I had an online romance in 2020. With Olive and Mabel.

If that doesn’t mean anything to you, you can probably stop reading this post. But if you recognise the names – and the name Andrew Cotter – please continue.

Olive, Mabel and Me by Andrew Cotter is the story of two Very Good Dogs. I think it is the first pet-related memoir I’ve read, so I have no comparison, but Olive and Mabel have set a pet-memoir-precedent for me. This book was cheerful and funny and calming and unexpected in so many ways.

Sports commentator Cotter, reminisces about the pet dogs he had growing up; how Olive and then Mabel came into his life; their shared loved of climbing Scottish Munros (especially in the snow); and that video (and all the ones that followed).

It sounds fraught, a pet memoir based on viral social media videos! Let me reassure you – although Cotter is writing about the loves of his life, it’s not at all mawkish. And the videos purely set the scene, giving context to the strange time that COVID was. Of the videos, Cotter writes –

It seemed that they had just captured the oddness of the time and the feeling that we all needed some sort of whimsical diversion.

Cotter’s dry sense of humour is channeled through the dogs but never in a cutesy way. It’s not overdone either (I can’t stand it when ‘funny’ authors deliver a joke every second line – it quickly loses its appeal) – Cotter’s pace is spot on and the laughs are interspersed with gentle reflections on the meaningfulness of having dogs in his life, and specific details about his mountain adventures.

Many of the laughs are food-related. Labrarors are known to be motivated by food (Olive is especially motivated, and will pursue anything from ‘proton-sized’ crumbs to questionable decomposing things). Cotter describes his local cafe –

Those working there seem to love the dogs and will often bring across a bowl of water. This very much piques their interest, but as it is lowered to the floor in front of them you can almost see the disappointment spreading across Olive’s face. “Ah, sorry, I actually ordered one of those bacon ciabattas…”

I don’t have a dog (and have never officially had one – I say ‘officially’ because growing up, our neighbour’s dog spent the majority of her time at our house, where we lavished her with treats and pats and attention) but that didn’t detract – Cotter isn’t writing only to dog lovers. His commentary is about companionship and finding joy and committing to whatever is in front of you right now.

Soon after Cotter’s video went viral, a few kids spotted Olive and Mabel in the park, and treated them like the celebrities they are (Mabel happy to receive all pats). One kid, having not seen the videos, asked Cotter, “But what do they DO?”  Later in the book, Cotter arrives at the answer –

“…nothing special and yet everything.”

4/5

Iain is also passionate about climbing mountains and had already marched round these four, but was prepared to repeat the effort as Labrador guide. Olive recognised him from previous hikes and so they caught up and chatted a bit about old times, including a macaroni pie she had once tried to take from him, as we set off.

As part of the 20 Books of Summer reading challenge, I’m comparing the Belfast summer and Melburnian winter. The results for the day I finished this book (July 19): Belfast 14°-22° and Melbourne 9°-12°.