Book Review: Tales of Al, the Water Rescue Dog: The Making of a Super Athlete (dog lifesavers)

Tales of Al, the Water Rescue Dog: The Making of a Super Athlete, by Lynne Cox (Knopf, 2022, 224pp HB, $27) Review by Skye Anderson

I've had this book for a while. It's a fairly small book so I thought I could get through it quickly, between reading the hard stuff that I am required to read. I did, but, rather than passing it on like I do many of the books I review, I first started memorizing the page numbers with quotes to remember but when that list became too long, I resorted to dogearing (no pun intended) the lower right corner of a page and when I had too many of those, I broke down and started to highlight: that meant I was going to keep the book. And I only keep the really good ones that I want to read again.

Tales of Al is a lovely read about an Italian school for 'lifesaver dogs' that are known world-wide via Youtube. Just google on Italian, water dog, lifeguard, lifesaver or even Croatian water dogs.

A really good book is one whose review I start writing before I have finished reading it. Tales of Al is one such book.

Al is a big dog, an Italian water dog* who is being trained to drop out of helicopters and offer himself  to a panicky swimmer to hold on to and then swim the human to shore. The training is long - many months, but these special dogs love the water and, when certified, also love their jobs. They swim out to struggling swimmers, then circle them until the swimmer grabs onto a handle on their canine life jacket. Some dogs can even tow multiple swimmers into shore at the same time.

The Book and the Author

You will learn as much about the scrumptious Italian cooking as about the dogs' training.  In short, the author ventures over to Italy to observe the dogs' training to become lifesavers, but especially a Newfie named Al. It is hit or miss for most of the book though since Al is too exuberant at times. Will he pass the final exams or will he have to spend another year in training?

Author  Lynne Cox is a long distance swimmer and motivational speaker with a lovely writing style. I can't wait to read Grayson about her adventure swimming with a lost baby whale.

*Other breeds in this profession often include golden retrievers and labrador retrievers for their love of the water and calm dispositions