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The Labrador Pact by Matt Haig
Duty Over All
“Labradors must devote every aspect of their lives to protecting their masters if we are to gain the Eternal Reward. If one Labrador fails in their task, the whole mission is placed in jeopardy.
Fewer Families now have dogs to protect them, and fewer still have Labradors. This means our influence over human society could soon begin to wane. In order to prevent this dreadful situation, every single Labrador, whether within a Family or not, must have their master’s’ best interests at heart.
If we surrender to our instincts and neglect those who provide for us, we will never be reunited with our own Families in the after-life. We must therefor be permanently aware of the ultimate truth: that to give up on humans is to give up on ourselves.”
Prince is a young Labrador learning The Labrador Pact and struggling to understand and apply it to his Family. The role of the family dog, more specifically that of the Labrador in the Family, is to protect the Family, to keep it together, no matter what the cost. Duty Over All.
The stability of the Family, of the Pact itself, is threatened by the enemy- Springer Spaniels, self-absorbed, self-serving dogs who are attempting to interest dogs the world over, Labradors in particular, to indulge in the finer things in life: sniffing for fun, slipping one’s collar, barking at squirrels… Springers have influenced other dogs to mock and scoff at all Labradors.
This concept (sort of a pre- A Dog’s Purpose tale) made for interesting reading.
The book opens with Prince’s narrative on the day of his death, though without the tear-jerking sentiment of books like A Dog’s Purpose, A Dog’s Journey, and The Art of Racing in the Rain. Prince is being euthanized (and, prior to that, muzzled) for biting a human. He laments at how he has strayed from the Pact and chosen violence in an attempt to exercise Duty Over All. None of the humans in the book ever realize that Prince’s reasons for biting were legitimate. As the tale unfolds, the reader is clued in on the events that brought Prince to this dreary day. Prince does many eye-opening things in the name of protecting his Family, though other dogs (both Springers and other Labradors) voice their disapproval of them all. Every one of the heroic acts he chooses to engage in, in order to protect his family, is deemed an act of violence: when youth that steals Grandma’s jewelry- violence; when Simon seeks to separate Kate from her family and have her as his own wife- violence; while trying to escape Henry, another Labrador whom Prince thought was his friend- violence.
Meanwhile, the Family is in turmoil. The patriarch has died, leaving his wife, daughter, grandson and granddaughter bereft, while his son-in-law struggles to support them all. Adam is tempted to stray from his wife by the new, younger woman who has moved into the new house on the park. Ironically, the object of Adam’s desire is married to an old chum of Adam’s, who once had an affair with Kate. The teenagers in Prince’s family are going through their own angst, drama and turmoil.
All of this leaves poor Prince distraught, though valiantly trying his hardest to maintain Duty Over All. Even when his world is crashing down about him.
Who could blame a dog for trying?
This book was definitely a very different take on the usual dog story. It wasn’t as cheerful and upbeat as most, but it still had it’s good points. The Springer spaniel was quite hysterical and that aspect of the plot added much amusement.
-Jennifer Casula spent the fall of 2012 fostering a litter of four Australian Cattle Dog mix puppies for Texas Cattle Dog Rescue. They gave everyone kennel cough, but they also provided lots of laughs.
