Dog Names that Start with No

Canine characteristics and traits inhabit our culture in every facet, and it seems this has been the case for decades, if not centuries, especially in the realm of literature.  We are sure you can recall some titles you’ve read which reached out and dragged you into the story, wrapping their tentacles tightly around you, daring you to attempt an escape, until the tale ultimately released you tearfully from the torment.  For animal lovers, those stories help us to understand the emotional excursions on which we are passengers when it comes to our precious furry family members.  Our pop culture spotlight is one of those dogs whose story takes us on one of those emotional excursions.

In the fictional stories, Nop’s Trials and Nop’s Hope, Nop is a sheepdog owned by a sheep farmer who lives in Western Virginia. The author, Donald McCaig and his wife run a sheep farm in the mountains of Western Virginia, and as a result, Donald can weave a great deal of authenticity into his works.  In his story about Nop, he frequently gives you insight into how Nop might be thinking, pulling together the human and canine cognitive processes.  In Nop’s tale, he is depicted as a very intelligent and skilled sheepdog and willingly displays these traits in the various types of sheepdog competitions into which his owner, Lewis Burkholder, involves him.  So competent is Nop that some no-good redneck sorts steal him from Lewis in the attempt to pad their own pockets with some cash from Nop’s success in the sheepdog trials.  The story goes through Nop’s life after the separation from the Burkholder family and paints a very believable picture of dog abuse and mistreatment.  McCaig’s book also paints a vivid picture of the loyalty and perseverance of the canine species to their human masters. The Burkholders and Nop, finally reunited, so poignant is the emotion, we hope you still have some facial tissues remaining in the new box you opened when you began reading this book because you will need them.  The books, one the sequel to the other, are definitely worth the read if you can find both of them as Nop’s Trials is no longer in print.