A Useful Dog
Starred Review. It's no wonder that Virginia-based sheepdog trainer and author McCaig (his novel Canaan also publishes in March) has been called the Mark Twain of dog writers. He understands that some things-in this case, dogs-don't need exaggeration or ornate description to make a strong impact. In this series of narrative snapshots, McCaig writes simply and elegantly-sometimes profoundly-about the lives of dogs and the humans who are "dotty" for them. That's not to say he doesn't show them a reverence familiar to dog lovers: "On good days, I imagine humans are connected to our dogs on a primitive genetic level; that we don't need to hear well because our dogs hear for us, that we don't need good noses because our dogs sniff out danger." McCaig is a true seeker, someone who wants to understand, deeply, the nature of the human/dog bond, and his combination of folksy anecdotes and pared-down science conveys just the right sense of wonder and wisdom. Toward the end, McCaig writes, "One day I will be buried on the hill where my dogs Pip and Silk and Mack and Gael are buried"; anyone who understands the well of unspoken emotion in that statement will surely appreciate this sharp little book.Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.