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Rating: 
Summary: You won't appreciate this until you've been there
Review: A friend gave me this book after I lost my first dog, a rescued collie-shepherd mix who had became my asthma alert dog and saved my life several times.
Yes, it's sappy and emotional, and anyone who has never truly bonded with a dog will not understand it. Those who have, will not make it through without crying. To persons not in a state of grief (or facing the old age of their beloved pet) it may come across as over-the-top; but for those living with the sharp and intimate pain of losing a beloved companion animal--all I can say is, I read this and cried my eyes out, and somehow it helped.
Rating:
Summary: You won't appreciate this until you've been there
Review: A friend gave me this book after I lost my first dog, a rescued collie-shepherd mix who had became my asthma alert dog and saved my life several times.
Yes, it's sappy and emotional, and anyone who has never truly bonded with a dog will not understand it. Those who have, will not make it through without crying. To persons not in a state of grief (or facing the old age of their beloved pet) it may come across as over-the-top; but for those living with the sharp and intimate pain of losing a beloved companion animal--all I can say is, I read this and cried my eyes out, and somehow it helped.
Rating: 
Summary: so very touching
Review: I had heard the book was good, and I was sickened with it when I read it. The author gets quite melodramatic with his story. (Of course, I may be slightly biased, as I had the grave misfortune to have worked indirectly for the author shortly after the book was published. I seem to remember the author not treating people nearly as well as he apparently treated his dog.) I found the book to be a lot of whining from a man who became unusually attached to a dog; probably one of the few living creatures he couldn't offend. I finished the book thinking "Sheesh...get over it already, Martin."
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Summary: A beautifully written and touching tribute
Review: I read "Maya's First Rose" in one seating with my 13 year old dog on my lap and a box of kleenex by my side. Martin Kosins has written a beautiful and very moving tribute to not just his own dog Maya, but to all dogs who are loved whole heartedly by their humans. I've read his famous dog prose on the 4 stages of a dogs life before (which is not in this book) and been touched, but this book was so much more than I ever expected. His final poem in the book, which is also called Maya's First Rose, is a haunting and memorable work of poetry that I have saved and will send out to those people who I know who have loved and lost a dog. I was shocked I must say to see the callous hearted "reviews" some people have here at Amazon about this same lovely book. If you have never loved a pet then why would you even read this wonderful book much less write a scathing comment about it here?
If you have never loved a pet you will never understand those who do. It is only your misfortune.
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Summary: A wonderful book for anyone who has ever loved & lost a pet
Review: I read this book after our childhood pet died. She was my friend and my confidant thoughout childhood. She died on my 23rd birthday. Mr. Kosin's book helped me mourn. It was eloquent and touching; a beautiful tribute to the love between a dog and her human. Though I do not know that I would have gone to the extremes that he did in the book, it is nice to know that someone loved an old dog as much as I loved mine. I now give this book to friends who have lost their pets to help them mourn.
Rating: 
Summary: Value of Life
Review: Mourning the loss of my own dog, I thought of myself as one who loves animals, likely too much, maybe even on the fringe of lunacy. I now know how well-adjusted I am, because in the author I have discovered the real lunatic fringe. With each passing chapter, my empathy decreased, reaching absolute zero when I read on page 81, "What I will not understand as long as I live is why some people value the life of a person over the life of an animal." And this comes after he tells us that he feeds his dog hamburgers! When were cows exiled from the animal kingdom? Yes, I can see preferring the love and unconditional dedication of a dog to putting up with finicky humans, but equating the value of a dog's life to that of a person's life? Should the reader expect a story of Maya's life and love, the proportion of the book that deals with dying will come as a surprise. We learn precious little of Maya herself, but lots about her owner and his compulsion to make her comfortable to the very end. Neither do we learn how to deal with the death of our own pet. Indeed the more guilt-ridden readers are made to bathe in even more guilt once they realize, in comparing their own behaviour to the author's, how unloving they must be.
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Summary: It's a very heartwarming tale of love and devotion
Review: This book tore me apart. As the current owner of a 14-year old airedale mix with not much time left on this earth, reading about Kosins' story with his beloved Maya really hit home. A short book and an easy read (I suggest one sitting), this relentless tear-jerker is beautiful and almost poetic. While it is true that Kosins' sometimes over-the-top behavior to make his dog's life better in her later years (quitting his job, cutting himself off from friends) may be difficult to identify with, this also helps us realize the level of devotion Kosins felt. A wonderful -- though heartbreaking -- read for any dog lover, preferable on a rainy Sunday afternoon with that special someone (somedog?) curled at your feet.
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