When Dogs Fetch Trouble Instead of Triumph by Susan McCormick

LUCY BURDETTE: Today we are delighted to welcome Susan McCormick back to the blog--this time with a topic close to many of our hearts--dogs in books and life!

SUSAN MCCORMICK: I would like to say that dog character Boris the Newfoundland puppy made a  spectacular save in the newest book in my Fog Ladies cozy murder mystery series. Dogs of many breeds are known for their amazing rescue abilities. Certainly the giant dogs, Newfoundlands, St. Bernards, and Mastiffs, with their tremendous courage, strength, and innate skill, are among these heroes. Think Newfoundland Seaman of Lewis and Clark fame, or St. Bernard Barry in the Swiss Alps, or the entire fleet of Newfoundlands assisting the Coast Guard in Northern Italy. My personal giant dog loves—Kitty, Mandy, Earl, Edward, and Albert—were certainly heroic in their loyalty, love, and slobber, and I miss them all greatly. 

In my own life, through my ten-year-old eyes, I witnessed this unwavering protective nature when my baby brother crawled toward the top of our treacherous basement stairs. One of the four of us older kids had dangerously left the door open. Our St. Bernard, Mandy, dashed over and grabbed him by the scruff of the back of his neck, otherwise known as his shirt collar, and pulled him safely away. 

My Newfoundland, Albert, wasn’t much for the water and might not rise to the occasion if called on. The one and only time he entered a lake, with the lure of an entire Pacific Northwest salmon, he gracefully breaststroked to shore and never waded in above his ankles again. Instinct can only go so far.

Albert aside, I set out to find ordinary heroes among the gentle giant set, and because of these breeds’ inherent bravery, immense size, powerful builds, and fearless determination, I expected to find examples of rescue after rescue. This is what I discovered:

190-pound English Mastiff Floyd, pooped out after an exhausting two-mile trek in Utah, lounged peacefully on a gurney hefted by human rescuers who carried the big boy back down the trail.

150-pound Mastiff Mason tumbled down a riverbank in Texas and was hoisted on a stretcher to safety by the fire department.

Missing 165-pound elderly Newfoundland Smitty Bear was found trapped by logs down a steep ravine in his own backyard and was saved by firefighters with a chainsaw and a rescue basket.

120-pound St Bernard Daisy developed leg pain and plopped at the top of a mountain in England, and eight volunteer rescuers carried her down.

My own 180-pound English Mastiff Earl, tied to an enormous compost bin during a friend’s outdoor barbecue, got spooked and raced across the yard, compost bin flying behind like a kite, only to charge off a ledge and land six feet below, buried in decaying organic matter. My husband rescued him, pushing his huge backside up over the edge. Earl was terrified of trash day ever since, with all those lurking compost bins ready to attack him.



Dogs have helped humans for centuries, tirelessly digging out avalanche victims, dragging drowning swimmers to shore, unearthing victims under rubble. So these canine creatures deserve every rescue we can offer.

As for Boris in The Fog Ladies: Date with Death, at the crucial moment when he was needed, called on to spring into action and corner the killer, on the verge of becoming a legendary hero himself, what does he do? He demurs. He diverts toward the cheese platter on the coffee table instead. The rescue is left to the Fog Ladies themselves.

Do you know a dog who has rescued, or who has needed rescuing? 

Short Synopsis of The Fog Ladies: Date with Death, Book 4 in The San Francisco Cozy Murder Mystery series

The Fog Ladies are at it again, spunky senior sleuths and an overstressed young medical resident solving murders from their elegant apartment building in San Francisco. They join a senior dating group, and romantic intrigue soon turns to murder. Graham Parselle, lady killer extraordinaire, plunges off a cliff on a Senior Singles outing. Did one of his dates pitch him over? Or is Olivia Honeycut’s new beau to blame?

Bio

Susan McCormick is an award-winning writer and doctor who lives in Seattle. She graduated from Smith College and George Washington University School of Medicine, with additional medical training in Washington, DC and San Francisco, where she lived in an elegant apartment building much like the one in the Fog Ladies books. Susan served as a doctor in the US Army for nine years before moving to the Pacific Northwest and civilian practice. In addition to the Fog Ladies series, she also wrote Granny Can’t Remember Me, a lighthearted picture book about Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, and The Antidote, a middle grade to adult medical fantasy. She is married with two boys. Though dogless now, Susan loves giant dogs, the bigger and slobberier the better. Visit her at https://susanmccormickbooks.com/

Buy the book on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or Bookshop. 

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