The White German Shepherd

by Vicki Hearne

Diane Brannigan, a salty, unusually erudite, ironic dog trainer, narrates this tale of love lost and found interwoven with the search for a perfect white German Shepherd. In explaining how it is that she and her partner Sam are charged with this mission for a movie remake of The Call of the Wild she initiates readers into the peculiar world of Southern California where, when " . . . Hollywood calls you up, and says they are looking for an Ibizan Hound that plays the harmonica and do you have one? . . . You rush out and get an Ibizan and you spend the weekend teaching him to play the harmonica. . . . " The search for a white German Shepherd is ridiculous, continues Brannigan, because white German Shepherds have "no breed history in their feet, no meaning in their movements." But then Jouster appears, an exception that proves the rule, and while that particular movie never gets made, Jouster comes through for Diane in several astonishing ways. His presence ultimately enables her to sort out her feelings for her lover, Luke, an unresolved writer, and rethink her relationship with Sam.

205 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Victoria Elizabeth "Vicki" Hearne was an American author, philosopher, poet, animal trainer, and scholar of literary criticism and linguistics.

Reviews

[Gronk · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is a mess of a book. Plastic characters, incoherence, lack of flow in some sections, and simply a lack of believability in places. There is interesting information about dogs, which you'd expect from a book by Hearne, even a work of fiction, but that isn't enough to salvage this work. A small villain in the book is so stereotyped that it's painful to read and while the main character doesn't know it, the reader certainly knows what to expect. At one point in the book, the main character is working her dog in a new, dangerous situation, with wild animals. She is laser focused leading up to the scene being filmed. Suddenly at the moment of truth, which might last 30 seconds at most, her mind wanders to her love life and calamity ensues. I find that very difficult to believe given the situation and the character at that point in time.
I really wanted to like this book. I admire Hearne's non-fiction. I'm left wondering what was distracting her editor?

[Randi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mystery close to a dog-trainer's heart.