The Dog Who Wouldn't Be

How much of Farley Mowat's The Dog Who Wouldn't Be is imaginative exaggeration? It is hard to say, but nevertheless it is a delightful read for all ages. Mowat looks back at his childhood in Saskatoon with his faithful dog, Mutt, at his side. The addition of "four cent" Mutt, a goofy, intelligent pup full of personality, lends humor into an otherwise typical 1930s household. Mutt has a personality all his own and often gets his loyal and loving family in trouble, especially while duck hunting, tangling with skunks and anything having to do with boats. Every member of the Mowat family bonds with Mutt in special ways but my favorite stories centered around a pair of mischievous owls, Wols and Weeps, who the Mowat family somehow adopts. show more
Disclaimer: The Dog Who Wouldn't Be is a bit dated. Hunting practices have changed and leash laws abound these days. The carefree attitudes of the 1930s are a thing of the past.
Confessional: I unexpectedly shed a few tears at the end of The Dog Who Wouldn't Be. Like all young children with pets, they grow up and leave their animal behind. Humans outlast most furry friends, after all. I knew Mutt was getting old so I was expecting that kind of coming of age, circle of life ending. Not even close. No spoiler alert needed. Just read the book. show less

How dare I give such an accomplished author as Farley Mowat fewer than five stars! Well, the stars are supposed to indicate the extent to which a reader enjoys a book, not how technically adroit the writer may be, and I am sufficiently judgmental (as well as egotistical) to observe that I thoroughly disapprove of the human behavior in a few of the episodes related in The Dog Who Wouldn't Be.

Before relating examples of that behavior, let me hasten to say that I find Mowat's writing style thoroughly enjoyable. His ability to inject humor into almost any description or narrative is admirable and a pleasure to read. I believe that I'd personally classify the book as a quasi-fictional memoir, i.e., a memoir that relates factual events in the show more author's life but is fictionalized to the extent that otherwise serious events are related in a decidedly creative and humorous way. I'm thoroughly impressed by Mowat's skill as a creative writer, and, were that my sole criterion, I should certainly have given the book a well-deserved five star rating.

Why do I assign fewer stars? Shooting geese and ducks, particularly when some are only wounded and cannot be retrieved to be killed and thereby to have their pain ended is an abhorrent practice. To allow and perhaps even encourage dogs to chase and attack cats is equally disgusting and displays thorough ignorance of what canine behavior can be with proper human guidance. Allowing a dog to run free through strange communities and even rural areas crossed by roads traversed by careless and dangerous drivers is irresponsible to say the least, and it is such irresponsibility that leads to Mutt's premature death.

Inasmuch as events such as these are recollected from the author's boyhood, I cannot justly place blame on the writer himself for he was surely too young and inexperienced to have recognized the culpability that humans bear in allowing these situations to persist. The blame falls on Mowat's parents, yet I cannot bring myself to totally absolve the child. After all, even after he had grown to adulthood and had begun writing professionally, Mowat apparently felt no remorse for his youthful irresponsibilities and felt them worthy of humorous treatment in the book. Their inclusion certainly inhibited my enjoyment of the memoir.

In brief then, The Dog Who Wouldn't be is an outstanding example of a creative memoir suffused throughout with humor, and the author's style is enjoyable to read. However, I find the book flawed by the inclusion of some events that are a poor choice for “humorization.” Mutt's death, of course, is not treated humorously and leaves the reader sad but even more indignant since the death resulted from human irresponsibility and was entirely preventable. Perhaps readers should look at Mowat's other published works before passing final judgment on the writer. show less

This is another book I can't believe I missed until adulthood; I'm so glad my kids got to hear it at their young ages. My nine-year-old daughter loved it as much as I did. Yet another argument for avoiding labeling books as "for girls" or "for boys." (Not that I pay any attention to those labels anyway.)

I loved The Dog Who Wouldn't Be. The relationship between Mutt and his family---and especially Mutt and the author---was so pure and sweet, and there were so many hilarious parts, subtly written and interwoven throughout with scenes that were poignant and vivid.

Years ago, a woman I knew talked about how boring central Canada was when she took a cross-country train trip, and I had dismissed the entire region as Not Worth the Trouble. But show more reading Mowat's books about Mutt and Wol and Weeps leaves me craving a trip to Saskatchewan, even though I know it's likely to have changed quite a bit in the 80+ years that have elapsed since the time in the book.

I don't think it's a spoiler to say that I forgot that this was a dog book for children and that as such, it's required to leave the reader wiping away tears and snot. The whole book is lovely, but the last chapter is incredible. show less

This is marketed as a children's book, but the reading level is way above that. There were several words I had to look up (pretty rare for me), and there was at least one or two words on each page that I needed to define for my nine-year-old. Not a bad thing at all, just a little more brain-intensive than I was expecting after reading "Owls in the Family."

That being said, all three of us LOVED this book. Mowat's descriptions are hilarious and stunningly beautiful. These borderline tall-tales about Mutt's adventures with the Mowat family consistently had us laugh-out-loud. There were a couple passages that certainly made me cry a little too, as Mowat deals matter-of-factly with death in nature, including the beloved pets.

Love love love show more this one. show less

3.5 stars

In the 1930s, Farley Mowat and his parents moved to Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. They wanted a dog. His father wanted a hunting dog, but since that was too expensive, his mother just bought a dog a little boy was selling for cheap door-to-door. They called him Mutt. This book includes stories that mostly focus on Mutt.

Actually my favourite chapter was the one with the two owls (Mowat used those owls in his fictional kids’ story, “Owls in the Family”). The book was more like short stories, but that’s ok. Mutt was a character. A lot of people seem to consider this a children’s book, but I didn’t think it read that way. A boy and his dog, sure. I suppose that would appeal, but it didn’t seem particularly written for show more kids. I’m rating it good. show less

http://pixxiefishbooks.blogspot.com/2008/07/dog-who-wouldnt-be-by-farley-mowat.h...

Who doesn't know and love this book? I read it as a kid, of course, but recently re-read it during my daily commute (as are, indeed, the majority of my books consumed these days). Mowat has a very familiar, conversational, and almost intimate tone in this book, which made me, the reader, feel like he was telling me these stories directly, and I felt so pleased that he was sharing them with me. However, I find it an oddly suspicious coincidence that no sooner had I finished reading this book than Rion had his own skunk encounter. My telling of Rion's misadventure is neither as eloquent nor as entertaining as Mowat's rendition of Mutt and his numerous show more escapades (and, for that matter, numerous trysts with skunks). Perhaps I am biased toward dogs, but all in all, an enjoyable read. show less

Did the man change his outlook when he grew up? There's an awful lot of hunting, meat-eating, and caging of wild animals in this book. I might have loved it when I was a kid and into memoirs of the old days with pets, but now I just couldn't. I also had a lot of trouble with Dad's antics - how did Mom put up with him plus Farley plus Mutt?! And though the bookcover says 'illustrated by Paul Galdone' there are *no* pictures inside, and the dog on the cover does not look like the dog described. (Nor does it particularly look like Galdone's other works.)

I got through it because of the occasional clever lines. For example: "A man can remember a good many things that ought to have happened."