whatever happened to Lucky the famous seafaring dog?

It's almost exactly three years ago since I posted about the book Lucky Goes to Sea, by Frank Robson. I loved this book, because it was centred on the dog and the love his humans had for him.

I remember quoting a sentence near the end of the story:
He's our once-in-a-lifetime dog, and even if he lives to be twenty (not that unusual among small breeds) it won't be enough.

I'm sad to hear that Lucky did not live long after the book was written.

I've just read this news in a letter written by Frank Robson to the editor of The Big Issue. He says, in part,

Sadly, not long after the cruising adventure outlined in the book ended and we came ashore, Lucky - then about 13 - succumbed to cancer. We tried going for a few short sails without him, but it just wasn't the same…so we sold the old trimaran and settled (for the time being) in Brisbane…it is a wonderful thing to adopt a dog and show him or her a good time, especially when their happiness lights up your world as Lucky's did.

RIP Lucky.

The Big Issue is my favourite magazine.

I think Lucky looked a lot like Penny. I asked her to pose with the two books, Lucky for Me, and Lucky Goes to Sea, but Penny doesn't like the camera pointing at her (as you can see by her nervous lip licking).

Penny's not really into reading books...

dogs in the Northern Territory communities in Australia

In the current edition of The Big Issue, there's an article about a program in the Northern Territory - the Maningrida Dog Health Program. Photographer Dave Tacon accompanied Dr Ted Donelan, a Melbourne vet who regularly visits the area to administer the program, and there are interesting photos on Tacon's site.

The relationship of indigenous Australians to dogs varies in different places, but Maningrida is 'dog dreaming' country, where people have a special relationship to dogs and want to be free to live with as many dogs as they wish. There are some problems with aggressive dogs, though, and the Dog Health Program aims to help foster responsible dog ownership, both for the dogs' sake and for the safety of humans.

What I loved about the photos on Tacon's site was the way the dogs were an integral part of people's lives, lolling around with their human companions or joining them in their daily activities, with not a leash or collar in sight.

The University of Melbourne's Vet News has an article about a veterinary visit to Kunbarllanjnja Community.