Intriguing title and one that resonated well with us.
I know people still asks Mum, “Do they sleep on your bed?”
Uh, yes. That is our preferred place. So Mum was drawn to the title of the book and it came recommended by a friend who doesn’t usually read books about dogs but was particularly enjoying this.
I’ll let Mum tell you what she thinks of it.
May’s comment: ‘Sleeping with Dogs’ is the record of one man’s passionate affection for the dog, rooted in his early childhood and lasting undiminished dotage.
Brian Sewell’s book was first published in 2013. I heard about it from a friend last Summer and only finally got around to reading it. A beautiful account of one man’s connection with the dogs he grew up with, the dogs he rescued from shelters till he passed in 2015.
Made me envious of how easy it was for him to open his heart and his home to dogs that have been abandoned, left to die and mistreated. Each dog so different and with each he developed a distinct relationship. He loved them till their end and his end. Almost all passed peacefully in his arms.
They were by no means perfect companions at the start – they chewed up precious books, destroyed furniture, stole lots of food and at times I raised a few eyebrows listening to his account of what they stole from the table or slurping from wine glasses.
I loved the rawness of their relationship – and the predicaments they got into whether in the Serpentine in Kensington Gardens, or on Wimbledon Common. They fell into frozen ponds or mistaken the green scump covered pond as the grass covered earth they were running on. They rolled in not fox poo but badger poo and dug up stinking rotting fish in the garden. There were those who ran mini marathons during their walks and those who were too frightened to leave his side. But they all eventually slept in his bed.
So touched by his accounts, so beautifully written. A must read for dog lovers – to remind ourselves how amazing that we have such a strong bond with our canine companions.
We who love our dogs are sometimes misunderstood by those who have not had that connection, and I am buoyed by reading Brian Sewell’s Sleeping with Dogs, for it validates my passion, my devotion and my simple love affair with my four-footed companions who give me much comfort when having them sleeping next to me.
