How to Walk a Dog

by Mike White, Sharon Murdoch (Illustrator)

Overview

Mike White began walking his SPCA-rescue huntaway, Cooper, at Wellington's dog parks ten years ago, and since then has become part of a remarkable community of people and their pets. Written with wit, wisdom, and heartbreaking poignancy, How to Walk a Dog is a story anyone who has ever owned or loved a dog will relate to. You will laugh, you will cry, and you will learn some of the secrets of living with a dog. Illustrated with drawings from acclaimed cartoonist Sharon Murdoch.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781988547206
Publisher:	Allen & Unwin
Publication date:	10/01/2020
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 7.75(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Mike White is one of New Zealand's best-known journalists and a senior writer at North & South magazine, where he has won more than 20 national media awards, including the Wolfson Fellowship to Cambridge University. In 2013 he wrote the best-selling true crime book Who Killed Scott Guy? Sharon Murdoch is an award-winning cartoonist, and the first woman to regularly produce political cartoons for New Zealand mainstream media. She also draws the cartoon cat Munro, who accompanies the daily crossword in Fairfax newspapers, and has produced a book of cartoons about him called Munro: a cat, a mouse, a crossword clue.

Table of Contents

Introduction 9

1 The names we give them 17

2 The people we meet with them 39

3 The places we walk them 75

4 The dogs we meet with them 109

5 The ways we train them 129

6 The heartache they cause us 149

7 The ways we play with them 179

8 The ways they shame us 207

9 The jobs we give them 241

10 The ways we say goodbye to them 265

Acknowledgements and apologies 299

About the author 303

Editorial Reviews

07/27/2020

Journalist White (Who Killed Scott Guy?) affectionately chronicles his daily visits to the local dog park with his rescue farm dog, Cooper. His vivid descriptions of the dogs, and of their owners, will bring nods of recognition from other dog lovers. So will a key observation about the park—that White frequently knew the names of dogs long before he was on a first-name basis with their owners. These include Swedish transplant Barbro, the park’s unofficial mayor, whom White often observes taking early morning phone calls while Harry, her “ruffian of a cairn terrier,” frolics nearby; and Kirsty, who, with her mini schnauzer, Barney, finds emotional and practical support among fellow pet owners as a series of tragedies befall her family. Inevitably, there are the heart-wrenching stories about the deaths of beloved dogs; few will be able to read about Jazz’s or Gyp’s final days without shedding a tear. Testifying to the truth of John Steinbeck’s declaration that a “dog... is a bond between strangers,” White’s book will delight pet lovers. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"This wryly affectionate portrait of dogs and their people is a tail-thumpingly delightful read." —Jane Clifton


"So charming and funny and sincere - this is dog lit at its best." —Steve Braunias


"Mike White, for decades one of the country's most persuasive journalists, makes a case here as irrefutable as it is moving: throw a stick, make a dog happy, be a better person. He has convinced me." —Vincent O'Sullivan


"White's book will delight pet lovers." —Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher