Customer Reviews

Colter: The True Story of the Best Dog I Ever Had

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a book about bird hunting and the author's partnership with a very special pointing dog. Being a non-hunter detracted not one bit from my appeciation of this exploration of the depths of the human-canine relationship. In fact, I have never encountered it done with such empathic insight. Rick Bass writes about emotions; his deep feelings for all living things, from turtles to ecosystems. But the focus is upon his intense love of dogs and of the intimate partnering with a dog that draws him to bird hunting. He confesses ambivalence about shooting birds, and does so mainly to reward Colter. He does quite a credible job of conveying to the reader the dog's side of the experience as well. If you love dogs of any breed, this is a "must read".

I love this book! I think that anyone who loves dogs as much as I do will appreciate the sentiments of Rick Bass when he describes his beloved hunting dog, Colter. Although I have never owned a hunting dog, the pure and simple emotion evident in this book is somehow heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time. Great for dog lovers, hunters, and nature lovers.

For anyone who has ever truly loved a dog (if you have, you know what I'm talking about), this is a must read. If you're a bird hunter, this book has special significance. But even if your not, there's much here for you. Rick Bass is uniquely open with his feelings for a goofy German Shorthaired Pointer (aren't they all goofy?) named Colter. As anyone who has ever and loved a great dog knows, these types of animals are not perfect. In fact, their greatness comes from that lack of perfection -- their unique personlities that sometimes make you just grin and shake your head. Colter is just that kind of a dog and the way Rick Bass tells his story (and the story of their time together) is quite touching and even hillariously funny at times.

I picked up this book for two reasons. 1) a friend has been haranguing me to read one of his books for years and 2) I just lost one of the greatest dogs you could ever meet.

I was really disappointed in the book. Truly, it has some really high points... operatic in the way things resonate-- in the best sense of the word. But he fails to keep the story in that wonderfully alive and deeply magic place. The place where I imagine a story about life with a great dog would have to take place.

In a strange way it almost seems like there's not really enough story there. Or maybe the wonders of chasing through the mists after his fabulous Colter are just too gossamer to live on the page.

While I believe Rick Bass has received immense praise for his ability to depict scenes so vividly I didn't find that to be true. There was something missing. The soul of the story when it came through was breathtaking but most of the time it wasn't there. I was just working my way through prose that wasn't very compelling and a story that was rather thin. I was awkwardly aware of the author and unable to find the continuous true thread of life in the story.

My condolences for the loss of his beloved dog.

This book made me angry. It also made me laugh. Sometimes, "art" wrenches from us unexpected emotions and this is what Rick Bass was able to do in "Colter". Somehow Bass has the extraordinary good fortune to own a truly superb bird dog, a wunderkind of the field. Colter, named after the Montana mountain man, has boundless energy, a true passion for hunting, and an aura of "goofiness". Bass was hardly his ideal companion in the field. He was, and probably still is, a terrible shot. Bird dogs expect the hunter to hold up his or her end of the bargain. After pointing a bird, holding the bird, and then flushing the bird, is it too much to ask that you actually shoot the bird? In Bass' case, it was far too often too much to ask. But this honesty is endearing as well as frustrating. Despite these failures in the field, Colter remained a hunting fool. This is a book about passions. Bass is fortunate enough to hunt over 100 days a year, and wingshooting has obviously consumed him. And he is passionate about his dogs, though his obvious preference for Colter comes through time and again. The perfect dog, and the imperfect man.

...This book is a love story, not an instructional guide. Bass'sfailings as a dog trainer and hunter are central to the story; they don't detract from it. As well, the very things that Evelyn says the book "could have been" (pride and bonding) are evident on every page. Bass writes, after one hunt, when Colter performs perfectly but Bass misses every bird: "My dog; I am so tired of letting him down." Beautiful story, beautifully written. Don't hesitate.

I grew up in a house without a dog. 6 years ago my wife and I were given a puppy and my life was changed forever. This book truly draws out the emotions any one who has ever loved a dog feels about their "best friend". Rick Bass is a truly gifted writer (I have read another of his books)who has a tremendous ability to describe in detail the things that one's mind says to one's self. Those thoughts, reflections and feelings that we experience within our own soul are the true fabric of life that makes us human. Rick Bass has produced words that capture the essence of what it is to be bound to a dog (not own a dog--if anyone is doing the owning it is the dog). He describes so many things that every one who lives with a dog sees. Even the small details describing where Colter sleeps to the way his legs run when he is dreaming.
The pasage on page 31 says it all:
"When you live with a dog-when a dog is a member of your family-you learn soon enough to see the world at least partially through that dog's eyes: when to let it out, when to let it in, when to feed it, when it wants to play, when it is troubled....
With a hunting dog, you learn to pursue what it pursues. Generations of mankind before you might have worked to sculpt this streamlined (yet fluid, and still developing) creature that is now in your life, and now, not in generations but in just a few short years, the dog turns around and sculpts you."

I first became aquainted with Rick Bass when a friend recommended I read _The Ninemile Wolves_. It was a great read, and I've been a loyal Bass reader ever since.

Like Bass' other works, the strength of _Colter_ lies in its simplicity. While the remarkable relationship between Bass and his dog frames the book, there is much to be learned about the outdoors, responsible hunting, life and loss.

In _Colter_ Bass illustrates that hunting is not so much about shooting birds as it is a heightened awareness of one's place in the world. Or perhaps should be. I never thought I would consider bird hunting, though having read _Colter_ I'd like to give it try.

My only complaint about the book was Bass' persistent self-consciousness about his (poor) markmanship. Bass admits that he is a lousy shot, giving countless examples of birds that Colter would flush and that he would miss. One can only assume that it was as frustrating for the dog as for the reader.

Despite this one gripe, however, _Colter_ is a good, quick read. I've been without a dog for several years now, and in _Colter_ I begin to see clearly the reasons why I miss it.

I am a hunter and found this book to be a great read. The book is different from most hunting/dog books in that it doesn't fall into the my-dog-and-I-are-"part of the food chain" junk. What a relief to read a hunting book from someone who appreciates things other than grouse, woodcock, duck, etc. To the "reader from Wisconsin", I suggest he read the book again.

This was an excellent book! Rick Bass captured in words how I've often felt working with and training my own dogs. It is not the successful hunt that makes that "special" dog. It is the joy with which the dog performs. This is not a book about hunting and is not for people who own dogs to hunt. It is for people who hunt because they love their dog!