A Dog Called Perth
The True Story of a Beagle
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
This heartwarming story of a truly remarkable dog, who changed the lives of her owners forever, will move and delight dog lovers everywhere.
From the moment Peter and Cindy Martin spotted her as a puppy in a kennel she came streaking toward them and staring with her intense gaze, they knew she was the one. Almost immediately, she became a central part of their household. Alwayas left to run free, she became indefatigable explorer, gone for hours, sometimes entire days, but her infallible compass always brought her home. From her exploits in upstate New York to the story of her incredible survival in the Vermont wilderness and her later adventures in the English countryside, Perth displayed the same pluck, intelligence, devotion, unshakable trust, and unstinting love.
Anyone who has ever owned or grown up with or wanted a dog will be captivated by this extraordinary, beautifully written homage to a very special creature.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
It's possible that those who have never shared their days with a dog might find this deeply personal paean to a precocious beagle somewhat twee. Chances are, however, they'll find themselves caught up in the love story, converts to the world of dogs and the people whose hearts they capture. Martin, an English-literature scholar (A Life of James Boswell), pulls out all the stops in detailing the 21 years he and his family shared with Perth, a strong-willed pet who was, if the author is to be believed, a god among dogs always clean (with her own sweet "groggy-doggie" smell), fiercely loyal, impossibly intelligent (she learned 18 tricks in mere days) and totally trusting. Plucked as a pup from a kennel in upstate New York, the canine heroine of the story follows the Martins through teaching appointments in Ohio and Florida before accompanying them to a small village in Britain for the last half of her life. It's a charming memoir that gains almost adventure-story momentum when Martin describes his family's frantic search for Perth, who ran away from her Vermont caretakers during a summer the Martins spent abroad. The beagle survived months in the wilderness and found shelter at an isolated fishing camp before being reunited with her owners. Martin narrates this melodramatic chapter in the lives of a dog and her humans with a grace that could well bring tears to a soft-hearted reader's eyes.
