The Two Dogs Who Stayed
Matthew Caldwell
Northern Paw Press (2025)
ISBN: 979-8999830005
Reviewed by Diana Coyle for Reader Views (12/2025)
Rusty Callahan sees himself as a quiet, ordinary man who just blends into society in The Two Dogs Who Stayed by Matthew Caldwell. He lives in a small town on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, and he’s perfectly fine keeping to himself and having only a few people he associates with. But on his birthday, while walking home from the grocery store with a slice of lemon cake to celebrate his birthday and some groceries, Rusty swears he hears faint whimpering. Looking toward an old abandoned house nearby, he sees a dog in serious distress stuck between broken lattice and an old rusty pipe. He knows if he doesn’t do something, she won’t survive much longer in the cold Alaskan temperatures.
He does what he thinks is best in this situation. He frees her from the entanglement and carries her to his home to tend to her wounds. Both have lived a solitary life to this point, but can they learn to depend on the love and companionship of each other to fight what the world throws at them while they stand side by side with each other?
Liz is a chef, feeling she needs change in her life, but she isn’t sure what that exactly is right now. She’s tired of the demands on her life being a chef, and a few times she has thought about quitting. As she’s passing Kenai Peninsula Animal Rescue, something draws at her to go inside. There she meets a dog that has had a rough start. Something tells her that they could work together and possibly start a great friendship together. Does everything work out for Liz and her new canine friend, Ishmael?
This is one book that grabbed onto my heartstrings right from the start. We were immediately introduced to Rusty Callahan and saw how he lived a very quiet existence, almost like a recluse to a degree, after his mother died, in a remote small town in Alaska. You immediately feel compassion for him as to why he chose to live this way. Caldwell developed Rusty to be a relatable character to many readers on varying levels, so it was easy to want to befriend him early on in the book.
One of the delightful moments in this book was when the dog, later named Goober by Rusty, entered his life. You feel saddened that she was hurt and out in the extremely cold Alaskan temperature, fighting to stay alive because she got caught up between broken lattice and a rusty old pipe. Every reader will find themselves hoping that Rusty will be able to help her, and without a doubt, they will also hope that a true companionship will blossom between these two solitary beings. Again, Caldwell wrote purposefully, and his narrative builds along the way, never disappointing his readers as they continue on their reading journey.
When the second part of the book opened up with character Liz adopting a stray she named Ishmael, I wondered how her story would coincide with Rusty’s from the first part of the book. I won’t give any details away, but I loved the light references that were made throughout and how their lives did coincide to a degree. I loved how it was shown that both dogs stayed by their owners to provide love and support, no matter what was thrown their way.
Another thing worth mentioning was how the author masterfully wrote his scenes to be so descriptive, readers will not only feel the cold temperature outside, but they can see each scene play out for them as if they are seeing the story unravel before them firsthand. To feel as if you are another character seeing things through your eyes shows how well the author has written his story.
I also loved how the chapters were bite-sized. This allowed me to read as long as I could in one sitting and still feel like I was accomplishing getting through the story, even if I only had a few minutes at a time to read while doing chores.
One heartfelt thing that deserves mentioning is that Matthew Caldwell is donating a portion of his proceeds from now until December 2026 to his local shelter, Kenai Peninsula Animal Rescue, the very rescue where Ismael was adopted from. The Kenai Peninsula is the area the author now calls his home.
Overall, The Two Dogs Who Stayed by Matthew Caldwell is one story with a great storyline that pulls readers in immediately. The characters are well-developed and completely believable, making them feel like real people you could become friends with. This was a great read and one that comes highly recommended!