The Dog Who Wouldn't Be

When my sibling and I were children more than once our mother read this book aloud to us. Chapters were doled out carefully and we each had our favorite. Mutt's determination to level the playing field by fence walking like the neighborhood cats, was my favorite.

Yes, you could call this book dated. It was written about a time in the past (1930's in Saskatoon, Canada) but it has the universal themes of relationships, discovery and the sadness of parting. That is what makes it relevant to young readers today. Set aside your 21st century 'tsk, tsk' about things like hunting, leash laws and the role of women. It brings readers to a time when life was not measured by potential limitations and dangers, but by anticipation of adventure and unregulated childhood. It is a simple story about a real boy and a real dog in a long ago time. They loved each other and that's what mattered.

The good news is my sister has purchased this book for her grandsons, who love it. It has sparked conversations about the ways in which life is different now, but the bottom line is the boys love the book and their dog and that's all what matters to them.

When my daughter was small, her repeated request was 'read about the skunks, Daddy.' I don't think it was the topic (crazy dog, hyperactive kid, sleeping skunk, dirt basement, dead of winter and a garden hose) as much as even after having read it to her dozens of times I still broke up when I got to the line beginning 'A rich golden haze...' (I just cracked up writing this.)
This is a book for anyone who has ever loved a dog or a squirrel or a chipmonk or a garter snake or ever rode a two wheeler and pretended it was a horse or walked in a field or wished 'why didn't I ...'
No child should be forced to grow up without watching their parents snort coffee through their nose while trying to read 'The Dog Who Wouldn't Be.'

The Dog Who Wouldn't Be
By: Farley Mowat
Reviewed by: Catherine Li

This book describes the life of a boy (Farley) with a dog named Mutt. Mutt was adopted by the author's mother when he was a puppy and was found by a boy who was selling baby ducks. Mutt was a very unique dog because he had excellent hunting skills. He could dive really deep to catch ducks under the water. Whenever the author's Dad fired his gun to hunt birds, Mutt could always retrieve a bird back even if the author's Dad missed his shot. Besides his hunting skills, he had ability to walk on fences, ladders, and trees - just like a cat! The first time he tried to walk on a fence he fell, but he kept trying until he was able to master his balancing skills on a narrow fence. Mutt was a very determined dog.
I really enjoyed reading this book because the writing describes a lot of details. The writing is very descriptive, and I could picture all the events in my mind. I love the huge vocabularies the author uses to make the sentences complex. "A swirl of muddy water marked his passing, and in the center of the swirl thee was a whitish blob that twisted back and forth lethargically." The author writes lengthy and quite difficult sentences. I remember when I tried reading this book a year ago, there was at least five to ten words I did not understand.
The author described the hunting skills and tricks Mutt could do in very expressive writing. Each chapter was extremely long, however I never got bored and kept reading. The events the author chose very amusing and thrilling. For instance, "The last jump took him well into deep water, and he began churning forward like an old-fashioned stern-wheeler." This book is so descriptive that it make the readers feel like they were really living in the Canadian plains.
I found this book very fascinating, especially when Mutt learns how to climb ladders, trees, and fences. My favorite section of this book is when Mutt climbed on top of a tree and there was a group of firefighters surrounding the tree. This section of the book is amusing because everyone thought it was a huge monster in the tree. Two people were holding guns and they called the firefighters to this event. It is a book worth reading. It has humorous stories and touching events. I really enjoyed reading this book.

My husband has been reading this book aloud to our three children, ages 12, 10 and 7. They howl with laughter when he reads it (a sound that is music to the ears) and demand more. The book provides an excellent opportunity to learn about and discuss different ways of life and different times.

I remember first reading this book when I was about ten and have never forgotten the story even though I am now fifty. the store may say the book is for children but in reality this book is for all people all ages who know the true magic of devotion from an animal-be it dog, horse, cat, etc. This book is going to lift your spirits.

I must speak a dissenting voice to all the glowing reviews of this book. Mowat is, no doubt, an excellent naturalist, and many of the adventures described in the book are very entertaining. However, I am very disturbed that, although the author is ready to defend HIS pets with his shotgun against other animals, he pretty much gave his own animals not just free rein but also encouragement to kill the pets of others. Mutt the dog is deliberately set on a woman's cats, and the "secret cemetery" of neighborhood cats filled by his pet owl is described with almost pride.
Also disturbing to me is the author's attitude toward women. Any complaining woman is described as "spinsterish." The "Cat Lady" whose cats the author set his dog on to attack and kill was described as harboring "yearning hope" for a male intruder to come and presumably do things to her that I don't want to refer to in a review that children may read -- the implication is pretty strong, with a reference also to the Sabine women.
I may get flamed for this review, but I feel that these are very poor attitudes to be subtly or unsubtly conveying to children. I find it very unfortunate because I endorse the author's work as a naturalist.

Summary: The true story of naturalist Farley Mowat and the first love of his life, his dog Mutt. Mowat relates excerpted tales from his childhood, most of which center around his unusual dog, Mutt. Mutt seems to be a once-in-a-lifetime kind of dog, whose unusual personality manifests itself in everything from duck hunting to cat chasing. Towards the end of the book, with the majority of Mutt's exploits behind him, the book expands to include stories of other pets, most notably a pair of great horned owls. The final chapter has the inevitable death of Mutt, although the details of his demise under the wheels of a runaway truck aren't given graphically.

The Good and the Bad:

I didn't really enjoy this book very much, although my age might have something to do with it. Actually, I don't even believe that because the completely unnecessary verbosity asks for a certain amount of sophistication from the reader, and anyone smart enough to swallow the big words is probably not going to be open to the message. The grand verbiage is related to my other big problem with the book, which is that the mythic legends of the dog are almost certainly inflated. Mowat instills his dog with so much human character and emotion that it would have been more believable if it turned out to be a man in a dog suit. Yet, he pooh poohs another naturalist for "presuming to know what an animal is thinking," with no apparent irony. Also, Mowat's sense of humor and self-importance are both extremely irritating. The humor is like a broad physical comedy in its lack of subtlety, and it's couched in so many words that it sounds like a foppish English gentleman failing miserably at a dinner conversation.

On the positive side, it did seem like Mutt was a special dog, hyperbole aside, and it was interesting to get slice of life stories about a budding naturalist in Canada in the 1930s.

This book had me laughing out loud time after time. I've been buying and lending this book to people for years. The tales of this remarkable dog and the Mowat family are entertaining, hilarious, and eventually touching.

Chock full of incredibly poignant stories of a young mutt growing up on the Canadian praires, with his human Farley in tow. Read it to yourself, your dogs, your children, your chickens. This is a book not to be missed!