The Book Written by a Dog

Written and verified by the lawyer Francisco María García

Last update: 22 December, 2022

Although it’s hard to believe, it’s true that this is a book written by a dog. The aim of the book is to raise awareness of the canine’s experience. To do that, they use a good dose of humor to share the situation of many animals that are living in the streets.

Who is the original author?

Linda Guacharaca is a creole dog who was found by Yamila Fakhouri, a Spanish teacher at the University of Los Andes.

While out for a walk, the teacher came across this dying animal. She was half-paralyzed after a car had hit her and broken her back legs. The veterinarian told Yamila that there was nothing she could do. 

However, Yamila wanted to find a solution to the problem and chose to fight for her new friend’s life. She had never had a dog before, and Yamila was very keen to help Linda recover.

It wasn’t an easy task. Having to take care of someone else, especially a sick dog, didn’t easily fit into Yamila’s life plans. Because of that, she first considered putting the dog up for adoption. 

However, as time passed, the two formed a strong bond with one another. In the end, Yamila decided to keep the dog.

Linda tells her story through the hands of her owner

Yamila faced a lot of problems while caring for Linda and she needed to let off some steam. She discovered that the best way to do this was to return to one of her greatest childhood passions, writing.

However, she chose to write from the perspective and personality of the dog. She felt that if she wrote with her own name, she wouldn’t be able to articulate everything she wanted to say, and the way she wanted to say it.

Yamila created a blog, ‘The world on all fours,’ which she dedicated to Linda. Yamila told her dog’s story and how the dog had changed her life since she had found her.

In her narrations, the dog tells us about her trips, places she has visited, etc.

The book written by a dog

As Yamila continued to write from Linda’s perspective, the blog gained more and more fame. More and more people were reading it. Therefore, the ‘authors’ felt that they needed to do something even greater, so they decided to write a book. 

Just like with the blog, Linda narrates the book from her perspective. It’s also a compilation of several real stories, even though they may seem fictional.

It’s a hopeful and fun writing style. Readers find it very different, not just because of the literary presentation, but also because it inspires them to do more activities with their dogs and take them on more trips.

The book and its publication

They had a very difficult time publishing the book and it was anything but easy. Yamila visited different publishing houses, but she couldn’t reach an agreement with any of them. Instead, she opted to launch a crowdfunding campaign, asking for everyone’s help to publish the interesting book. 

The book

This is the first book written by a Colombian Creole dog. It tells her story of how she went from being crippled and hungry in the street to traveling the world. The book starts: “My name is Linda, Linda Guacharaca.”

The first paragraph of the story is very significant. We have a translated excerpt here:

“Even if it’s hard for you to believe, I wasn’t always a diva, a traveler, a writer…I didn’t always have a family. Before I was sitting here, writing this book, I lived at a roadside gas station. A car broke my legs in an accident and I was left to starve. Then a traveler came to Colombia, who had no experience with dogs and the most hectic life on earth. She took me to Bogotá. The vet said that it would be best for her to put me down because I would never be able to walk again. However, the traveler committed her life to me, and gave me a chance.”

What is crowdfunding?

Crowdfunding is based around the idea of moving a project forward by having those who believe in it and who want to support it finance it.