Wallace

the underdog who conquered a sport, saved a marriage, and championed pit bulls one flying disc at a time

264 pages

English language

Published 2012 by Gotham Books.

ISBN:
978-1-59240-731-6
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OCLC Number:
779263756

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4 stars (1 review)

Today, Wallace is a champion; but in the summer of 2005, he was living in a shelter, a refugee from a suspicious pit-bull breeding operation. Then Andrew "Roo" Yori entered the picture. A scientist and shelter volunteer, Roo could immediately see that Wallace was something special. When Roo learned that Wallace was about to be put down, he and his wife frantically fought to keep Wallace alive until they could adopt him, even though they already had two dogs. Once Wallace made it home, Roo knew the dog needed a mission, and serendipity led them to the world of competitive dog Frisbee. Pit bulls are everything that most Frisbee dogs are not, but that was fine with Roo because part of his mission was to change people's minds about pit bulls. Overcoming everything from injuries to prejudice against the breed, the unlikely pair persevered to become world champions.

3 editions

nice, heartwarming story Wallace, the Rocky of pit bulls

4 stars

I find any decently written dog story is irresistible, and this one about a pit bull saved from ending up in dogfights (couple of Michael Vick references in there - he did his time but I still wouldn't want him as a pet sitter) and being put down in a shelter because of his breed to end up as a frisbee, I mean disc, champion, is no exception. The human protagonists are sympathetic, too, struggling through life issues while staying devoted to their dogs (they adopted a lot). The writing was a bit confusing at times - I often lost track of what event or round or even person the author is referencing - and there is an unnecessary use of "off the reservation" which is always unnecessary. But otherwise, there's a lot of good messaging here.

Subjects

  • Games for dogs
  • Anecdotes
  • Pit bull terriers
  • Dog rescue
  • Animal welfare
  • Dog sports
  • Human-animal relationships
  • Dogs
  • Biography

Places

  • United States