Barker's Doghouse 2: Leave It!

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Author(s)

Maria Bea Alfano

Co-Authors / Illustrators

Laura Catalan

Publisher

Pixel+Ink

Genre(s)

Age Range

Release Date

November 11, 2025

ISBN

978-1645952725

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None of the daycare dogs are happy when they hear that Julie, Gio’s mom, will be taking in a foster puppy. Puppies destroy everything, the older dogs tell Gio. Their tiny teeth are lethal!

But Gio, of course, has a special power to help Bean, the pup, get acclimated. He can talk her through everything! Soon his mom thinks he’s a genius with the pup, and his reward will be a special birthday trip back to his old neighborhood.

The only thing is that Gio’s new friends are planning a party for him at the same time. So, just as Bean must learn to leave things alone, Gio must think about learning to leave some parts of his past behind. Maybe this year is a good time to start some new birthday traditions?

Editor review

1 review

"If I Could Talk to the Animals..."

October 06, 2025 (Updated: June 06, 2026)

Overall rating

4.0

Plot

4.0

Characters

4.0

Writing Style

4.0

Illustrations/Photos (if applicable)

4.0

After his adventures in Barker's Doghouse, Gio is still struggling with living seven hours away from his best friends, Charlotte, Jonah, and Marcus, whom he has known his whole life. With the school year ending and his birthday approaching, he hopes that he will be able to go back "home home" to visit, and preserve all of his birthday traditions. He is somewhat disappointed when his mother brings home a black Labrador puppy, Bean, but it's not as a present for him. They are fostering the puppy and training him, in the hopes that the community will see that Barker's Doghouse is more than just a doggy day care. Gio, who can talk to the dogs after having eaten a lamb lung treat, doesn't really need more dogs in his life, but he does enjoy having Bean snuggle with him in bed, even if it is against the rules. He runs into trouble when Millie, his friend Isa's dog, is not a fan of Bean. Millie warns Gio that Bean will destroy her banana squeaky toy if he gets it, and that he will be very sneaky in his attempts. She is, of course, right. When Gio's mother plans an open house for the day care on his birthday, he is devastated. Money is tight, and she can't afford to send him to visit his friends. The dogs band together to prepare for the open house so that the facility is shown in its best light, and they even reconcile with the rambunctious puppy causing so many problems. Gio is afraid that the school bully, Gabe, might be adopting Bean, but a surprise arrival saves the day. Millie is once again Gio's best friend, and we can look forward to another adventure.

Good Points

Bean's puppy energy is perfectly captured, from the chewing on everything in sight to impulsively jumping on a kitchen table with an eye to eating a chocolate cake! Gio does a good job socializing and training him to "leave it"; there's always a better treat in store if Bean complies. Millie's reluctance to accept this usurper is also realistic, and her fighting with Gio because she is angry is only possible because of his magical ability to understand what dogs are saying.

Usually, in dog books, the dogs might talk to each other, but they rarely talk to people. Gio's ability to understand the dogs leads to a lot of interesting problems hiding this skill from his mother and best friend Isa. Millie is a big proponent of sharing more biscuits with Isa so she can also talk, but that has yet to happen. Readers who liked the look into a dog's psyche in Bank's Boy's Best Friend or who enjoyed the doggy day care settings in Sidorov, Wenitsky, and Freeman's Good Dogs on a Bad Day or Crimi's Secondhand Dogs will cheer on Gio as he negotiates with his furry friends.