctor is Pranav, Leigh's husband who proves that all that matters is love.

"You are more than pain, more than worry, more than cancer.  You are you.  And you are good."  To me that is a mantra that should be placed in oncology wings everywhere.

Finally, Leigh's goodbye to Slugger tore my heart out.  Slugger did so much for Leigh in his time with her like teach her how to stand up for herself and teach her that it's okay to be different.  Her parting words to Slugger were thank yous and were perfect.  With Slugger's passing the way was paved for Kenda, Leigh's current service dog. 

A few of you are getting your own copies of A Dog Named Slugger because his is a story that deserves to be read.  For the rest of you, please read this book and consider donating to a great cause that helps change lives. 

Beside us all is a dog named Slugger. 

Leigh Brill's website

Saint Francis Service Dogs