Dog Medicine by Julie Barton

Dog Medicine

by Julie Barton

An honest and deeply moving debut memoir about a young woman's battle with depression and how her dog saved her life

A New York Times Bestseller

"Dog Medicine simply has to be your next must-read." -Cheryl Strayed

At twenty-two, Julie Barton collapsed on her kitchen floor in Manhattan. She was one year out of college and severely depressed. Summoned by Julie's incoherent phone call, her mother raced from Ohio to New York and took her home.

Haunted by troubling childhood memories, Julie continued to sink into suicidal depression. Psychiatrists, therapists, and family tried to intervene, but nothing reached her until the day she decided to do one hopeful thing: adopt a Golden Retriever puppy she named Bunker. Dog Medicine captures the anguish of depression, the slow path to recovery, the beauty of forgiveness, and the astonishing ways animals can help heal even the most broken hearts and minds.

Reviewed by Kait ✨ on

5 of 5 stars

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I feel like Julie Barton took my heart out and made this book out of it. my story feels almost uncomfortably close to Barton’s at times, but it’s this openness and relatability that makes Dog Medicine such a magical book. it’s a book that is incredibly sad—I don’t think I have ever sobbed uncontrollably while reading a book before but this one did me in—but I do think it’s such an important book that it should not be passed over for this reason.

I am having a hard time describing this book in any way that is not just “READ THIS BOOK IMMEDIATELY” because I just loved it so much. so instead I will leave you with one of the pull quotes for this book, from [a:Susan Chernak McElroy|5535|Susan Chernak McElroy|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1412445972p2/5535.jpg], who writes, “It is not easy to explore the frightening landscape of depression with depth and surprising beauty. But Julie Barton has done just that. As someone who has lived with chronic depression for many years, I can tell you from personal experience how daunting and misunderstood this disease is. Not surprising that it takes the love and loyalty and unwavering sanity of a dog—any pet, really—to reach those of us struggling to find a way through the grips of melancholy. This, I know from experience, too. Read this book if you or someone you love is wrestling with depression. Read this book if you love dogs. Read this book if you want to remember what hope feels like. Just read this book.”

p.s. maybe don’t read it back to back with [b:Lily and the Octopus|27276262|Lily and the Octopus|Steven Rowley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1465140204s/27276262.jpg|45476016], though. it may make your heart hurt too much.

p.p.s. if you want to break your heart even more, watch this video when you’re done reading.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 2 August, 2016: Finished reading
  • 2 August, 2016: Reviewed