Montgomery woman’s book a guide for being a faithful pet steward

By Erika Wurst For Chronicle Media
Written by Lynn Stacy-Smith of Montgomery, this dog owner guide book is available at Amazon and at Barnes and Noble online. (Photo courtesy of Lynn Stacy-Smith)

Written by Lynn Stacy-Smith of Montgomery, this dog owner guide book is available at Amazon and at Barnes and Noble online. (Photo courtesy of Lynn Stacy-Smith)

If there’s one thing Montgomery’s Lynn Stacy-Smith wants you to know, it’s that having a dog isn’t easy.

“Your house is going to smell like dog, there’s going to be hair everywhere, and you’ll spend $800 on some weird tests for it at some point in your life,” she said. But, it will be absolutely worth it.

“It hurts when I see so many dogs who are owner surrendered,” Stacy-Smith said. “I’m really trying to help dog owners understand how to have their dogs forever and how to work through those things.”

In her recently published book “Love, Laugh, Woof: A Guide To Being Your Dog’s Forever Human,” Stacy-Smith uses personal stories from her 40 years of being a dog owner, combined with pet care and training techniques, to help readers become more compassionate owners themselves.

“The book is written from the perspective of a dog owner. A very experienced, somewhat neurotic dog owner,” Stacy-Smith said.

Stacy-Smith, who is in her 40s, has lived with dogs since the age of 5. She’s been the forever owner to nine different dogs in her lifetime, and says she knows a thing or two about raising them. Because of this, friends flock to her for advice.

Since she joined social media nine years ago, “so many people have come to me asking dog questions,” Stacy-Smith said.

“What’s a good food? I’m having a hard time house-training. Do you know a good groomer?,” she said, rattling off a list of questions she’s often asked. “I finally thought, ‘Well, shoot! This could be my job!”

So, about three years ago, Stacy-Smith left her job in the corporate world to do what she loves — write about and educate others about their relationships with their pets.

“They always talk about following your dreams and doing what you love, and I did,” Stacy-Smith said of taking the leap of faith.

She began work as a writer for a dog food company, and later transitioned into her new career of book writing and hosting training workshops for dogs and their owners.

Lynn Stacy-Smith of Montgomery writes a fun but informative blog about understanding good dog ownership. (Image courtesy of Lynn Stacy-Smith)

Lynn Stacy-Smith of Montgomery writes a fun but informative blog about understanding good dog ownership. (Image courtesy of Lynn Stacy-Smith)

“To me, writing a book seemed like this huge thing,” she said. “But, it was something I’ve always wanted to do.”

The self-published title is available at Amazon and at Barnes and Noble online.

Stacy-Smith said she hopes the first book will be one of many in her collection.

To contact Stacy-Smith about workshop classes or her book, write her at lovelaughwoof@outlook.com.

 

— Montgomery woman’s book a guide for being a faithful pet steward —