Dogs Dogs Dogs, Ontario’s Favourite Newspaper for Dog Lovers, Review of our film Talent Hounds- We are so Proud!
Release the hounds! An affectionate love letter to dogs.
Talent Hounds (2013)
Documentary written and directed by Susan Nation for The Pet Network
Angela from Talent hounds interviewing Don Gaudet, Vice President Programming & Production, Stornoway Communications
Mankind’s extraordinary 13,000-year relationship with dogs is the subject of writer/director Susan Nation’s fine new documentary, Talent Hounds. Part canine history lesson, part love letter to canis lupus familiaris (the domesticated dog), the film traces the dog’s beginnings in the wolf family, through initial socialization with humans, to subsequent breeding, employment and domestication. It probably goes without saying that dog lovers are treated to a dizzying array of footage of all breeds and sizes – and I’m talking about dogs that sing, leap, run, retrieve, dance, read, count, open refrigerator doors — even drive cars. The point is very clear: there is virtually no limit to a dog’s abilities. Indeed, at one point I halfway expected to see a clip of a dog in the cockpit of a commercial airliner.
The dog-friendly human interviewees – who include author/vet Dr. Bruce Fogle, historian Scott McQueen from North Paws and Constable Adam Landry of Toronto Police Service, Dog Guides Canada and NSD, along with a supporting cast of enthusiastic trainers, owners and dog-assisted persons – offer informative, insightful, often moving testaments to the uncanny intelligence and unshakeable selflessness of our four-legged friends.
Let’s face it, as humans we like to think of ourselves as top dog on this planet; that canis lupus familiaris is wholly and completely dependent upon us for its survival. Yet Talent Hounds serves as a humbling reminder that we have gone from merely employing dogs to assist us, to being dependent upon them in some ways for our very survival.
Tom Sandford
Editor of Dogs Dogs Dogs Newspaper
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