Flirt, Punk and Loo

Patricia Morley is professor emerita of English and Canadian studies at
Concordia University, and the author of Kurlek, Margaret Laurence: The
Long Journey Home, and As Though Life Mattered: Leo Kennedy’s Story.

This beautifully written little book belongs to that very special
category of books that reach out with equal power to both adults and
children.

Flirt, Punk and Loo consists of 25 vignettes about Carr’s joys and
difficulties in raising Old English Bobtail sheep dogs—their
personalities, their loyalties, and their eventual departures, after
having been sold or given away. Twelve of her delightful graphite
drawings of the dogs, her art students, and herself, along with
hand-printed reflections “by” the dogs on their adventures in
Carr’s household, combine with the tales to create a short book that
brims with fun, pathos, humor, and self-teasing awareness.

Primarily a painter, Carr came late to writing for publication. Her
first book, Klee Wyck (1941), won a Governor General’s Award. This one
captures the high spirits of the “Bobbies” in language that is
energetic, witty, and lyrical. A dog is “ravenous” for liberty, a
park peacock “resentful” that his magnificence can go no further.
Newborn pups roll in their mother’s box “like sausages” with four
legs foolishly sticking out. This is a book for all animal lovers.