Before Your Dog Can Eat Your Homework, First You Have to Do It: Life Lessons from a Wise Old Dog to a Young Boy


Posted on Feb 7, 2008
By Martha Garvey

by John O'Hurley

Hudson Street Press,176 pages, $21.95  

Available on Amazon.com
Actor and dog lover John O'Hurley's unexpectedly poignant second book doesn't quite boast a comforting title like Don't Sweat the Small  Stuff, but I think this is intentional. O'Hurley co-wrote the book with Scoshi, his faithful, aging Maltese soon after the birth of O'Hurley's son William. Scoshi, who is 16, and Hurley, who is a first-time, middle-aged dad, both pass on their silver-haired wisdom, complete with aches, pains, and, most especially, pratfalls.   

O'Hurley claims that Scoshi began writing notes to baby William (the dog dubs him "Little Pink Thing") shortly after William's birth. Scoshi stashed them under a giant blue elephant that decorated William's room. Scoshi writes his advice in a kind of minimalist dog haiku, about favorite toys, rolling in worms, and getting sprayed by a skunk. Then O'Hurley "expands" on Scoshi's notes with stories from his own life. I'm willing to buy it, because the advice is pretty damn good.

In the past, O'Hurley has been the actor who managed to blow such wonderful bombast into his portrayal of J. Peterman on Seinfeld, AND the journeyman dancer who outworked his younger competition to victory on Dancing with the Stars. In this book, he reveals himself as someone acutely aware of the passing of time, and of how profoundly silly humans can be. O'Hurley, once a successful p.r. exec, only began acting in earnest after the death of his best friend.  

O'Hurley's one saccharine "I am a fantastic dad" story ends with William peeing in his Papa's coffee. Nevertheless, while the advice to William is good, the most tender writing deals with Scoshi, O'Hurley's furry "child" for 16 years, fading, but still fierce. This is a lovely book for first-time parents—of babies, or dogs, or both.   
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