Book: Dogland
Author: Tommy Tomlinson
Pages: 256
This is my 194th read for the year
The author takes a deep dive into the land that is dog shows. Ater watching the Westminster dog show on TV, he wondered what the lives of those dogs and their handlers were like. Over the course of three years he meets and follows several owners, handlers and dogs and tries to form a picture of what dog shows are about and why people do them. He does a deep dive into the start of dog lives over 15,000 years ago when wolves forms bonds with humans to what dogs have become today. He talks to researchers who look at dog/human bonds as they try to find out if dogs truly love us, or we just think they do.
This was a great book. It is well written and well researched. It even has some humor, along with some sadness (get your tissues ready, there is a section of this book where he recounts the loss of his own dog). He talks to a lot of handlers but follows very closely the handler of a dog named Spiker who is among the best of the best in the dog world. I learned a lot about different breeds of dogs, research, history, and the Dog Show world and I am glad I read this one.
Stars: 5