Paula Xiberras
David Darcy first started visiting Tasmania a couple of years ago and now it’s become an annual event. David loves all parts of Tasmania especially Launceston and says given the opportunity he is happy ‘to rave about Tassie’ to everyone he can and he hopes to get back soon and this time stay for about two weeks.
David’s latest book is a companion book to his ‘Every Man and His Dog’, a book about men and their relationships with their dogs. This time David explores the relationship between women and their dogs called ‘A Girls Best Friend’.
The name David means ‘beloved’ and these companion volumes demonstrate to us that when it comes to people and their dogs it really is a case of the dogs being ‘beloved’ to and by their owners.
David says that the women’s story of their relationship with their dogs is a little different than that of the male as women don’t necessarily do what men do and ‘parade their dogs on the back of the ute’ because David jokes women treat their dogs like their children and they wouldn’t put their children on the back of their utes!
David says some women with dogs might be experiencing ’empty nest syndrome’ and their dogs fill this gap. Giving further support to this idea is one owner documented in the book, called Veronica that said of her dog ‘his name was Dan, and he was human’.
Another factor that David found surprising was that about 90 percent of the dogs women own are rescue dogs. There are stories of some women paying great sums to bring dogs from overseas, enduring the dog’s extended period in isolation when the outcome was not known. Some even forgo their mortgage to pay for their dog and would gladly let their dog potentially tamper with even their most treasured objects around their house. Older owners remarked that now when so many medical advances were available people were able to provide the best for their dogs.
With a sprinkling of celebrities stories included in the book, it’s clear that famous or not, the relationship and devotion to their dogs is the same with the only difference being that the celebrities have the means to give their dog a little more of a comfy lifestyle!
While writing this book David introduced a little cat he rescued in the desert to his family and says the cat has changed his life for the better.
One can only wonder what this new acquisition might mean for David’s next book!
