The national bestselling memoir of a friendship between a New England outdoorsman and the scrawny foxhound who came to his door one snowy day. In the midst of a blizzard, late one Christmas night in the 1950s, author Hal Borland heard a howl at the back door of his home on a hundred-acre farm in the Housatonic Valley of northwest Connecticut. Resistant at first, he called around trying to find an … trying to find an owner whose dog had gone missing—with no luck. Finally, with the encouragement of his wife and haunted by memories of his childhood collie, Borland brought some scraps of leftover steak outside. This was his introduction to Pat, a miserable, half-starved, but deeply trusting black-and-white foxhound mutt.
Pat would soon become a member of the family, accompanying Borland on hunts and terrorizing the local woodchuck population—and teaching him that sometimes our most immediate connection to the natural world is through the animals we live with. A longtime journalist and a winner of the John Burroughs Medal for distinguished nature writing, Borland tells the tale of the time he shared with Pat in this touching true story that “will appeal to many sportsmen and to all people who have ever been closely attached to a dog” (The New York Times Book Review).
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If you like dogs, particularly if you’ve owned them, you’ll like this book !
A really sweet read…great for dog lovers.
This was a story of a guy in the country who had 2 stray dogs come and live with him. One dog chased game, so he gave him away so the local hunters wound’t kill him and the other one stayed. It was a love story about a good dog. Not that different than many others, but it was nice and reminds us why we love our dogs so much. These stories don’t …
Anything that has to do with dogs, I will read and this one did not disappoint. The author writes well with his descriptions of the countryside/setting and above all he and his wife’s love for this very smart dog that happened into their lives.
liked nothing. seemed like Borland is not an animal person which came across in the pages of this boring book
Warm and wonderful easy to read book
For those of us raised with pets we loved who were really part of our lives, this book is a delight. I recommend it for general reading by anyone who ever loved a dog or cat or rabbit or—–!
Who doesn’t love a sappy dog story? Well, I do!
Hal Borland has been one of my favorite authors for many years. Re-reading Dog was as much a delight this time as it was when I first read it many years ago.
This book really caught me and made me want to keep reading.
As a person who has lived with many pet dogs I enjoyed reading this book. I could really imagine the life of this couple after their new family member came to stay.
Love dog stories
My pets are family, these characters put less emphasis the value of their dogs.
An enjoyable story of author’s real life experience with a dog who dropped in and stayed on for life and adventures. Probably written and therefore set in or around the 1960’s.
I loved Pat and his adventures
I loved it. Easy read a bit of a differ t dog story.
Despite not being a great pet lover, I loved Patrick.
I enjoyed this book. Just shows how faithful a dog can be.
Loved this book!
Very sweet story about a man and his dog….or the dog and his man. Either way, a good read.