Review: Let's Go Walkies Right Now!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 01 26, 2013
The love that an owner feels for her dog is always more than reciprocated by the furry friend. This tale of doggy essays is quite simply enthralling. The escapades of Kathy and her lifetime of dogs are diverse and captivating. This reads like a "Don't leave Home without One".From the authors' early childhood doggy experiences to latter day serious Dog Rescue episodes this wonderfully descriptive book weaves spellbinding tales of love, devotion, grief and satisfaction. From the early Cocker Spaniels through gentle giant Great Danes and just about everything else under the sun, Kathy Porter tempts you inside: creating an atmosphere that is quite magical in each of her essays.Strangely,  my own love of dogs had been relegated to deeper recesses over the years so happening on this book reawakened many long forgotten episodes of my own childhood. You are never alone with a Dog as Kathy demonstrates through her descriptive passages which are so well written that you can actually smell the grass in the field or on the canal bank and hear the snuffling of the Spaniel as they do what only good hunting dogs can do.One of my favourite passages in the whole book deserves a mention: "We stayed out long enough for Nathan to exhaust himself running the canal path alongside me, his nose Vacuuming the ground as he deliriously tracked scents". If you have ever owned a Spaniel this will bring him alive again and maybe a tear to your eye.The unlikely partnership of the 175lb Great Dane Flicka with Nathan the Brittany Spaniel in the first part of the book is a great opener! Other unlikely but charming stories of Whippet fostering and fish chasing Labradors,  not to mention the incredible Rock Excavator will leave you breathless. Towards the latter part of the book the Pet Rescue chronicles and the NHGPA bring a different slant to dog ownership and illustrate the credo "Man is a Dogs' Best Friend".This is one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read and on a scale of One to Twenty I give it 108. Sadly Amazon only counts up to Five! If you are looking for a very special gift for someone the paperback edition has just been published.