The Boy Who Spoke Dog

by Clay Morgan

I had recently finished a number of books about herding dogs when this book caught my eye on the library shelf. It's the story of a cabin boy who gets shipwrecked alone on a deserted island off the coast of New Zealand. He discovers that there are no longer people on the island, but dogs and sheep descended from their domesticated animals. The dogs have split into two groups- one that still tends the sheep even without human direction, and another wild pack that lives in the forest and preys on the sheep. The boy learns to survive on the island and slowly gets accepted into the group of sheep-herding dogs, bonding close enough to communicate with them. Then he becomes caught up in the battle between the two groups... There is a lot in this book about how dogs perceive the world through their senses, and the relationship between man and dog. However, the story had some awkward moments that made little sense, and the prose was not very good. I wish it had been better.

Rating: 2/5 ....... 176 pages, 2005

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