Sherrill’s Shelves
Sherrill Sherwood
I smiled when my husband suggested Hank, our Beagle, would be a good subject for an article. Then I recalled a book I checked out a couple of years ago called Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell and Know by Alexandra Horowitz. The author introduces the reader to dogs’ perceptual and cognitive abilities and then draws a picture of what it might be like to be a dog. What I learned from this book changed things for me on my walks with Hank. Now, along with the physical connection through the leash, I feel a closer relationship as I try to put myself in his paws, imagining what it must be like that close to the ground with my nose – my smell – being my “eyes”.
Having said that, there is a point where I have to draw the line – when Hanks stops to smell the 
droppings of other animals. I feel no kinship with him in those moments, the bond is broken. A new title in our collection, The Origin of Feces: What Excrement Tells Us about Evolution, Ecology, and a Sustainable Society by David Waltner-Toews, actually has a chapter called “Turds of Endearment: What Excrement Means to Animals”. Purchased through a patron request, The Origin of Feces is an entertaining and enlightening exploration of why waste matters. This cultural history explores an often ignored subject and makes a compelling argument for a deeper understanding of human and animal waste. Approaching the subject from evolutionary, ecological, and cultural perspectives, this examination shows how integral waste is to biodiversity, agriculture, public health, food production and distribution, and global ecosystems. As Publisher’s Weekly puts it “Until you read this, you really won’t know sh*t.”
Novels with the dog as the main character generally circulate well and Bruce Cameron’s A Dog’s Purpose, published in 2010, stayed on the New York Times bestseller list for 52 weeks. The premise of the novel is that the dog never dies—he keeps being reborn, remembering each life, learning lessons from each life that help him with the next one. Eventually, he comes to conclude there must be a purpose, a reason for him to be reborn, and until he has figured out that purpose, he’ll keep being reborn, over and over again. A Dog’s Purpose is just one of a few bestselling novels portraying dogs as wise beings.
Hank has certainly taught me some important life lessons: love unconditionally, always get as comfortable as you possibly can, assertively ask for what you need, get excited about food, stretch long and fully, go for a walk every day and stop to thoroughly smell……the roses.
Hank won’t be there but all titles mentioned can be requested through the Haliburton County Public Library – a wise place to be.
*Originally published in Haliburton County Living on October 3rd 2013
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