Alison Rand is the author of the new memoir Walking Alison: A Poodle's Mostly True Story of Helping Her Human Navigate Life. She also has written the memoir A Place Called Grace. She lives in Manhattan.
Q: What inspired you to write this new memoir from the perspective of your poodle, Dea?
A: After I published my first memoir, A Place Called Grace, I heard from many people that they were curious as to what happened to me because it ended in a bittersweet way, not a fairytale ending.
I knew I had more of a story to tell but didn’t feel that telling it from my own point of view was the right way to go.
So, as I looked for a different angle I realized that my dog, Dea, my beloved and opinionated black poodle, knows me as well as I know myself!
Plus, we have a lot in common—we have the same birthday, we both love exercise and we both suffer from bouts of anxiety. I then thought why not write this second memoir entirely from her point of view.
I tried not to anthropomorphize Dea because Dea is a dog and it needed to be told from a poodle’s perspective, but I also needed to keep my own persona as her number one character. I knew it would be a challenge, but Dea had to tell my continuing story.
As I researched other books narrated by dogs and one narrated by a cat, they were all terrific stories but they were fiction and mine was a memoir. I couldn’t find anything that was comparable to what I wanted to do, so that was scary. Would anyone be interested in an opinionated poodle narrating her mama’s memoir? I decided yes.
My memoir is really like two different books in one. It is my continuing memoir, but because it is told by my dog, my story had to intertwine her voice and personality and our lives into telling my story—not an easy feat.
Q: How would you describe the relationship between you and Dea?
A: Dea and I are bonded at the hip. While her puppyhood was a bit challenging, and at one point I wasn’t sure I could manage such a smart, feisty puppy, once I was “trained” properly I fell madly in love with my amazing poodle.
She has separation anxiety which she exhibited even at six weeks old when I first met her. But we have mostly worked that out and she understands I will come back inside the big front door-- one day!
Dea is extremely social and when she takes me out on our walks she introduces me to all her dog friends and to all that she notices outside, like the beady-eyed squirrels who run up trees or that new patch of grass that has not been marked recently so she does the honors.
I also have a master’s in social work so communication verbally and non-verbally is part of my training and Dea and I are so bonded that we communicate beautifully together. I am as in tune with her non-verbal abilities to communicate as she is with mine.
After Alba, my first dog as an adult, died, I didn’t think I could ever love another dog again. The pain was just too immense. So when I first got Dea, only a few months after Alba had gone over the Rainbow Bridge, I thought it might have been too soon for another dog. But soon enough once again, after I got trained I fell madly in love with my little monkey girl. We are now together almost all the time.
Q: Was the writing process very different with this book than with A Place Called Grace?
A: A Place Called Grace was my first memoir and it was a difficult venture because my editor pushed me to be as open and honest as I could. At times it was painful to write about my difficult childhood where my family was severed at an early age and I was separated from my brother and sister during my parents’ divorce. Then writing about my own divorce, the loss of my beloved brother, David, my mother and then my dog Alba.
Yes, it was cathartic but I also knew it didn’t feel finished and I also recognized it would end in a bittersweet manner, not in a Hollywood ending.
In contrast, writing Walking Alison: A Poodle’s Mostly True Story of Helping Her Human Navigate Life was also an open and honest memoir showing my vulnerabilities and foibles but because Dea was telling the story it was the most joyful experience because through her voice and opinions about my life I was able to laugh at myself and add humor to my story.
Even while I confessed to telling Dea how scared I was with the fear of my breast cancer recurrence, she has a different take on life and changes the dynamics.
While writing the book I had to begin to notice even more behaviors about Dea. So, we took more walks in the park, looking at every tree, every fallen leaf, every squirrel and we engaged with many strangers. It then became second nature for me to look at life through her eyes and not my own because I was only focused on Dea.
Plus, while I was writing the story Dea was seated on my lap and her presence there helped to enhance and really get into her doggie mindset!
Q: What impact did writing this memoir have on you, and what do you hope readers take away from it?
A: Writing Walking Alison had a huge impact on me because first and foremost, my beloved dog, Dea, is the star of the book. Of course, I want the reader to love her feisty, comical, and opinionated ways.
As I was writing the most difficult scenes, such as when my breast cancer came back, I tried not to make it too sad by allowing Dea to recount the situation and add her own spin to it.
In fact, Dea adds her own spin to all my situations—falling in love, internet dates, Covid, isolation, my brother’s death, my mother and the loss of my first poodle, Alba. Because Dea has such wit and strong opinions about the strange ways of humans and how we deal with life, I ended up agreeing with her most of the time!
My story has layers of universal themes that I hope the reader will relate to. For me personally but also for so many others this story deals with serious illness, loneliness, isolation, fear, and love—and being able to love and care for someone apart from yourself.
The goal of my memoir is for the reader to hopefully relate and engage with my story and especially care about my dog as the narrator. Also, because I write in an open and honest manner showing my insecurities, I hope some people will see themselves in me and resonate with my journey.
Dea gave me a feeling of internal safety and I want the reader to think about the power of the human-animal bond that can help in so many ways via the complete selflessness of a dog
Q: What are you working on ow?
A: Dea and I are thinking about how to continue with another story!
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: I recently read an article in The New York Times called “How Science Went to The Dogs and Cats.” The author, Emily Anthes, reported that the research suggested dogs were extremely adept at interpreting human signals and signs even more so than wolves who were raised by humans. Plus, she also reported that at times dogs read human cues better than even great apes.
Dogs are earthly angels and we underestimate all that they can and do give us as humans. We are so fortunate to have them in our lives.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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