Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Wine dogs Australia : more dogs from Australian wineries


Author: Craig McGill and Susan Elliott

Publication Date: 2007

Category: Non-fiction

Who'll want to read it? Dog lovers

Point of no return: Front cover, featuring Rodney

Classic line: From Razoo, a Labrador, whose obsession is: riding in the ute, second only to driving the ute.

What's it all about? A photographic collection of dogs from wineries throughout Australia. This is just fun for people who love dogs. Apart from great portraits the book has a profile of each dog, which winery belongs to it, the breed and the names of its owners. Much of the humour lies in the dog profiles, for example the cover boy, Rodney: Obsession: Jim Jim (his kennel mate) ; Favourite toy Jim Jim ; Favourite food: human food ; Known accomplices: Ross or anyone with food ; Favourite pastime: chasing kangaroos at night ; Naughtiest deed: stealing the main course at a winery function. There are about a dozen local Hunter Valley wine dogs featured, including Ella from Tulloch Wines, Jack from Hope Estate, Lucky and Bear from Gartelmann Wines, Dusty from Poole’s Rock Wines, and my favourite, Booph from Brokenwood. I have met Booph on a number of occasions and this photo makes him look very dignified.

There is also a useful winery and vineyard listing providing locations and contact details.

Wine Dogs have their own website: http://www.winedogs.com/

Controversy!!
“Veterinarians have reacted with alarm to a new book called ‘Wine Dogs Australia’, featuring photographs of dogs carrying bunches of potentially deadly grapes in their mouths.” http://www.dogs.com.au/news/13/
Hence the doggy health warning in the 2008 reprint.

Publisher: Giant Dog