George R.R. Martin claims these additions to House of the Dragon season 2 made the show better than his book 

Author George R.R. Martin, on whose books the popular series Game of Thrones is based, made a post on his blog, Blood, Cheese and Grief, on July 5. He mentioned two additions in the House of the Dragon season 2 series that made the series better than the book. As implicit, these did not feature in the book, Fire & Blood.

Martin mentioned two additions, a dog and an adaptation of the character Heleane Targaryen, played by Phia Saban.

"I am...not usually a fan of screenwriters adding characters to the source material when adapting a story. Especially not when the source material is mine. But that dog was brilliant."

George R.R. Martin said, referring to the character Cheese's companion.

In his blog, Martin also praised the performances of Emma D'arcy, Tom Glynn-Carney, and Rhys Ifans in the first two episodes of the season.

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"I could hardly take issue"— George R.R. Martin after getting a sneak peek of the House of Dragon

George R.R. Martin was full of praise in his blog on July 5. While Martin expressed that he usually does not like screenwriters adding characters when working on book adaptations, he had no issue with the two additions— a dog and an adaptation of Helene Targaryen in House of Dragon. While talking about the dog, a companion of the character Cheese, Martin said,

"I was prepared to hate Cheese, but I hated him even more when he kicked that dog. And later, when the dog stay at his feet, gazing up....that damn well near broke my heart. Such a little thing...such a little dog...but his presence, the few short moments he was on screen, gave the ratcatcher so much humanity."

While praising Queen Helaena Targaryen, he said,

"None of the strangeness she displays in the show was in evidence in the book, nor is her gift for prophecy. Those were born in the writer's room...but once I met the show's version of Helaena, I could hardly take issue."

George R.R. Martin also addressed the parts of the show that received criticism saying,

"The only part of the show that is drawing criticism is the conclusion of the Blood and Cheese storyline."

He added there's a lot to be said about it, but since the issues are "too complicated", he will dedicate a separate blog post to issues raised by Blood and Cheese and Maelor the Missing.

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House of the Dragon is a prequel to the Game of Thrones storyline and revolves around the history of the House of Targaryen.