Book Review: Puppy Life: The First Eight Weeks of Bonding, Playing, and Growing by Traer Scott

Puppy Life: The First Eight Weeks of Bonding, Playing, and Growing by Traer Scott is a nonfiction book that follows the stages of development of six litters of puppies across breeds from birth through eight weeks. Featuring 120 full-color photographs from best-selling animal photographer Traer Scott, this book takes readers on a photographic journey through puppyhood with a visual diary of how dogs mature and grow, as well as information about each stage of puppy development leading up to the day each puppy goes to its forever home. Follow the stories of these litters across different ages, with informative text about each breed and developmental stage: English Setters, Great Pyrenees, Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, Labradors, and Mixed Breed.

Puppy Life offers readers exactly what the title and blurb promises. Detailed information on the first eight weeks of life, development, and growth for five litters of puppies. The photographs were very cute, and helped to show how fast puppies change and grow. I always new puppies grew up fast, but as someone that has only had cats in my adult life, and adopted full grown rescue dogs with my family when I was a kid, sometimes seeing that growth documented is much more real that the knowledge of the subject. I thought the text was accessible and did a nice job of talking about the breeds and the specific litters that are covered, without getting deep enough to become too much. I think this would be a great book for fans of shows like Too Cute, which does something similar, and as a discussion starter in families talking about getting a puppy.