To Dance With the White Dog

 To Dance With the White Dog by Terry Kay

I very nearly missed this one. I've tended to shy away from dog stories since reading Fifteen Dogs. It was brutal and did nothing to encourage my already somewhat tenuous relationship with creatures of the canine variety. I'm not afraid of them as I once was, but I still don't completely trust them. Sure, they can be loving companions - I know dogs who are exactly that - but I've heard too many stories of sudden, unexpected violence to let my guard down entirely. 

All that to say, I happened to come across a review of To Dance With the White Dog that made me think I'd like it, and indeed I did. Loved it, in fact. It's a heart-warming story about Sam, an elderly farmer, who has just lost his wife of 57 years and doesn't know quite how to live without her. His well intended children fuss over him when all he wants is to be left alone to figure it out. 

One day he sees a white dog watching him from a distance. He leaves out scraps of food and eventually gets the dog to come closer and then into the house. At first no one else can see the dog and they worry their father is imagining it, but after a while they begin to see him, too, though they never hear him bark.  

Always seeming to know when help or comfort is needed, White Dog becomes Sam's companion in all things. Without his children knowing, Sam and the dog sneak off to attend a school reunion in another town, but on the way Sam becomes confused and loses his way. After spending an uncomfortable night together in the truck, a kind stranger rescues them and takes them home with him so Sam can rest and have a hot meal.

Collected by his children and safely home again, he realizes his days of venturing off on his own are over, but he finds other ways to fill his time. White Dog stays with Sam until he knows he won't be needed anymore, then he disappears as quietly as he came. 

A simple story, but it isn't about plot it's about Sam. We get to know him - and he's worth knowing - through seeing him in everyday situations, struggling with grief and the changes aging brings. His story is a celebration of life, written with tenderness and humour, reminding us that life goes on and is worth living even in changing circumstances. And, yes, he does dance with the White Dog.

I'll end with one of my favourite lines:

"he knew her voice would be the same - light, lilting,rushing to the next word and the next, her voice as cursive as her signature."