Bad Dog starts when Marty and his wife, Gloria, adopt a Bernese mountain dog puppy. Gloria hopes this new companion will replace the society she's used to sharing with her husband who's become antisocial due to his alcoholism. Unfortunately, the dog proves untrainable and even attacks Gloria, while Marty can't understand the need to housebreak or paper-train the puppy.
Only after Gloria leaves Marty and Hola, the dog, does Marty realize he must dry out and at least work on getting the dog to be polite. He decides to train Hola for the American Kennel Club Canine Good Citizen certification. Failing the certification more than once finally alerts Marty to the seriousness of his alcoholism. He realizes it's getting in the way of his concentration and ability to train Hola. To discipline her, he must discipline himself. So who's the bad dog here? Sparely, but humorously written, skirting the maudlin that could result from an addict's recovery story, Marty relates his lows and highs and credits the Canine Good Citizen training sessions for much of his recent successes.
Submitted by Leah @ Wisconsin Talking Book & Braille Library
