What a pack of stray dogs taught me about life.

What a pack of stray dogs taught me about life.

Martin McKenna, The Dog Man, finally writes his memoir about his rebellious boyhood as an Irish street kid who lived with a pack of stray dogs.

Australia’s best-known dog communicator, Martin McKenna is known to millions of radio listeners as ‘the Irish man who talks about dogs’. For the past 20 years, he’s been helping audiences understand dogs, but now he’s saying it’s time to say a grateful farewell to the dog rescue world. To celebrate his years of helping dogs, he’s decided it’s time to reveal the full story of how he first learned about the culture of canines. It’s quite a strange tale. As a runaway boy in Ireland, he lived with a pack of six stray dogs for three years. These street dogs not only taught him their unique language and culture – they also became his family and teachers.

‘This is the full story at last,’ he says about his new memoir, The Boy Who Talked To Dogs. It’s funny and very real – often emotional – but never boring. I promise you that. Dogs are amazing creatures and if you throw a rebellious, hyperactive 13 year old boy into a pack of six strays – you get one hell of a lot of energy and adventure!’

Martin also shows what life was like before he ran away. He was a troubled, rebellious young boy growing up on a suburban housing estate in Garryowen in Limerick, Ireland. He always felt like an outsider and never stopped attracting trouble because of his ADHD, which is a condition of severe hyperactivity. He quickly became sick of being mocked and bullied by the bullies in his life. This included a charming father who drank heavily and could transform without warning into a violent stranger. There were also two cruel teachers at his school who openly mocked and beat him, as well as some older children in the neighborhood who made his life difficult. ‘They didn’t make life,’ says Martin wryly. ‘They were constantly tormenting me for being one of “Hitler’s secret experiments” because Andrew, John and I were identical triplets and our darling mother Sigrid was German. Once we had a swastika painted on our front wall and our poor mother was devastated. Nobody hated the Nazis as much as my mother.’

One night Martin decided he’d had enough of complicated humans and their cruelty, so he climbed out his bedroom window and ran away. He was 13 and it was 1975. He hooked up with six local strays and they ended up living rough for the next three years. They roamed around the Garryowen countryside, sleeping in hay barns; raiding farmhouses during the day and local housing estates at night in their constant search for food.

After having an RTE Irish radio documentary made about his life, Martin wrote down his story and sent it off to various agents around the world. ‘I had eleven agents interested within three weeks which was exhilarating. I signed with prestigious New York literary agency, the Writers House and my wonderful agent Daniel Lazar sold it to New York publisher, Skyhorse.’ Now his memoir is published in North America, Canada, Brazil and here in Australia.

‘It’s been very exciting,’ he says. ‘The first run of hardcovers in Australia sold out quickly and now it’s coming out in paperback. It’s also just become available on Audible.com. I think people are really going to love the book. It’s a powerful story that’s very inspiring. I think there are a lot of people who found genuine help from a dog when they were a kid. Whether it was your own pet or a strange dog down the park or a just familiar dog down the road – dogs are amazing at putting a smile back on your face again. They’re very gifted at healing your soul after it’s been dented around a bit by a human bully.’

Martin says the six stray dogs who adopted him, also became his mentors and changed him profoundly. ‘These dogs taught me so many things beside their language and customs. For instance, they taught me some powerful life lessons. They transformed me from being a wild, mixed-up, uncontrollable kid into someone who could relate to humans again. Isn’t it ironic? It took a pack of stray dogs to teach me how to be a happy human? From them, I learned how to calm down my ADHD. By following their example, I learned about loyalty, respect and courage. I got used to having a disciplined routine. I learned the importance of perseverance and staying optimistic so I didn’t waste valuable energy. From watching the example of my gang of dogs, I learned how to bounce back from the really bad days. They taught me to walk off stress or simply curl up and sleep it off so I never suffered depression.’

‘Ultimately, I think these six dogs taught me how to respect and like myself. That was the big lesson – and I’ll always be grateful to them. It meant that when I returned to the human world again three years later – I was emotionally stronger. I’d grown into a much more confidant teenager. I could now stand up for myself, make friends and trust people again. These strays taught me the skills I needed so badly to survive when I returned to the rough and tumble of the human world.’

He’s adamant that without these six dogs, he’d be dead now. ‘Without a doubt, dogs saved my life. They stopped me from becoming a drug addict, committing suicide or landing myself in a boy’s home or prison later in life.’

When he finally left Garryowen in his twenties in search of work, he was so grateful, he knew he wanted to repay other homeless dogs in some way. This is the main reason why he’s devoted the last 20 years of his life to the dog rescue industry – to help as many homeless dogs as he could from death row.

‘I’ve helped as many dogs as I possibly could. Of course, sometimes it gets heartbreaking because you can’t possibly save them all. It’s particularly traumatizing when you’re like me and can understand every word a dog is saying. They’re yelling out non-stop how scared and confused they are and I have to try and block the poor things out – sometimes leaving them to their deaths which nearly destroys me. To be honest, I have to stay away from the big shelters and council pounds as much as I can because my nerves are always shattered by the experience. Every time I go to one, I see such incredible personalities amongst the dogs – so many wise, clever, sweet and kind characters – that I have to stop myself from running over and breaking down all the wire-mesh gates, letting them all out and simply running off with them, leading them somewhere safe!’

‘I have such respect for dog rescue volunteers – especially those at the small local organisations. They do it for love, not a wage – and they’re so tenacious about saving as many dogs as they can. I always encourage people to support their small local rescue group. Every single gesture of kindness or generosity makes such a difference. Blankets, collars, cash, dog food – they’re always straining to get enough basic resources so they can save more dogs lives.’

He wishes more people would consider adopting a rescue dog. ‘If you get to know the fascinating sacred laws of the Dog World – then you’ll understand how easy it is to have a beautifully behaved dog. If a dog’s being silly or badly behaved, it’s simply letting you know you’re breaking the sacred laws they take so seriously. To fix the problem, you only need to learn these very simple but essential dog laws – there are about 25 of them. It also makes a huge difference if you learn a little dog language.

‘Dogs are fascinated by humans who learn dog language – it’s just so unusual and makes them extremely curious. Learn their sacred laws and communicate with them in their own language – that’s the secret to owning a lovely dog. Luckily – it’s a very easy language to learn and fun. Communication, not domination – that’s my motto for owning a lovely, hassle-free dog.’

Martin has always remained a bit of a rebel within the usually conservative dog world. He refused to tame his hair and still has a head full of dreadlocks. His bottom two teeth are missing and he refuses to get them fixed. 

‘I’ve left them unfixed so I can point to them and remind people how many unwanted dogs are still homeless – as well as kids and adults. It’s a sad state of affairs and to be honest – disgraceful. It’s such a fixable problem. I think a civilization should be judged on how it treats its most vulnerable members. People in the future will look back on us and judge us for how we’ve treated our homeless – and I believe we’ll be judged as barbaric for our lack of compassion.’

He’s enjoyed a growing popularity over the years for his outspoken views and innovative ideas about dogs. He’s been a guest on The Project, The Today Show, Kerri Ann Kennerley and featured on Irish RTE Radio One Documentaries and ABC Australian Story. He’s also been on over 450 radio shows during the past 15 years, including ABC Late Night Live with Philip Adams, Radio National Breakfast with Fran Kelly, Classic FM middays with Margaret Throsby, Triple J, Triple M, 2UE and many statewide and regional ABC and commercial shows.

Martin is sad to be leaving behind the world of rescuing dogs as a professional but says he’ll be happy to be able to spend more time with his own pack of six adopted dogs on his small farm in the hills above Nimbin. ‘I love walking them along the quiet country lanes around here. It reminds me so much of when I was a boy. I definitely like space around me.’

‘As for the service I’ve given dogs,’ he says. ‘I’m leaving the industry with my head held high,’ he says. ‘I’ve given away all my information for free on radio. I have a website full of free cartoon sheets solving common dog problems. I helped rescue as many dogs as I could. I charging owners nothing if they couldn’t afford it. I’ve driven all over the countryside rescuing dogs from death row. I’ve written three books on dog language and the sacred laws of the Dog World.’

When asked about what he thinks he’ll be best remembered for, he says, ‘I believe I’m leaving behind a legacy that encourages people to communicate with their dogs a lot more – rather than simply ordering them about. I’ve introduced the idea that there’s an International Language of Dogs and that dogs are always trying to converse with us – we simply haven’t been picking up a lot of their signals. Once you start tuning into your dog, you’ll be amazed about how much your dog’s been trying to tell you! I’d love for Dog Language to one day be recognized as an official world language. Most of all, I believe I’ve helped people think like a dog. This is the first step to solving any dog problem.’ I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve jumped down on the ground and acted like a dog so audiences can see what I mean. I’ll do almost anything to save a dog’s life.’ 

Now Martin is determined to spend the second half of his life pursuing his creative side. Since 2009 he’s been writing poetry and painting his short, sharp poems on large, abstract canvases. He’s represented by The Brush Off Gallery in Nimbin; a small old fashioned, Parisian-like gallery in the internationally renowned rainforest village in the far north of NSW.

‘One day I want to be considered one of the greatest poet-artists of the 21^st century, he states with quiet confidence. ‘History will tell if I’ve succeeded – but I’m unafraid. I’ve already progressed from being illiterate to having my memoir published in New York – so now I’m ready to tackle my passion for art and poetry head-on. I know it’ll be a hard road – but I’m raring to go and feel like I’m exploding every day with creativity and energy. If you’d like to follow the rest of my journey, you can follow me on Twitter at: @dreadlockdogman.

‘However, if you’d like to see how my journey began, I urge you to get hold of a copy of The Boy Who Talked To Dogs. It’s a really amazing story – super-fast, energetic and hilarious. There are certainly some emotional moments but I’m not a dreary person – hell! Just look at me! So I always bounce back, more defiant than ever. I was a real rebel of a kid and this is my fascinating story of the year before I ran away and the three years after I ran away and lived with my little gang of six strays. I was living rough from when I was thirteen to sixteen, 1975 to 1978. It was a huge adventure with unimaginable freedom. The boy on the front cover is Fintan my son, who’s the same age I was when I lived rough. The dog is Sean is one of our rescue dogs. I’m so proud of this book – it captures my rebellious, adventurous boyhood perfectly. I can’t wait to share it with you.’