One of my life's quests is to show people that animals are here to teach us compassion and unconditional love. The story of this dog, Balthazar, demonstrates this beautifully. The author weaves a captivating story of the dog that had an innate healing ability as well as being a great teacher. I'm a big fan of this book and convinced it will be loved by anyone who ever looked into the eyes of a dog and saw its soul.
--Jenny Smedley, best-selling author of Pets Have Souls Too, Pets Are Forever: Amazing True Stories of Angelic Animals, My Angel Diaries, Past Life Angels, and other books www.jennysmedley.com
One reason human beings and animal companions forge close bonds is they sense their time together is limited. In Baltho, The Dog Who Owned a Man, Thomas Watson doesn't present a story of that bond--he accompanies us on a sojourn of joy, wonder, courage, discovery, compassion, love, healing, frustration, sorrow, and, ultimately, the hope of reuniting some day. Curl up with your pet, along with some tissues, and enjoy a good read.
--Dianne Arcangel, author of Afterlife Encounters and Life After Loss
Slipping and sliding happily on the fine clothes of a fashionable man, the dog Balthazar, or Baltho, takes the stiffness out of Darren who would present himself always in a full suit of clothes. Head weighing on her lap, Baltho finds Carmen's inner child, as he reveals his own "inner puppy." These are clients of the therapist who owns Baltho, and such fee payers benefit while the therapist wonders.
Thomas Ramey Watson puts up such a cloud of appealing detail for the life of the psychotherapist and his extraordinary Afghan hound that the willing suspension of disbelief is automatic--oh, tell us more about this charming psychic dog, whose first act of esoteric sharing is so strong that the narrative speaker feels his own nose bit by the squirrel that Baltho has chased. The dog has superimposed his own dog vision of the hunt into the consciousness of his owner. But it all hangs together, even for the supervisor of the therapist, Gold, who in some of the funniest scenes I have read in a long time, actually takes the dog to a posh restaurant wearing a "Dog in Training" saddle and orders fancy courses for Baltho, while diners look on.
For those who believe in dogs' powers of the psyche and those who do not, this is a fine book about the inner quest of a dog lover who knows how to narrate the most exotic psychic aspects of the connections between man and beast.
--Alan Naslund, author of Silk Weather
Baltho, The Dog Who Owned a Man is a heartfelt story, and so well written it's as if you are there, experiencing every moment. Showing a wonderful personal and working relationship between two beings, the book points out how great animals are and how kind humans can be.
--Jo Dell Stansel--President, Paws Animal Rescue, Inc. www.pawsrescue.org
Thomas Ramey Watson is also the author of the acclaimed Perversions, Originals, and Redemptions in Milton's Paradise Lost (Univ. Press of America).
