Who can resist puppies or dog stories? Guelph, Ontario, writer Natale Ghent’s first book, Piper, includes some high canine drama. Piper is an Australian Shepherd runt born on a farm near Picton, Ontario, where 11-year-old Wesley and her mother have moved to live with her aunt, a dog breeder, after the sudden death of Wesley’s father in a car accident. The runt pup that Wesley rescues seems the perfect tonic for the confused young girl. The scene in which Piper is injured while protecting Wesley from a coydog (a coyote crossed with a wild dog) brought tears to my eyes.

However, a few things are amiss. Wesley never teaches Piper to sit or do other typical puppy tricks before beginning serious training to herd sheep. A plot end is left dangling when everyone is watching the puppies being born: Uncle Norman heads down to the basement, and the lights go out during the storm that follows, but but we never hear from poor Norman until the next morning. Did he spend the night in the basement? Some characters use “ain’t,” “outta,” “gotta,” and “’em,” which struck me as irritating without adding to the characterization. The narrative jumps from one point of view to another, without satisfactorily developing the voices of other characters such as the aunt. While the story presents delightful doggy doings, a bumpy read impedes Piper from running with as much power as it could.