Book Discussion: 15 dogs by Andre Alexis

Fifteen Whitevalians got together on Saturday, April 16, 7 PM around a bowl of chili, bread cheese and delicious desserts (thank you Judy and Danielle) to discuss Fifteen Dogs, a book by Andre Alexis where 15 dogs are given human intelligence and understanding of language by two bored Greek gods, Hermes and Appolo.

We discussed what the book brought to our knowledge of our pets, how well the hierarchical dog society was described, as well as the dogs's way to relate to their environment, all about smells and food, and we agreed that this was just a superficial aspect of a book which really looks into human behaviour and what constitutes happiness.

The premise that one of the god would win if the dogs died happy seemed wrong to us, as happiness is not a state but fleeting moment, and happiness at the time of death does not mean automatically that the life as a whole has been happy. Before receiving human intelligence, the dogs were maybe not happy with the status quo but they felt secure, whether they were with a master or in a pack. The dogs did not become happier when they received "understanding" and became aware of the unfairness of their condition. Some tried to go back to the old ways, some tried to adapt, other became rebels, and one became an artist.

Atticus, the leader, wanted the pack to become independent from humans and they survived by hiding and scavenging in a park by Lake Ontario. Atticus did not like the changes brought by the gods and he eliminated one by one the dissidents. Benny, the cunning beagle, survived by manipulating humans and dogs alike, until he met a horrible fate, abandoned in a locked house and dying of starvation. However, two of the dogs might have died happy, Prince by remembering one last time the boy who owned him, Kim, and Majnoun (a name which means in Persan "Crazy for love"), by finding a true soulmate in Nira, the human who treated him as an equal. Is happiness loving someone and being loved, as it is suggested in the last sentence of the book?

Is it a book about dogs, is it a book about humans, is it a book about gods? We all found it a clever and humorous book, with some difficult passages as most of the 15 dogs meet a violent death.  Is it a book about the arrogance of humans, who think themselves superior to all the other species. Are we that different from dogs?

A new dog poem: Abby

Written by Alison Kahn

Running, Master and I
Through trees, down hills
to water - I splash
Others, like me, run free.
So much to do, what bliss this is...
Leaving so soon?
Wait, I must tell the Lab
before I go,
that I'll be back tomorrow.

The question of the week is:

Who is the most cruel? The gods or the dogs?

Please post your comments in the comment box below.
You can also check the youtube "teaser" for the book
Teaser for Fifteen Dogs

as well as the longer CBC podcast on Ideas with Tom Kennedy.
CBC Podcast

Find the poem for your dog among these 3 poems, and feel free to add yours:

Is the name hidden Max, Roxy, Treble, Frank, Scarlett, Ozzie, Cindy, Billy, Freckles, Bunny, Gibson, Duke, or Indy?
Please respond in the comment box and/or add your own poem (you could win treats for your dog!!!!).

1.
The elders of the pack,
the wise grizzled ones never ask
themselves the question:
"to be or not to be".
"Listen, they say instead, listen
to the wind and to the river! Look, they add,
look at the fields and the sky and the clouds!
Because you are all that surrounds you!"

2.
When I decide to rest, I look
for shelter under a clump of cedars
because, even in the darkness of dusk, 
my eyes will shine, two piercing lights
that could betray my presence until
I fall asleep and my shadow melts 
in the shadows of the night.

3.
Some have seen me galloping by,
and afterwards, they could not say if
I was a wolf, or a deer, or a ghost.
I run through the night
rebel without a cause,
my dusty coat shimmering in the moonlight.

I took your challenge, Tricia:

Here are two poems for your dogs:

My humans had a party today
With famous guests:  Justin T.
and a certain Madame de...
Glasses of Champagne, laughter...
I licked a puddle on the floor,
it smelled like old apples, delicious
fruits rotting on the ground, after they fall...
Blurry eyes, trembling paws,
I fell on the way to my bed.
Tullamore Dew, they call this brew,
Irish Whiskey.
What did I do?


My human likes poetry,
opera, drama,
guitar and flamenco.
Her music makes me sing,
makes me howl, and she laughs...
so I howl louder because
I like to make her happy.

From our resident poet. Tricia, a contribution to the Dog Poetry Challenge:


What Rhymes with Flu?

Oh, to live up to your designation,
Resident poet,
Embedding my dogs’ names in gleaming verse
just so I could show it.

But despite my best efforts
(the fistfuls of hair yanked),
The handles Maggie and Douglas
Will not bend to such pranks.

I’ve racked my brain,
(think I’m coming down with a bug),
There’s no friggin’ word in the English language
That ends with the syllable Doug!

So I offer here instead,
My thanks for a great game,
Other entrants, I assure you,
Will be nowhere near as lame.

And just for the record,
My next dogs’ names I’ve already got,
Would it be so wrong to call Westies
Sal and Spot?

- Tricia McCallum

Jon Vacher is our winner, he found that the dogs named were:


Luna,












Teddy,













and Murphy.














Now check Sue Wilson's poems and find her dogs' name hidden in the poetic verses.

Roving endlessly through
the inky darkness
buffeted by wind and sleet.
Desperately seeking warmth
perhaps a discarded morsel to fill the belly,
at minimum access to
shelter from the storm.

With yelps and growls
a growing vocabulary develops
Prince with infinite patience
encourages our voices
to form a chorus
teaching us to echo his sounds
Yet some reject his wisdom.
Poetry is not for us.