Tuesday 16 January 2018

The Barklife Way

The above portrait of Moll was done by my very talented friend, Carol, nearly a year ago now and made me think of this book I was sent recently, entitled The Barklife Way - Life Lessons from a dog

This is such a lovely book about what we can learn from our dogs based based on the author's observations of her own dog called Cooper.

It's a fantastic read for anyone who loves dogs, with wonderful illustrations that are worth framing in their own right.

Each chapter, or section, has a bit about what Cooper does - i.e. his delight in a new day, all the wonderful new smells he encounters, so each trip is unique, exciting and packed full of novelty and fun, bursting with opportunities.

The next section asks what we can learn from, in this instance, our daily trips to work, or to the park, to the beach, wherever we walk our dogs, with the idea of not taking things for granted. Open our eyes and look and see who's around us, what the birds and trees are doing; what flowers are out. The pink balloons by someone's gate, the peeling paint on an old house. All the little things that we take for granted, or don't even recognise. We should, for we miss so much otherwise, and miss everything that's strange and special, all the delights and enjoyment that our dogs use every day, every moment.

This is a lovely study for anyone who loves their dogs but it also carries some very good life advice with the most fabulous illustrations. There's also a section about how the author wrote this book and information about the illustrator.

I can't honestly think of anyone who wouldn't enjoy this book, but if you have a dog, and you enjoy illustrations, this is a must.

So instead of New Year resolutions, I would just get this book, take the advice - and see how much more enjoyable your life becomes. Just like your four legged friend!

4 comments:

Kim @ Him, Him Me said...

Love the drawing of Moll.
My only New Years Resolution is not to make any!

Dogs do have the right idea about life, don't they? They are eternal optimist's & we can learn lots from them.
My two treat each each day as a new experience, even if we walk the same route as the day before. They greet their friends as if , they haven't seen them for years,alhough they saw them only yesterday. They sniff the same places & each other, just in case they forgot last time. When we get back home, they race each other into the kitchen for a drink, then race back to me, to see who can dump the most water in my lap, by way of "a thankyou Mum, we enjoyed that & can we go again please".
Hope all is well with you and Moll.

Flowerpot said...

Lovely description of walks with your two, Kim - they are such a joy aren't they?!

Kim @ Him, Him Me said...

There are times when I'd rather have dogs than people!

Flowerpot said...

I think a lot of us feel like that sometimes! X