A Sheepdog Named Oscar: Love and Companionship in Rural Ireland

by Dara Waldron

Grieving his father’s sudden passing, a film scholar and father of two boys finds solace in the picturesque idyll of Ireland's East Clare region, where he discovers and adopts an enigmatic border collie from an abandoned farm.

What is the essence of a sheepdog? As much a part of Ireland’s traditional and rural life as the countryside itself, working animals are known to be incredibly smart, loyal, with distinct personalities. Dara Waldron’s memoir about the wandering border collie he adopted the year after his father died is both an animal rescue story and a deep reflection on place, with a happy ending. To make a family pet of Oscar, Waldron enacts the daily ritual of walking the rugged hills and rivers of Ireland's woodlands in its intemperate weather—rain, sleet, and snow. Oscar’s instinct, as a sheepdog, is to run away and return to his handler. Testing the limits of Waldron’s tolerance and trying his fragile trust, days with Oscar are defined by the author's attempts to process his grief. Slowly it seeps into his Oscar is asking him to understand a creature who lives for another, who will always return. In lyrical description of Ireland's mystical landscape, along with meditations on art, philosophy, and animal rights, this exquisitely wrought memoir about one man and his dog experiencing a symbiotic calling foregrounds the healing terrain of nature, and the true purpose and breadth of life.

Illustrated throughout with black and white stills in a cinema verité style.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Animals, Ireland, Irish Literature, Dogs, Biography Memoir

200 pages, Paperback

Published August 26, 2025

Reviews

[Summerfire · Rating 1 out of 5]

What a complete and utter disappointment.

This realistically speaking could have completely excised the dog and basically been the same story. Man deals with grief by thinking way too hard and putting his emotions on another being while also showing off his familiarity with art and Bob Dylan and giving a small lesson in Irish rural culture.

I don't know if this had an editor, so I very helpfully edited almost the entire book as I read, hit me up if you want to make this not suck.
Words used completely incorrectly in an attempt to sound elevated (man's an academic, doesn't need to try to bring his chops to a 200 page book about a dog. Also, now I have questions ABOUT his academic work as he clearly doesn't know how English works), punctuation completely fucked, changes tenses all over the place, vague phrasing, AWKWARD phrasing, etc., etc., etc.

I was expecting the dog to be more present, but he barely gives a feeling for Oscar at all. I just...can't describe how much nonsense this was. He had maybe three phrases that I thought were really good, and when he bothers to talk about border collies he does accurately describe them.

[Grace Petrisin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book more considering it’s about a dog and set in Ireland. However, the author is unlikable with constantly trying to show off his intellect by dissecting paintings, songs, etc and posing these boring philosophical questions about mundane things. Who cares!? I wanted to hear more about the dog! Even the dog kept trying to run away from this guy..

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to publishers and netgalley for a free copy in return for open and honest review.

Enjoyed this book about a stray dog called Oscar helped the author after the loss of his father and how they found each other. Heart warming story

[Frank · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book should be called “A Guy Who Shouldn’t Own a Dog.”

******Spoilers******

First off, from a writing standpoint, this is rough. The book is riddled with spelling and formatting issues. It is full of rambling run-on sentences and padded with useless filler. It honestly needed an editor. It seems as if it was generated through AI.

The author is a consistently irresponsible dog owner. He loses Oscar multiple times, yet keeps walking him off-leash, ignores a vet’s advice to neuter him, and never learns from any of it. Each time the dog goes missing, the author drifts into unrelated monologues about his dead father or his anxiety. Then, other people or sheer luck repeatedly recover the dog for him. He should not be a dog owner.

He also acts bizarrely clueless about dogs, considering he claims to have been a dog walker when he was younger. He’s constantly surprised by Oscar showing basic collie traits, then questions whether Oscar is even a collie... despite including photos where it’s obvious. Google a Collie dude. This shouldn't take you as long as it did to know the breed of dog.

Despite the title, this is barely about Oscar. It’s mostly about the author’s unresolved grief and anxiety, with the dog repeatedly put in harm’s way as a side character. Oscar is lost, escapes, or annoys other dog owners repeatedly, and the author never meaningfully changes his behavior. What's worse is that at the end, in the epilogue, HE GETS ANOTHER DOG.

If you’re looking for a heartwarming dog book, this isn’t it. It’s frustrating, unfocused, and a waste of time. Worst book I've ever read. I'd rather read 'The Cat In The Hat' on repeat for 7 straight days.

[Katie]

Positives:
Who doesn't love a story about a rescue dog?
Who doesn't love a story about a herding dog?
The dog does NOT die in this book.

Interesting:
I finally understand that the American definitions of
"collie" and "sheepdog" are different than the Irish.

Not so positive:
It felt like the author had a page minimum to reach and so
added all kinds of unrelated text about art and film. It was not
my favorite technique.

[Wendie Carlson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not what I was expecting given that Barnes & Noble made this their monthly pick...

[Jenni · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oscar is a lovely pup and it was great to read along his journey from abandoned farm dog to settling in with his new family. Feeling a dog’s comfort with you is one of the most magical feelings in the world - I especially loved reading about Oscar realizing the bed was for him.

I found myself enjoying segments of the book, but overall didn’t love the book as a whole.

[Cindy Pieszcynski · Rating 1 out of 5]

This has the potential to be a great story, finding a dog living alone on a farm with the concept of being sent to help grieve the loss of a parent. But this concept gets so lost.

I should have known from the first page that this book would be problematic. Waldron discusses watching “Finding Nemo” with his young son hundreds of times. This is relatable. For us it was “The Aristocats.” But then he describes the story of Nemo inaccurately even confusing Dora (I assume from Dora the Explorer) with Dory and explains how Nemo gets lost adventuring with Dora (which if you’ve seen the film is NOT what happens). Then goes on to describe Nemo as a story about separation anxiety, which again is misleading because it’s Marlin’s overprotective nature that is at the heart of the story, not separation anxiety experienced by Nemo. The problem here is this is literally the first paragraph. If this is so far off from something he states to have watched hundreds of times, how do I trust any of the other cultural references in the book? And there are so many.

This leads me to another issue. This is written in a stream of consciousness style that jumps from topic to topic and then repeats itself going back to a topic already mentioned. There is very little about Oscar (we don’t meet him until page 40 and he doesn’t join the family until page 70).

I was actually a bit taken aback (and offended, as a historian) that he compared Oscar’s lack of barking to Holocaust trauma. I don’t think this is a comparison that should be made considering you are talking about, you know, The Holocaust.

If Waldron had focused on the connection between his father’s grief and rescuing Oscar, it might have worked better as it had a lot of potential. But this was all over the place and lacked coherent thought (and has some questionable accuracy in referencing cultural materials). I feel like he was just trying to prove his intellectual prowess and not actually tell a story. Unfortunately this book was just not readable.

[Marnie Scheinberg · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars ⭐️ and they are 100% for Oscar and only Oscar. ❤️ But ugh, this was not for me.

The author made the story of his dog Oscar almost entirely about himself. He talked about Oscar minimally throughout the book, and when he did, it wasn’t to focus on the dog, but on how he, the author, was feeling, what he was going through, etc. Additionally, the repetitiveness and grammatical (among other) errors were really distracting.

Three more things, because I just need to rant now. 1. How many times is this man going to have his dog run away when on walks? Maybe a long lead should be considered???? 2. Why such difficulty in calling this dog a Border Collie? The author seemed to struggle with the dog’s breed. Everything he describes of Oscar (which, again, wasn’t nearly enough description as this dog rightfully deserves) points to this dog being a Border Collie. Not to mention the photos show Oscar is THE SPITTING IMAGE OF A BORDER COLLIE. But I had to read ad nauseam about what kind of dog Oscar MIGHT be. 3. If I read the words “symbiotic” or “symbiosis” one more time, I was going to throw the book across the room.

Okay, rant over. This book was a real disappointment.

[Maddie Faith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book especially part 3 because Dara really begins to understand that companionship is the “job” working dogs will give themselves. Some of the stories definitely remind me of my submissive herding dog that has found her job in “herding” her family. Some of the bad reviews talk about film and book references but I think it’s important to keep in mind that the author/narrator has a background in writing about film! Of course he will incorporate his studies into this charming novel. Overall an endearing book about a man and his dog.

[Conor Begley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got my copy of this book yesterday and couldn't put it down..., I just finished it after dropping the girls to school and parked beside killiney beach......such a beautiful book..no words wasted..reminded me of seeing Dancing at Lughnasa in august for the first time ..both have that quiet, lingering power — taking fragments of ordinary life and turning into something layered that resonants. capturing the complexity of relationships, the pull of place, and the way our memory keeps

[Angie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book but DNF'd it halfway through. There was much more about the landscape,using ridiculous language than about the dog. It feels like the title was the lure to get me to read the book about everything but a dog.
Disappointed.

[Tracy Hollander · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not enough dog in this book about a dog. I felt it meandered frequently into things having nothing to do with what the summary describes. After about halfway through I just ended up skimming through the rest.

[Paddy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed immensely, especially the part where Oscar barked. Not a straightforward doggy story but one that lingers and stays with you.

[Knit and Purl Girl · Rating 2 out of 5]

The author, a scholar, should stick to his day job. I was so looking forward to reading a book about a dog. Instead, this book reads like someone’s college thesis, with the author trying to show off his knowledge of books, poetry and for some odd reason, Bob Dylan songs. The entire book kept me wondering, “Where is the dog? What is going on with the dog? Why isn’t he more concerned over the dog!?!” Even Oscar, the dog and namesake of the title, kept trying to wander and get away from this man. The book was also weird. The first chapter was 100 pages and there were no clear page breaks. You either read all 100 pages at once, or stuck your bookmark in and prayed you’d remember what boring sentence you were on. Then there were the conversations with his dead father, need I say more on that little gem. Even when it got going a bit and grabbed me for the odd couple of pages, it would suddenly fall flat. So disappointing. I also learned nothing about Ireland, which from the cover I thought I would. I gave it two stars instead of one because he did rescue Oscar. Thankfully, it is a short book.

[Patti Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was more philosophical than I thought it would be after reading the reviews.
However, it was a good book, and I recommend it to those who love to read about rescue dogs and the impact they make on their new owners as they move together through their lives...

[Julie Gentino · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very sweet book about a man and his rescue dog. It was slow and sometimes overly philosophical. But I enjoyed it!

[Ally Puglielli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this one. The author does a good job at highlighting the companionship and symbiotic relationship between dogs and their humans. We don’t deserve dogs!!

[Donna · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not enough about Oscar.

[Tolkien's Left Sock · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book, although the author could be overly philosophical and long-winded at times.

[Jim Kownacki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book about a dog I've read this year! Mainly because it hardly talks about the dog at all but delves more into relationships, man & dog, man & father, dog & unknown previous owner.

[Kristen Abbott · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writing style just wasn’t my cup of tea

[Noel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a "sheep-dog." Actually, she's 50% border collie, 25% Australian Shepherd and 25% Husky. She's a rescue found in New Mexico who had had her first litter at a year old. She'd been in foster care for quite a while because she wasn't all that cute (although I beg to differ) and we had to wait to get her until she had weaned her pups. So I know a little bit about rescues. If I knew how to write, I could tell funny stories, sad stories and brave stories about my girl. She came to us when we were losing our 16 year old Australian Shepherd and she helped me grieve that loss. I bought the book on a trip to Ireland because of the cover. Oscar looks very much like my dog.

So I understand the author writing about how his new found dog helped him through his grief. I get that. But I don't get the rest of the book. I usually take 4-7 days to read a book. This one took forever and in the end I just skimmed bits when I just lost interest in his tangental topics. There was no humor, no connection to his son. How does a kid not connect with a new dog? There was not much written about fun. So for me, 2-1/2 stars rounded up to 3. (and the editing..... check other reviews who very eloquently quote the editing, or lack thereof).

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This the best book I have read all year! Simply wonderful!

[Evan Villafranca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet story of companionship. At times, I felt it meandered too long between literary/cultural references, to the point I forgot where we were in the story. Enjoyed the emphasis on Oscar’s mannerisms and the author’s eureka moments where he unlocks new understanding of his sheepdog’s nature.

[Catherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was deeply disappointed in this book.

The prose is a mixture of cliches and misused vocabulary. The author knows little about sheepdogs, or dogs in general. He finally recounts using Google to look up information about sheepdogs…on page 72, nearly halfway through the book.

Some representative quotations for the prose style:

“I propositioned him to answer while grabbing his shirt sleeve to get his attention; surmising that Oscar was knocked over and Ylva didn’t want to tell me by phone.” (Page 68)

“Once we had ascended the drive home, the mountains appeared aloof in the diminishing light….” (Page 47)

“In a storm of unanswered questions, I glanced over at the child in the passenger seat, a boy learning to comprehend the world, when a shared purpose seems to come from above—to covet life in a storm of complicated emotions that had descended for those driving to collect a dog.” (Page 37)

At best, the book is trite. At worst, it is incomprehensible.

This book is an ad for editors, because there’s a kernel there that’s interesting, but it’s not realized here at all. Please, publishers, hire more editors.

I feel very guilty and bad writing such a negative review, because I appreciate how hard it is to write a book and how much of this author‘s heart he put on the line, but I think it’s important to let people know that this book is very poor quality and they should not buy it. I hope this author gets a much better editor who can help him realize his potential as a memoirist.

[Adrienne · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh. My. God. This book reads like an MFA challenge to take the most regular human activity (adopting a dog) and belabor it as much as you possibly can. Describe every imaginable detail—every sight, every song playing on the radio, every detail of a painting, every internal debate you ever had about adopting a dog, all while doing absolutely nothing—until you make the reader erupt in audible groans.

I’m sorry. It sounded sweet and interesting in the book store. And I’m sure the story IS sweet and interesting, and I’m SO happy for Oscar that he landed in a loving home. But for the love of god, it’s not a book-length story. There’s no THERE, there.

I just can’t. I’ve never been so bored.

[Jean · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don’t usually write reviews, but I’m just stunned that this book was ever published. It’s one of the most disappointing books I’ve ever read. Almost nothing about Oscar the dog, and a lot of meandering philosophizing from the author.
I get that his father died, but I didn’t need to hear about it on almost every page of the book. Would have loved a lot more details about Oscar and his antics, and less details about movies, music, books, poetry and philosophy.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

Yes, sadly in lack of editing but I thought tying Oscar’s tragic story to the author’s own, and how therapeutic the symbiosis was for each, was a story worth telling, and one that came across reasonably well. The digressions into art and literature were too long.

[common loon · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars because of Oscar!