There’s no such thing as a useless dog. I remind myself of this often — particularly when my Ridgeback/Boxer mutt is staring dopily at me in the paddock while four rabbits frolic behind his back. At the very least, I tell myself, he loves me unconditionally, is overjoyed to see me every morning, and doesn’t try to eat the cat, the chooks, the lambs or small children. Given his temperament, that’s about as much as I can decently expect of him.
At the other end of the accomplishment scale are the high achievers – the working dogs. These highly-trained canines perform incredible feats of skill, often in very dangerous situations and to a degree far superior to the human or technological equivalents. These are the dogs Maria Alomajan celebrates in Dogs in Action: Working Dogs and Their Stories.
The stars of this book hail from different countries around the world, including New Zealand. They work in every field, from search and rescue to cadaver recovery, and in every environment, from farms to urban building sites. There are sled dogs, seeing-eye dogs and “scat” dogs trained to sniff out whale poo in the vast oceans. There are conservation dogs that track elephant poachers, avalanche dogs, and dogs trained to detect explosives. Threaded through the book is the amazing relationship these dogs have with humans and the eagerness with which they perform their duties.
Dogs in Action is an uncomplicated read. The stories are short, so the book is easy to dip into without losing the thread. Ms Alomajan is a passionate dog-lover and this sometimes makes her text a little effusive. The quality of her writing is patchy at times. This book would have benefited from more stringent editing.
That said, Dogs in Action will appeal to dog lovers everywhere. It’s full of interesting information – the lengths that saboteurs will go to in the truffle industry was a definite eye-opener – and some delightful humour, with care taken to portray each dog as an individual with unique quirks. My favourites were the whale scat dogs, Fargo and Bob; and orca scat dog, Tucker. Fargo gets seasick, Bob is frightened of whales and Tucker hates water and won’t swim. Yet all three are dedicated, excellent at their jobs and legends in their field.
Maria Alomajan set out to honour the important work done by these special dogs and their human companions and she’s succeeded in producing an engaging, affectionate and inspirational little book. If only my Ridgie/Boxer boy could read…
