Top Ten Tuesday: Most Memorable Dogs in Fiction

Welcome to this week's edition of Top Ten Tuesday which is hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. This week has no assigned theme so I decided to write about memorable dogs in fiction:

Lufra, the Baluchistan Hound in Frederica by Georgette Heyer (1965), is not as exotic as he sounds.  Frederica gets into trouble when she takes the family dog for a walk in London and invokes the name of her aristocratic relative to appease those complaining about his behavior. My reviews.

Mine for Keeps by Jean Little #1962Club

Title: Mine for Keeps
Author: Jean Little (1932-2020)
Publication: Little, Brown & Co., hardcover, 1962
Genre: Juvenile Fiction
Setting: 20th century Ontario

This week, Simon from Stuck in a Book and Karen from Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings are hosting the 1962 Club, where bloggers read and write about books published in a chosen year.

The Hiding Place: A Mercy Carr Mystery by Paula Munier

Title: The Hiding Place: A Mercy Carr Mystery
Author: Paula Munier
Publication: Minotaur Books/St. Martin’s, hardcover, 2021
Genre: Suspense
Setting: Present-day Vermont

Description: After serving two tours in Afghanistan where her fiancé was killed, Mercy Carr left the Military Police and is recovering with her bomb-sniffing dog Elvis in Vermont where she grew up.

Harry the Dirty Dog by Gene Zion and Margaret Bloy Graham #1956Club

The 1956 Club is part of a meme created by Simon at Stuck in a Book and Karen at Kaggsy's Bookish Ramblings to showcase books published in a specific year.  Other featured years are 1924, 1938, 1944, 1947, 1951, 1965, 1968, and 1977.

Title: Harry the Dirty Dog

Author: Gene Zion

Illustrator: Margaret Bloy Graham

Publication: HarperCollins, hardcover, 1956

Genre: Picture Book

Description: Harry was a white dog with black spots who liked everything, except . . . getting a bath. So one day when he heard the water running in the tub, he took the scrubbing brush and buried it in the backyard. Then he ran away from home.

Dog is Love by Clive Wynne

I have not read this new book about dogs, “Dog Is Love: Why and How Your Dog Loves You,” which argues that they are special because of their ability to form affectionate relationships with other species (as seems obvious), but I really enjoyed the Washington Post review.

I am currently studying Aesop’s Fables and anthropomorphism in a History of Children’s Literature class so it caught my eye that the author emphasized evidence that dogs can form loving relationships, rejecting feel good anthropomorphism about one’s pet.   After all, I love my brother’s dog Chloe and I know she is always pleased to see me, but surely it is because she recognizes I will feed or walk or make a fuss over her?   Author Clive Wynne states:

I’m not saying human and dog love are identical. I’m just saying there’s enough similarity between how dogs form strong emotional bonds and how people form strong emotional bonds that it’s fair enough to use the love word.

Wynne describes an awesome experiment intended to gauge dogs’ active affection for their people.   They put the pets’ people into a box and had them call out in distress.   All the dogs seemed upset about this but only 1/3 could figure out how to open the box to rescue her owner.    But then they fine-tuned the experiment by starting with the same box but putting food in it and training the dogs to open the box to get the food out.   Subsequently, nearly every dog was able to use its skills to open the box to free its person.   Not sure that is love but it certainly intelligence!

My furry niece Chloe

Not every dog is Lassie or Timmy, capable of daring rescues, but we sure want them to be!   Do you love your dog?  Does your dog love you?

It's not fair!

I am devoted to my nieces and nephews but they all know that one thing I can't stand is complaints of "It's not fair!" With my eldest nephew, I simply leave the room (like my grandmother who never really believes I will hang up on her, he always seems surprised when I actually depart). So it is somewhat disturbing to learn that dogs have an intuitive understanding of fair play and become resentful if they feel that another dog is getting a better deal . . . Is there nowhere to hide? Let us hope they are more accurate/sparing in their assessments of such situations!