Product Description

"Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend; inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read."
Groucho Marx

One winter’s afternoon, Stephen Foster walked into a dog re-homing centre with the intention of
picking up a retired greyhound. Instead, he acquired an abandoned lurcher pup.

Foster’s knowledge of dogs was so vague that he had to look up ‘lurcher’ in key reference work The Giant Book of the Dog, to find out what sort of animal was coming to join the family. His research counted for little: the new arrival did not conform to any known breed standard, or indeed any standard whatsoever that might be considered dog-normal.
Walking Ollie is a hilarious – and often heartrending – account of one man’s attempt to turn a psychotic wild animal into something resembling a domestic pet.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #18658 in Books
• Published on: 2007-03-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 224 pages

Guardian, April 22, 2006
Ollie is a joy. So is reading about him. Walking Ollie is the best book about a dog for years.

New Statesman, August 30, 2007
An intriguing meditation on fame and posterity. A thoughtful novel that stands out in a world of identikit publishing.

Times Literary Supplement, June, 2006
"Foster's wryly perceptive book perfectly illustrates the truism that the only thing wrong with dogs is their owners."

Customer Reviews

Worth a read!
We've all heard the saying `never judge a book by its cover'. Well it's certainly apt with this book. The cartoon style cover made me think that it would just be another `chick flick' style book (not the sort of book I enjoy all that much), so I originally by-passed this book in the book store.

I nearly made the same mistake once before with a book called Shakespeare My Butt! which turned out to be nothing much ado about Shakespeare at all, but instead was a fabulously funny read about the life and times of the author (John Donoghue), his new puppy (Barney), as well as a whole host of other very entertaining digressions.

I'm glad I finally picked up Walking Ollie and began reading it. It's not a `chick flick' book at all, but a lovely account of a new owner and his heart winning dog who could also be quite a nuisance at times. Although not as funny as I had hoped, it's nonetheless an enjoyable read - especially if you have a penchant for books that remind you of the trauma of adjusting to life with your new four-legged friend!

All in all, I hope I've learned my lesson and will in future give books with uninspiring covers or weird titles a second glance - they can turn out to be surprisingly wonderful reads.

a great book even if you aren't a dog lover
I'm not really a dog lover, in fact I am frightened of some of the large and aggressive breeds but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Maybe because some of the daft things Ollie does remind me of my daughters dog. Ollie is a rescued lurcher who is terrified of men as well as plastic bags and a whole variety of other things. This dosn't bode well for the author as he takes Ollie on the majority of his walks. Although he originally buys the dog for his partner as she is missing the dog her previous partnet r got custody of he does fall in love with Ollie. Although it is a long slow process Ollie does improve and does actually start to take notice of his owner. This book is very funny in places. A good read.

A must for Lurcher owners
This book is an absolute gem and should be compulsory reading for all Lurcher owners. It had me crying with laughter and cringing at all the scenarios I recognised so well. Everyone who's read this book has loved it and it's recommended reading on the Lurcher Link website now. Stephen has encapsulated all the highs and lows of owning a Saluki Lurcher!