The philosopher and the wolf

Anyone read this book? I've never come across such an arrogant load of rubbish in my life!!! In fact at one point the author states that if people don't think he is arrogant it's because he's so good at hiding it

He goes on and on about how wonderful, clever, athletic and 'unusually handsome' he is and how far superior his 'wolf' is to mere dogs

Here's a photo of him with his 'wolf'. Perhaps he's not as smart as he thinks he is

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books...rticle1143675/


The parts about how he trained his 'wolf' make for very sad reading, kneeing him, stamping on his feet and throwing chains at him

Oh and he had to smuggle him into Ireland as a 'Malamute' as Irish people are scared of big dogs and Malamutes are unheard of in Ireland so no-one knows what they look like I guess he should have looked at the end of his lead LOL

Hmmm, the "dog" in the photo looks more like a pure Mal to me I must say. Not sure either why he would have to smuggle the dog in, as in northern ireland you are allowed to keep a pure wolf as a pet.

I have only skimmed the article, but I think I have to agree on the surface with your summary - although I might try and get hold of the book.

ermmm that dont look like a wolf to me ...... and i cant be bovverd to read it neither

That's a bit how I felt too, but was far too polite to say so !!

However, if I can get hold of the book, I wouldn't mind a dekko.

I either read it ion a sunday glossy or it was read on the radio (radio 4----I am sad!),

I thought it was funny and he made a good case for not having wolves as pets. He lost curtains etc and then decided to tire him out----he got on a circle of the wolf getting fitter and fitter!

He took it to lectures and it nicked all the students food if they left it around,

rune

sounds like my Tupac lol

but the whole premise of the book is based on his 'wolf' being superior to dogs in every way, but look at the photo, it's a Mal kind of ruins his argument....

Like most books it has its good points; when he writes about the animal he clearly loved it and the chapter about caring for it when it is dying and very touching- few men would so publicly admit this kind of emotion. Perhaps arrogant and self obsessed as well but he creates a few interesting arguments as well.

On the down side I found the philosophy a bit heavy handed and formulaic. I would agree about the training methods sounding rough; certainly not my style.

There were some funny stories in the book that I could relate to. The pics do look somewhat Mal.

Northern Ireland isnt part of Ireland, its part of the UK.

You arent allowed to keep wolves as parts in N.Ireland.
They come under the same rules as the rest of the UK:
Wolves come under the Dangerous Wild Animals Order (Northern Ireland) 2004, in the UK the licenses are given by DEFRA, in N.Ire, by the Department of Environment (DoE).

The photo is a Mal without a doubt. Sounds like one to avoid.