Thursday, May 9, 2013

Thoughtful Thursday-Book Review Pukka's Promise

After my last book review The Still Point in a Turning World  which was a beautifully written book on a very upsetting subject matter I needed  a lighter escapist book.   So I took a break from dog books and read one of my all time favorite children storiesThe Ordinary Prince by MM Kaye,  if you haven't read it do so now.   So that is my excuse to getting late to review Pukka's Promise by Ted Kerasote after probably every other dog blogger has already read it.  

Kerasote and Pukka
While I am glad I read the book I do have some mixed feelings about it.  Perhaps it is the after effect of reading The Still Point in The Turning World which is about our fear of death and our tendency to run from it rather then living in the moment, but I wonder if  pet owners like myself are too obsessed with extending our dogs lives and if this causes us to loose focus on enjoying our time with them.   

Kerasote gives advice on nutrition and vaccination that will be familiar to pet owners who stay informed about such things.  I didn't find much new  in these sections and I agree with Kerasote's belief that a raw diet is best (though I feed a high quality kibble).    Some of his suggestions are a bit of base for most pet owners, he is able to feed Pukka elk he hunts himself, but over all any pet owner can make some of the changes he suggests, such as using filtered water and feeding high quality meat protein sources.   I also enjoyed the section on finding non-toxic toys and cleaners, I've vowed to switch to vinegar and Seventh Generation products for cleaning once I exhaust my current supply of cleaners.

The most controversial part of the book is probably Kerasote's stance on spaying and neutering, he is against it.   I am actually somewhat in sympathy with his views and I do wish more vets new how to do vasectomies.  I personally like to wait a year to alter my male dogs and if I got a large breed I might wait longer or forgo neutering all together due to the link to cancer.  However, I am not sure this decision is as easy as Kerasote makes it out to be, particularly for urban and suburban owners who want to take their dogs to dog parks and doggie day cares.   Also Kerasote's decision to let Pukka wander when not altered troubles me, he says he knows all the dogs in his area but what if someone with an unaltered female was visiting?   I don't doubt that Pukka is healthy enough to be bred and indeed may be a very worthy dog for breeding, but that should involve the search for the right female dog and not be the product of chance.

 Unsurprisingly Kerasote has some harsh words for the state of  modern dog breeds, though he does go to a breeder for his dog and is not at all opposed to responsible breeding.   Kerasote has a definite idea of the sort of dog  he wants, a rangy athletic lab that calls to mind his earlier dog, Merle.    I don't fault him for this since I think its best people know what sort of dog suits them and are clear about what kind of canine companion fits into their life.   However, Kerasote seems to be focused on the sort of dog he wants as being the best for everyone.   He is pretty critical of my favorite breeds, pugs and bulldogs, and feels that all dogs should be athletes.   However, just as Kerasote wants a dog to suite his outdoorsy life style in the wilds of Wyoming, I want a dog that suits my more sedentary urban existence, and pugs and bulldogs are perfect for that.   I don't really see how my decision to get a dog that matches my needs differs from his.    While I agree that health should be a breeders primary objective, I think that brachycephalic  breeds often bare an unfair brunt of the criticism, after all many athletic breeds suffer from high rates of cancer and other challenges, which to his credit Kerasote does discuss.    I was troubled that Kerasote implies that breeders of toy brachycephalic breeds, like pugs, don't care about their health.  Many pug breeders donated substantial funds to the clubs efforts to find a genetic marker for PDE.   Thanks to their efforts their is now a test and I was able to get Weasley from a breeder who screens her breeding stock for this dreadful disease, if she didn't care about her dogs health I doubt she would spend the money on the tests.

However, my primary problem with Kerasote is on the subject of training.   He emphasis freedom and is opposed to leashes and such.     I am sure that his dogs live an ideal existence and I agree that its important to give our dogs opportunities to think for themselves, but like lots of people with strong views on a subject Kerasote is something of a zealot.   He feels many owners infantalize their dogs.  Even though he himself is frequently highly anthropomorphic in how he talk about his dogs, and at one low point gets angry at his neighbors dog for getting in a tussle with his puppy over a bone, an occurrence that could easily have been prevented. 

 The one incident in the book that really bothered me occurs when he describes an encounter with a St. Bernard on a walk.  Kerasote, Pukka, and a another dog and its owner are walking off leash in a park when a young woman approaches with her St. Bernard who is straining at the leash.   Based on the fact that the women looks nervous Kerasote assumes that she is transmitting her anxiety to the dog.  He asks the woman to let her dog off leash to play saying  he will "be fine" and when the women says she can not because he has gotten into fights with other dogs he assumes that she is mistaken and does not know her own dog.   He goes so far as to say that her dog will  be denied an enjoyable life.  As someone who owns a dog, Bob, who can aggressive with unfamiliar dogs off leash and knows many highly dog aggressive dogs I was very angered by Kerasote's dismissive attitude towards this dog owner and his belief that he can analyze the situation from a glance.  Perhaps he is a right and the dog would have been fine off leash,  or perhaps Pukka could have been seriously injured and the St. Bernard's owner is being a responsible and protective owner.    For someone who wants to be free to make his own decisions about his dog, Kerasote at times seems highly judgmental of the decisions made by others.



How I wish they would live forever

 

17 comments:

  1. Very interesting review. Suspect this is not a book for me! :-)

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  2. I hadn't read it yet but not sure now after reading your review that I would want to. I tend to really get a bad taste in my mouth when people firmly believe their way is the only way and discount others when in reality you have no idea why that person has made their choices, etc. and that does matter and has to be taken into consideration. Ok, ya struck a little nerve with me as it's always an odd situation when I see someone that brings their pup to the bark park and their pup hasn't been fixed and then they get upset with the other dogs reactions. Luckily Max is so mellow he is generally more interested in smelling grass, etc. but this past week there was a little Chi girl and Max never tried anything but was following her everywhere and not even touching her just following her and she said some ugly words and told him to get away from her. I dont think she knew I was Max's Ma and promptly told her I was and asked her as nicely as I could manage why she had a problem with Max being near her pup and she told me she was not fixed. As she didn't seem particularly "worldly" let's say, I explained that gosh, Max was nothing compared to what she would soon be encountering (we were there in an off time), and she really seemed seriously shocked that other pups would go for her baby, in short it was about money and I was able to give her the name of a nearby clinic that does spaying cheap and she was super excited when I gave her the number, called them immediately (I mean she was like super jazzed!) saw that they indeed were low cost as are the shots and made an appt. apparently and came all the way back to where Max and I were then and told us and thanked us! Ya just never know!

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  3. We agree with Sue that is certainly not the book for us at all. The off leash thing is nonsense and not allowed in many areas over here and that is what we have parks for and dog friendly areas so they can freedom safely. Nope we won't be reading it. Have a terrific Thursday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  4. As always, a very thoughtful and well stated review. I wish I could have you pre-read all my books.

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  5. Thank you for this review, i agree this is not the book for us although i do enjoy reading books I don't agree with....i agree with lori about you reading my books first. Sometimes I am crying all the way through. I just read, "through Frankie's eyes" and really enjoyed it, although i cried.
    I can't believe everyone in the world doesn't love pugs....lolol......
    Deb

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  6. Lol, I was getting ready to slap Kerasote in the head but then I saw that wonderful picture of those lovely faces and all I could do was smile :-)

    Ironically, I can't stand intolerant people and their view that their way is the only way to do things...can one be intolerant of intolerance without simply being what one dislikes? I agree that all Pug and Bulldog breeders get lumped together, even though some are working hard to improve the health of their breeds.

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  7. I haven't read the book yet either. But your review was thorough enough, I don't think I need to! Kerasote seems to forget most of us don't live in the wilderness. If I let my dogs wander, they'd be dead before the day was out. I do believe they need some personal freedom, but not by opening the door and saying see you later.

    I already feed raw, filter their water, and limit vaccinations so I don't need to read more on that.

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  8. My dogs have never even been off the lead and never will be. I think it gives them security to have an extension lead they can keep coming back to me.
    Lynne x

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  9. Same as Molly, it's not a book for us. I'm sure some people will enjoy it..Have a fantastic Thursday xx00xx

    Mollie and Alfie

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  10. Great review! But sounds like if read the book, I might be bothered by some of his ideas like you. Haha. He seems to be bit self-centered. I don't think his way works in most areas.

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  11. Don't think I'll read it. Sounds a bit one-eyed. We just wish every animal could be loved for whatever time they have on earth...whether they have to be on a lead or not.

    However, the Ordinary Prince sounds good. SHE has a few favourites she retreats into when SHE needs to escape for awhile.

    XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy

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  12. Thanks for this review! I have read Merle's Door and was wondering if I wanted to read this one, but what sounds like I don't. I am always irritated when someone is out with their dogs off leash and they trot right up to mine. You just never know how they are going to react. Most of the time my pugs are very passive but if they sense aggression from another dog, I have seen them get aggressive. And I don't want my babies to get hurt because the other person is not a responsible owner.

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  13. After reading some of the earlier reviews I read Merle's Door first then moved on to read Pukka's Promise...Now that I've read it I am interested in reading other folks' reactions...I had a lot of reservations about Kerasote starting with the way he chose Pukka..He is over-opinionated and way too sure that his way is the only way...Maybe if you lived in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere you could raise your dog his way, but for those of us who live in regular towns and cities it just won't work...That incident with the St. Bernard angered me too...How dare he judge another dog owner when he's never even met their dog? And of course elk meat we hunt ourselves is the only proper diet...of course if we were all out hunting those elk for dog food the elk would soon be extinct and then he could lecture us on over hunting the resource...Guess you can tell I'm not his biggest fan and I'm glad to see others agree

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  14. I sure do know what you mean about wishing they could live forever. Just stopping by to let you know we are passing an award on to you over on kendalldog.com

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  15. Great that's just what the dog world needs is some guy telling people to let their unaltered dogs roam free and telling people with aggressive dogs to allow them to be free off leash around other dogs.

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  16. I see the appeal of Kerasote's writing style, and his trueblue passion for his dogs. However, he is the consummate rude pet owner. For example, at the book's end he takes Pukka on a hiking trip, and there encounters a campsite with a black lab tied up who barks reactively. A few hours later, in answer to Pukka's wistful looks, he releases him to go check out the dog and the other people, while Kerasote remains back at his tent. I have three super friendly dogs, one intact male who never would go look for trouble but might be on his toes over a big intact male bursting into camp suddenly, and a 12 week old puppy who I want to have all A+ experiences with older dogs. In short, I would be livid and also have to manage, manage, manage the situation while Kerasote sat far away drinking his tea and writing in his journal. I do hike with my goldens off leash every day, as we are lucky enough to have enough acres and wilderness to do so, but I simply cannot imagine installing a dog door and saying see you when I see you to the five dogs. I read that Pukka severed his sublingual artery while he was outside and Kerasote was inside typing. I do not fault him that an accidnet happened, but I do fault him that his dog could be 3 miles from home bleeding out if the circumstances went that way. I would read Kerasote's next book, but I would NEVER give him a golden puppy.

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