Help with identifying book about talking dog from outer space?

Question

I read this book a long time ago, and while its name is lost to me, several details ring remarkably clear.

The premise of the book is that this boy adopts a dog who has the ability to communicate with him and other children via mind reading. He offers advice to the children and helps them deal with their problems. This one girl is sexually assaulted by the brother, and the dog gives her advice and how to talk about it. The boy develops a crush on a girl that he meets at a hotel swimming pool, and the dog explains it as ‘puppy love’ (harhar). The climax goes something like the boy is on a truck with his parents and it starts leaking gas. The dog smells it and saves them before the truck explodes. In the end, I believe the dog goes back to his home planet, because he realizes that the children are competent enough now.

The cover was somewhat of a 80-90s painting like style, with kids running and a space ship flying beneath them.

I’ve been searching for this book for ages, and am almost convinced it was some strange fever dream (ALMOST). If someone could help me, I would greatly appreciate it!

Answer 1

I have also been looking for this book for a long time. I read it years ago and could never remember what it was called, I only remembered that the dog was from another planet and that there was a sexual assault. I just tried a couple online databases (including the one I remember finding it on originally years ago) and finally found it! It's A Time for Evron by Bryan Smillie:

Evron, along with eleven of his dog friends, have come to Earth from another planet far away in space. They are here to see how Earth's kids respond to them. The dogs are confidantes to the young people and so the kids talk to them about their private feelings. They can always talk to their Evron friend in privacy. A number of issues arise throughout the book from first love and friendship problems, to low self-esteem, abuse and racism. Evron is always there to guide the young people. Sometimes he gives direct advice; other times, he helps them to work out decisions on their own. Every kid should have an Evron by his or her side to help out.

Answer 2

William Sleator's Into the Dream does involve a boy and a girl befriended by a telepathic dog with ties to aliens and a hotel. However, after reading it, there is nothing about leaking gas or sexual assault and they know each other from school, not from meeting in a hotel pool (the tie between them and the hotel is that they were both staying at it when the UFO arrived, as were an unborn puppy and boy, creating a telepathic link between the four of them). Here are some of the covers:

I found it by searching for book alien telepathic dog, which brought up this description:

"Paul has a recurring nightmare, about a small boy in awful danger. When he learns that his classmate Francine has it, too, the two of them join forces to solve the mystery and save the boy--before their bad dream becomes a terrifying reality."

The "mystery" is that they were both staying at the Stardust Motel when there was a UFO sighting. A pregnant woman and her pregnant dog were there as well and their babies were left with telepathic abilities. The government is out to find the telepathic child (and a telepathic puppy), as are the two kids who are receiving the dream. The government agents follow the kids and rescue the child (and puppy), then end up being chased to a fair where they get stuck [on] a Ferris wheel.