Dog Man - Martha Sherrill

Comments

• WrylyBrindle

  June 2009 edited November -1

  I read this book last year and liked it quite a lot. It is equally about Morie's life in Japan at the time and how the country was changing as it is about breeding akitas. It's a lot too about country and city and choosing what to do with your life. Nicely done, I thought.
• BradA1878

  June 2009 edited November -1

  I have read parts of this book and really enjoyed it. I recommend it to any dog person, breeder, or Akita enthusiast.
• Leonberger

  June 2009 edited November -1

  I've been meaning to read this book since it came out. I need to take care of that.
• Migoo

  June 2009 edited June 2009

  Ah thanks... sounds like a book one should read then. It's available in swedish book stores too so I can buy it here locally
• Darwin67

  August 2009 edited November -1

  I just started reading this book...what a treasure! Really is a wonderful, moving, book.
• Saya

  August 2009 edited November -1

  I've been meaning to pick this book up to read. =\
• asia

  August 2009 edited November -1

  I just finished it. It was a good read - honest, real. I would recommend it.
• Kenshi

  August 2009 edited November -1

  I had a thread about that book here: http://www.nihonken.org/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=3193&page=1#Item_3 but it did not get very far.
  
  I am a general Japan nut so I really liked the "this is a book about Japan" aspect of it. Sending the kids out into the woods to "make them stronger," the idea of a man and wife retiring in their 60s and BUILDING THEIR RETIREMENT HOME BY HAND. I can't even competently put up SHELVES IN MY BASEMENT lol.
  
  The slice of history of the development of the Akita standard is particularly interesting for all of us on this forum, though, because we can probably assume that all of our breeds were developed somewhat like that. The idea that the clubs were breeding for a kind of "spirit" or intangible quality expressed by a dog's personality, as much as they were looking for physical characteristics. I think the western breeds were developed more for measurable, objective criteria.
  
  Also the way the dogs were raised and handled - somewhat less domesticated than we do in America - probably translates to breeding / training practices these days. Japanese people like evoking the raw character out of natural things.