How to Walk a Dog

‘The wonderful thing about Mike White is that while wading through murders and disambiguation he still lives a normal life and loves his dog Cooper and he has written THE book on dogs. And people.His book made me cry. I have a dog. Saffi. Named after a dragon in a kids book. We got Saffi nearly 15 years ago because we finally bought a dog friendly house. Three weeks ago we sold that house as we downsize. The kids are moving on. Mike reminded me that soon the dog will be moving on. And it broke my heart. He is a great writer and journalist.’ Andrew Dickens, Newstalk ZB

MIKE WHITE has had dogs most of his life, including a giveaway mongrel when he was a teenager, a puppy who was going to be drowned, and his current huntaway, Cooper, who features throughout How to Walk a Dog. They’ve been wonderful mates, loyal company and frequently disobedient. Some have broken his bones; all have broken his heart when they’ve gone.

White is one of New Zealand’s best-known journalists and a senior writer at North & South magazine, where he has won more than 20 national media awards, including the Wolfson Fellowship to Cambridge University. In 2013 he wrote the best-selling true crime book Who Killed Scott Guy?

He lives in Wellington with his partner, Nikki, and they walk Cooper along the coast, through the bush and at the city’s dog parks.

SHARON MURDOCH is an award-winning cartoonist, and the first woman to regularly produce political cartoons for New Zealand mainstream media. She also draws the cartoon cat Munro, who accompanies the daily crossword in Fairfax newspapers, and has produced a book of cartoons about him called Munro: a cat, a mouse, a crossword clue.