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Never Leave the Dog Behind: Our love of dogs and mountains
‘We live in a world populated by dog lovers, where many of us regard them as members of the family. We are fascinated by them: either anthropomorphising our pets or obsessing about the ways they differ from us. And mountains – theatres of risk, drama and heroism – provide the perfect stage for us to enact our canine fascination in all its pathos and poetry. In short, the hills bring into focus just how much we love being with dogs.’
Dogs specialise in getting on with humans, and tales of faithful hounds in hostile environments form part of our cultural history. Award-winning writer Helen Mort sets out to understand the singular relationship between dogs, mountains and the people who love them. Along the way, she meets search and rescue dogs, interviews climbers and spends time on the hills with hounds. The book is also a personal memoir, telling the author’s own story of falling in love with a whippet called Bell during a transformative year in the Lake District.
Never Leave the Dog Behind is a compelling account of mountain adventures and misadventures, and captures the unbridled joy of heading to the hills with a four-legged friend.
Dogs specialise in getting on with humans, and tales of faithful hounds in hostile environments form part of our cultural history. Award-winning writer Helen Mort sets out to understand the singular relationship between dogs, mountains and the people who love them. Along the way, she meets search and rescue dogs, interviews climbers and spends time on the hills with hounds. The book is also a personal memoir, telling the author’s own story of falling in love with a whippet called Bell during a transformative year in the Lake District.
Never Leave the Dog Behind is a compelling account of mountain adventures and misadventures, and captures the unbridled joy of heading to the hills with a four-legged friend.
- GenresNonfiction
121 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2020
8 people are currently reading
81 people want to read
About the author
Helen Mort
41 books63 followersHelen Mort is a poet and author from Sheffield, South Yorkshire. Her collection Division Street was shortlisted for the Costa Prize and the T.S. Eliot Prize and won the Fenton Aldeburgh Prize in 2014. She was described by Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy as "among the brightest stars in the sparkling new constellation of young British poets". She is a Cultural Fellow at the University of Leeds, and one of the judges for the 2017 Man Booker International Prize.
Adapted from: http://www.poetaflamenco.com/
Adapted from: http://www.poetaflamenco.com/
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 4, 2021
Helen asks early on in this lovely wee book ‘Are (dogs) guides, rescuers, climbing partners or avatars for our disconnected selves?’. Over the next 120 pages she examines these different imaginings of our canine companions and puts together a wonderfully full exploration of how we, mountains and dogs interact in a Venn diagram of benefit. She draws on interviews with a number of mountaineering types and also on her own relationship with her two hill companion whippets.
Along the way she includes the sublime landscape poetry of Norman McCaig, examining how landscape and by extension the animals that inhabit it can be part of us. Also here is hardheaded commentary from grizzled mountaineers like Sir Chris Bonnington. When Helen comments in an interview with Sir Chris that it’s a pity dogs don’t live as long as humans, Sir Chris counters ‘Well, I don’t know. I’ve lost most of my climbing companions.’ The book is very well written with a lyrical flow I really enjoyed and throughout Helens honesty just adds to the intimate feel of it all. For example she describes descending from one of the Arrochar Alps stating ‘ I could look these hills up and write about them as if I know each one by name, but I prefer my ignorance, these moments of naïve appreciation.’ There is another great passage when she is describing a Mountain Rescue dog and it’s human working together:
‘Two craftsmen, each reading the other and responding… I wonder what it must be like to be Scout, free and tethered out on the moor, brought back by an invisible thread.’
She tells how being on the mountain with a dog adds to the experience, how they teach you ‘more clearly to see’. I was particularly struck by her assertion that ‘the outwardness of running with a dog lifts the inwardness of obsession’.
As someone who’s love of dogs is coupled with a love of mountains and has spent many a hill trip with my now deceased pal Nell the Dug I found much in the book I recognized. More interestingly though, I learned a lot too. I’d recommend this book very strongly to all of you who already share your hill time with a dog, and also to those who don’t. You may come to understand the first lot a little better. You might even find yourself a dog.
Helen ends her book with one of her poems, where she bemoans not being a dog ‘It’s not acceptable to roll in the mud until I’m musked in it. There are deer in the wood I’ll never see’ and imagines what it is to be a dog. I’ll let her have the last word ‘One day I’ll set off past the meadow, down behind the beck, beyond the blunt profile of Silver Howe and nobody will call me back.’
Along the way she includes the sublime landscape poetry of Norman McCaig, examining how landscape and by extension the animals that inhabit it can be part of us. Also here is hardheaded commentary from grizzled mountaineers like Sir Chris Bonnington. When Helen comments in an interview with Sir Chris that it’s a pity dogs don’t live as long as humans, Sir Chris counters ‘Well, I don’t know. I’ve lost most of my climbing companions.’ The book is very well written with a lyrical flow I really enjoyed and throughout Helens honesty just adds to the intimate feel of it all. For example she describes descending from one of the Arrochar Alps stating ‘ I could look these hills up and write about them as if I know each one by name, but I prefer my ignorance, these moments of naïve appreciation.’ There is another great passage when she is describing a Mountain Rescue dog and it’s human working together:
‘Two craftsmen, each reading the other and responding… I wonder what it must be like to be Scout, free and tethered out on the moor, brought back by an invisible thread.’
She tells how being on the mountain with a dog adds to the experience, how they teach you ‘more clearly to see’. I was particularly struck by her assertion that ‘the outwardness of running with a dog lifts the inwardness of obsession’.
As someone who’s love of dogs is coupled with a love of mountains and has spent many a hill trip with my now deceased pal Nell the Dug I found much in the book I recognized. More interestingly though, I learned a lot too. I’d recommend this book very strongly to all of you who already share your hill time with a dog, and also to those who don’t. You may come to understand the first lot a little better. You might even find yourself a dog.
Helen ends her book with one of her poems, where she bemoans not being a dog ‘It’s not acceptable to roll in the mud until I’m musked in it. There are deer in the wood I’ll never see’ and imagines what it is to be a dog. I’ll let her have the last word ‘One day I’ll set off past the meadow, down behind the beck, beyond the blunt profile of Silver Howe and nobody will call me back.’
January 25, 2022
An interesting read, probably more for the dog-lover seeking insight into their relationship with dogs and the mountains than for those who cannot understand that impulse.
Blending together poetry, philosophy, history, and experiences with dogs, this book is tied together Helen's own experience with her rescue dog and her growing understanding of how dogs shape both her own and others' experience of the hills.
Interviews with dog-lovers add additional dimension to the relationships of humans and dogs - Chris Bonnington's response to a glib comment about dogs dying before humans prevents the book from becoming overly mawkish and sentimental. Other vignettes, of SARDA, the St Bernards Museum, and Tschingel the mountaineering dog, are fascinating and felt almost too fleeting.
Helen's literary approach to the subject is emphasised by the bibliography and further reading sections at the back of the book. Poetic and insightful, though brief, this book offers new ways of thinking about dogs, ourselves, and the mountains we share in our differing ways, encouraging us to see differently.
Blending together poetry, philosophy, history, and experiences with dogs, this book is tied together Helen's own experience with her rescue dog and her growing understanding of how dogs shape both her own and others' experience of the hills.
Interviews with dog-lovers add additional dimension to the relationships of humans and dogs - Chris Bonnington's response to a glib comment about dogs dying before humans prevents the book from becoming overly mawkish and sentimental. Other vignettes, of SARDA, the St Bernards Museum, and Tschingel the mountaineering dog, are fascinating and felt almost too fleeting.
Helen's literary approach to the subject is emphasised by the bibliography and further reading sections at the back of the book. Poetic and insightful, though brief, this book offers new ways of thinking about dogs, ourselves, and the mountains we share in our differing ways, encouraging us to see differently.
October 25, 2020
Working in the Cuillin mountains on Skye, I've helped lots of owners and their dogs climb the Munros including the Inaccessible Pinnacle. Kai was carried up the In Pinn in his owner, Brian's, pack. On the summit, Kai watched his owner propose to Sharon.
Fantastic stories of owners and their adventurous dogs that tie in nicely with Helen Mort’s new book, “Never Leave The Dog Behind.” The blurb on the back cover sums things up nicely; “we live in a world full of dog lovers and many of us count them as members of the family. We’re fascinated by them;either anthropomorphizing our pets or obsessing about the ways they differ from us. And mountains – theatres of risk, drama and heroism – are the perfect stage for us to enact our canine obsession in all it’s pathos and poetry. In short, the hills bring into focus just how much we love being with dogs.”
Well written and easy to read, the book demonstrates the close links between dogs, their owners and the hills and mountains. Through the chapters, Helen explores the relationship between dogs and their owners and how they can all enjoy not just the great outdoors but also great adventures. Probably most extreme is the tale of Dean Potter and his dog, “Whisper” who BASE jumped together, the dog with goggles in a specially designed pack on his owner’s back. Trust taken to the utmost degree. Dean made a film called, “When Dogs Fly” and Whisper appeared on his owner’s Instagram account with the hashtag #NeverLeaveTheDogBehind. On a lower key, dogs and owners running and walking and exploring the hills are covered. Search and Rescue Dogs as well as dogs rescued from shelters feature and there’s a few good interviews especially with Chris Bonnington and Lucy Creamer.
Highly recommended.
Fantastic stories of owners and their adventurous dogs that tie in nicely with Helen Mort’s new book, “Never Leave The Dog Behind.” The blurb on the back cover sums things up nicely; “we live in a world full of dog lovers and many of us count them as members of the family. We’re fascinated by them;either anthropomorphizing our pets or obsessing about the ways they differ from us. And mountains – theatres of risk, drama and heroism – are the perfect stage for us to enact our canine obsession in all it’s pathos and poetry. In short, the hills bring into focus just how much we love being with dogs.”
Well written and easy to read, the book demonstrates the close links between dogs, their owners and the hills and mountains. Through the chapters, Helen explores the relationship between dogs and their owners and how they can all enjoy not just the great outdoors but also great adventures. Probably most extreme is the tale of Dean Potter and his dog, “Whisper” who BASE jumped together, the dog with goggles in a specially designed pack on his owner’s back. Trust taken to the utmost degree. Dean made a film called, “When Dogs Fly” and Whisper appeared on his owner’s Instagram account with the hashtag #NeverLeaveTheDogBehind. On a lower key, dogs and owners running and walking and exploring the hills are covered. Search and Rescue Dogs as well as dogs rescued from shelters feature and there’s a few good interviews especially with Chris Bonnington and Lucy Creamer.
Highly recommended.
January 31, 2022
If you are expecting a cosy read with some Heriot like doggy anecdotes, then this book 'Never leave the dog behind' by Helen Mort will not match expectations but there are many hints and pointers that the prose throws out that will resonate with anyone who has an interest in exploring the places where dogs and people cojoin.
Overall, I found it an uneasy book, full of leads that went nowhere, skirting around, half approaching subjects deep to the heart of the author but never fully articulated. It is billed as a series of essays, some very short. (Indeed, the book is not long either.) Their content is a tangle of interviews with people who practice extreme sports and sound bites as to their relationship with their dogs, flash backs to the author’s own running past/present, her relationship with her dogs, a few accounts of sociological research and poems by other authors. It reads more like a series of notes, pertinent to the subject of obsession with an extreme sport, life crises, and how keeping a dog can if not heal, then hold life together in precarious balance but it is difficult to find a thread or narrative.
So, perhaps the entire book can be seen as an experiential manual of the internal and external process it takes to write a poem.
If so, I felt it was a missed opportunity that the author had not persisted in what is obviously her main strength and used the prose notes for distillation into a lengthier poem or series of poems, rather than the very few she has included. In this medium it would become a compelling and cathartic experience and as soul-touching as ‘The Dogs’, the one that ends the book.
Overall, I found it an uneasy book, full of leads that went nowhere, skirting around, half approaching subjects deep to the heart of the author but never fully articulated. It is billed as a series of essays, some very short. (Indeed, the book is not long either.) Their content is a tangle of interviews with people who practice extreme sports and sound bites as to their relationship with their dogs, flash backs to the author’s own running past/present, her relationship with her dogs, a few accounts of sociological research and poems by other authors. It reads more like a series of notes, pertinent to the subject of obsession with an extreme sport, life crises, and how keeping a dog can if not heal, then hold life together in precarious balance but it is difficult to find a thread or narrative.
So, perhaps the entire book can be seen as an experiential manual of the internal and external process it takes to write a poem.
If so, I felt it was a missed opportunity that the author had not persisted in what is obviously her main strength and used the prose notes for distillation into a lengthier poem or series of poems, rather than the very few she has included. In this medium it would become a compelling and cathartic experience and as soul-touching as ‘The Dogs’, the one that ends the book.
April 6, 2021
Never Leave the Dog Behind
Fortunately, I have both a dog and a passion for walking and exploring mountains, and with ‘Never leave your dog behind ‘I was frequently drawn into the world that Helen had created with her walks and tales of having a dog accompany you. I too have walked many of the paths that Helen has walked and felt a sense of relationship she too has found when walking with just a dog.
What fascinated me with the book was the way she blended other areas of her life and research into the book, with tales of rescue dogs both at home and abroad, extracts from other walkers and of course the intermittent pieces of poetry that threads the book together. These pieces of prose have led me to explore the relationship we have with our 4 legged companions and to that, I thank Helen for writing such a well-constructed book.
If you have ever walked along mountain trails with your own dog, you get to understand the world through their eyes and that’s what Helen has manged to portray in her work and I could see myself changing my own relationship with my dog whilst reading the book. If you are new to climbing mountains or even contemplating getting a dog and wondering whether you should take that step, then have a read at this to see why those of us with dogs are content to walk with them and share that moment in time.
Fortunately, I have both a dog and a passion for walking and exploring mountains, and with ‘Never leave your dog behind ‘I was frequently drawn into the world that Helen had created with her walks and tales of having a dog accompany you. I too have walked many of the paths that Helen has walked and felt a sense of relationship she too has found when walking with just a dog.
What fascinated me with the book was the way she blended other areas of her life and research into the book, with tales of rescue dogs both at home and abroad, extracts from other walkers and of course the intermittent pieces of poetry that threads the book together. These pieces of prose have led me to explore the relationship we have with our 4 legged companions and to that, I thank Helen for writing such a well-constructed book.
If you have ever walked along mountain trails with your own dog, you get to understand the world through their eyes and that’s what Helen has manged to portray in her work and I could see myself changing my own relationship with my dog whilst reading the book. If you are new to climbing mountains or even contemplating getting a dog and wondering whether you should take that step, then have a read at this to see why those of us with dogs are content to walk with them and share that moment in time.
November 30, 2020
Much more than a great collection of doggie tales.
The subtitle to #Never Leave the Dog Behind is "Our Love of Dogs and Mountains". Within the book, Helen really explores the bond between an owner and their dog plus the relationship they often form together with the hills and mountains, the people who live and work there and more besides.
The book has you hooked right from the introduction which contains a number of stories of faithful hounds. Helen successfully blends her own doggie stories through a series of chapters which explore the relationship between dogs and their owners and how they enjoy not just the great outdoors but also the great adventures to be had there. These chapters also explore the adventures enjoyed by famous dogs and owners including Dean Potter (infamous for taking his dog base jumping), Chris Bonington, Lucy Creamer, the St Bernards of alpine rescue fame and today's SARDA rescue dogs who work closely with our own mountain rescue teams.
If you enjoy the countryside and exploring it with your dog this one is for you.
The subtitle to #Never Leave the Dog Behind is "Our Love of Dogs and Mountains". Within the book, Helen really explores the bond between an owner and their dog plus the relationship they often form together with the hills and mountains, the people who live and work there and more besides.
The book has you hooked right from the introduction which contains a number of stories of faithful hounds. Helen successfully blends her own doggie stories through a series of chapters which explore the relationship between dogs and their owners and how they enjoy not just the great outdoors but also the great adventures to be had there. These chapters also explore the adventures enjoyed by famous dogs and owners including Dean Potter (infamous for taking his dog base jumping), Chris Bonington, Lucy Creamer, the St Bernards of alpine rescue fame and today's SARDA rescue dogs who work closely with our own mountain rescue teams.
If you enjoy the countryside and exploring it with your dog this one is for you.
January 29, 2021
This is a small yet mighty book. Helen Mort has managed to pack sociology, psychology, science, mountain climbing and interesting facts into the pages of this slim volume. Intensely personal, it tells of our enduring love of dogs and our lack of understanding of (wo)man’s best friend.
This is a dramatic book, full of both prose and poetry, literally and figuratively. Much of the detail was new to me: St Bernard’s in the St Bernard’s Pass in Switzerland, rescue dogs in the lakes and stories of mountain climbers and their dogs. There are many anecdotes from Helen herself and the best story of all is of Bell, Helen’s rescue Whippet.
If you’ve never been into the hills and mountains with your dog, this is a book to inspire you to do so. It could even inspire you to welcome a dog into your life for the first time, like Helen.
This is a dramatic book, full of both prose and poetry, literally and figuratively. Much of the detail was new to me: St Bernard’s in the St Bernard’s Pass in Switzerland, rescue dogs in the lakes and stories of mountain climbers and their dogs. There are many anecdotes from Helen herself and the best story of all is of Bell, Helen’s rescue Whippet.
If you’ve never been into the hills and mountains with your dog, this is a book to inspire you to do so. It could even inspire you to welcome a dog into your life for the first time, like Helen.
March 24, 2021
For such a short book about dogs and mountains there's entire swaths with only tangential references to them. The author's love for poetry and literacy shines through with a few descriptions of dog adventures which tries to tie in philosophy and meaning.
The chapters jump wildly from Napleonic Wars to 973AD monks without breaking stride, the author's pregnancy and partner occasionally pop in and out.
Random musings such as whether dogs remind us of a time when we communicate through body language and whether a dog is an extension of the mind come in but it is remarkably short on anything practical about dogs or mountains.
The chapters jump wildly from Napleonic Wars to 973AD monks without breaking stride, the author's pregnancy and partner occasionally pop in and out.
Random musings such as whether dogs remind us of a time when we communicate through body language and whether a dog is an extension of the mind come in but it is remarkably short on anything practical about dogs or mountains.
January 27, 2021
Helen writes beautifully about various accounts of dogs befriending humans and helping us when we need their help most: in the mountains! The book includes short extracts of other relevant literature which I felt tied it all together nicely. It's a very quick read, I only wish it was a little longer, with even more heartwarming stories about dogs!
November 21, 2020
Read the book in 2 sittings which is unusual for me. Really explores the relationship we have with our dogs. Particularly enjoyed the chapters on search and rescue dogs and ghost dogs.
If you enjoy spending time outdoors with your dogs, then this book is well worth a read.
If you enjoy spending time outdoors with your dogs, then this book is well worth a read.
December 30, 2020
I mean honestly, a book about loving dogs and being out on the mountains written by a poet, what could be more perfect?! I’ve loved this book by the fabulous Helen Mort.
August 2, 2023
For such a short book on supposedly dogs and mountains, it rambled on and was quite pretentious. An entire chapter dedicated to why we take photos of our pets. Easy. Because they are there!
This book reminds me why I seldom read nonfiction. It’s one person’s thoughts. Not necessarily facts.
This book reminds me why I seldom read nonfiction. It’s one person’s thoughts. Not necessarily facts.
November 29, 2020
An exciting book ! Amazing
January 13, 2021
Rambling and pretentious.
February 4, 2021
Very interesting, enjoyed it but had to mark it down as they missed a K on Kirkby Lonsdale 😅
October 22, 2023
Some really beautiful poetic moments and I also couldn't help feeling like there was something I just wasn't quite getting.
January 5, 2025
an enjoyable read if you like dogs, mountains or poetry!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews