My Dog Tulip, a view of a Man and His Dog

“This is Bob Barker reminding you to help control the pet populations—have your pets spayed and neutered” 

Bob Barker, The Price is Right (1981-2007)

My Dog Tulip

By J.R. Ackerley

The latest installment of the 1000 Books to Read Before You Die is My Dog Tulip by J.R. Ackerley.  Ostensibly the book is a semi-memoir about Ackerley’s dog named Queenie.  Published in 1955, the book is a relatively short read at 200 pages.  I would say the vernacular of the book has not aged well with the times and if written today would be edited very differently.   

J.R. Ackerley had an interesting career as a writer and with the BBC (British Broadcasting Channel), rising to be editor of the BBC Magazine, The Listener.  Prior to his career, Ackerley was a British soldier in World War 1 and took an extensive trip to India eventually writing a novel and play about both.  With the deaths of his parents, J.K Ackerley came out acknowledging publicly his homosexuality at a time when such an act was socially unacceptable and potentially against the law.  When moving to publish the book on Queenie, the editors asked that that Ackerley change the dog’s name to avoid derision. 

My Dog Tulip chronicles how Ackerley attempted to bond and care for his dog.  One interesting detail, Tulip/Queenie was a German Sheppard but from 1914 at the start of World War 1 to 1977, the name German Sheppard was blacklisted and changed to Alsatians as if to banish all memories of anything German.  At the same time the royal family in Britain changed its name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to the House of Windsor.  Ackerley refers to Tulip as an Alsatian throughout.  He also keeps referring to her as, “My Bitch”.  That elicited a chuckle even though that was how female dogs were referred at the time (I hope).  Tulip’s master wants to breed her, and the books chronicles the shenanigans he goes through to accomplish that aim.

The book is on the graphic side with the descriptions of her body “in heat”.  The whole time as I was reading about Tulip’s breeding patterns and then the work her master spent making sure she did not breed, I kept reflecting to the Bob Barker quote above.  I am assuming that “fixing” your dog in the 1940s and 1950s was not as common as it is today. I have read in other sources that Ackerley obtained the dog for companionship that he was not receiving from casual sexual encounters.  That brought greater clarity to the book because the author seems obsessed that Tulip/Queenie engage in the pleasures of sex.  I also wonder if the book is not an allegory for his sexual adventures.  

The book did leave me pondering, why was My Dog Tulip included on this list of 1000 Books to Read Before You Die?  I thought the book could have been made better.  Ackerley does not refer to his obtaining Tulip/Queenie or why after many years alone he attempted to raise a dog.  I believe this memoir was included because Ackerley was an early gay rights activist in his own way and the book represents a guidepost on the route to equality.  The book is written as an acceptance of Tulip and Tulip’s actions.  I speculate that the book is really an allegory to Ackerley’s life.  That his life should be accepted (as Tulip/Queenie) and not conformed as society saw it.  I did not enjoy the read but now see why it could be important. If you are intrigued, I hope you pick up a copy. 

Until next time, Keep Reading My Friends!!!!