Andrew CotterReseñas

I'm not really a dog person, but I do like Scotland and witty writers, and this book definitely has those things going for it. If you are a dog person, you'll adore it. But even if not, it's pretty entertaining.
Written during/after COVID lockdown, it feels current and relatable. And, unlike many animal books, it doesn't have a sad ending. Yay!
Good as an audiobook.

Content note: very occasional use of a strong swear word or two.

In 2020 when the world went into lockdown, freelance sports commentator Andrew Cotter found himself out of work; after all if there are no sporting events going on, there’s nothing he could commentate on. So, stuck at home and feeling bored he filmed his two Labradors Olive and Mabel eating breakfast, and recorded a sports style commentary about it. When he released it on Twitter, hoping that it might inspire a few laughs, he was stunned by the response he received. So he did another – and another…and a phenomenon was born.

In this book, Cotter talks about how he and his partner Caroline brought Olive and Mabel into their family, and describes life with two beautiful dogs. Very little of the book is about the funny videos; most of it discusses life in general with the dogs, and focuses particularly on the Scottish mountain walks/hikes that they do together.

This was my first book of 2023, and it was a cracker! I read well over 200 pages in two sittings, and would have finished it in those two sittings if I didn’t have to go back to work! I have two Labradors myself, so was very able to recognise a lot of the comical situations he describes, and I think any dog lover would feel the same.

What I wasn’t expecting, and came as a pleasant surprise, was quite how funny this book is. I laughed out loud several times during the reading. Andrew Cotter has a very funny turn of phrase and the way that he described the dogs’ expressions and thoughts was genuinely very amusing. Also, his absolute adoration of Olive and Mabel came through very clearly, and I think anyone who has ever loved a dog would be able to relate to this.

Overall, this was a brilliant way to kick off my 2023 reading and I would recommend this book to everyone, but especially dog owners and/or lovers.

Olive and Mabel are two Very Good Labrador retrievers who live in Chelsea, England, with their human, sports commentator Andrew Cotter. They became famous on the internet during the pandemic when Cotter, at a loss for work with the sports world on hiatus, filmed a few short, humorous videos with his dogs. The viral sensation led to a first book, Olive, Mabel & Me, which I read and reviewed last year. That book focused on the mechanics of how one becomes and reacts to becoming Twitter- and YouTube-famous with some ruminations on why people love dogs and tales of taking the girls hiking in the Scottish mountains. It was, as a said in that review, "gentle, often humorous and occasionally profound story of a man and his dogs."

This one isn't radically different, except perhaps the profundity is dialed up a bit and the narrative (as it unfolds during the pandemic's easing) focuses more on the in-person reactions he gets when he's out and about with Olive & Mabel (fawning isn't too strong a word), and the pressure he sometimes felt to continually provide additional "content" (which he generally ignored unless a naturally good idea occurred to him).

Cotter comes across as a thoughtful, kind man who really is gaga about dogs in all the best ways, and I enjoyed hearing more about the bizarre situations he found himself in and his reluctant but touching reflections on the inevitable parting we must take from dogs who don't live nearly long enough for our needs. If you somehow missed the viral video sensation, you might enjoy the dog talk in one or both of the books, but probably needn't feel compelled to "collect the set."

A beautifully-crafted, warm, highly-amusing but gentle tale of canine companionship, enjoyment of the great outdoors, and the unforseen, far-reaching consequences of a simple post on social media.
In reading the book having heard Andrew's voice many times, it was treat to be able to read his words and hear his voice narrating the book in my mind.

Andrew’s commentaries on his labradors were sheer delight during my lockdown. And I read this book with his lovely Scottish voice in my head. Here, he tells exactly what it was like to suddenly lose all his commentary work because of the pandemic, and then to find himself suddenly and somewhat reluctantly famous because of his fantastic humour & lovable dogs.

He could have so easily cashed-in & said yes to every - sometimes dubious - offer, but instead put Olive, Mabel & a few testing hill walks first.

A lovely, funny heart-warming read.

In 2020, we went from our normal lives, angst-ridden about work, family, politics, various national concerns varying by what country you lived in, and the need to rush everywhere, to angst-ridden over a global pandemic, not at all affectionately known as COVID-19. The only one of the previous concerns that was knocked out was the need to rush everywhere, due to shutdowns or lockdowns (depending on how bad things were in your location) that meant almost no one was going anywhere. If you could do your job from home, great! Time to get familiar with Zoom. If you couldn't, you were either a "frontline" or "essential" worker (which did not mean you were earning above minimum wage, necessarily), or you were unemployed. Andrew Cotter was a Scottish sports commentator, working primarily for the BBC. With sports events canceled, he was sitting at home. With his two dogs, a black Labrador named Olive, and a yellow Labrador named Mabel. What does a man who loves walking with his dogs, and is a sportscaster who suddenly has unlimited time on his hands, do with his time, and his dogs, and his GoPro camera?

He started filming his dogs at their ordinary activities, and commentating as if it were a sporting event. The first was of Olive and Mabel eating their breakfast, timed and commented on as a race. That first video was a passing idea that seemed like a good one, with no plans for any follow-ups. It went viral.

Cotter didn't originally intend to make any more such videos, but he kept getting questions about "the next one." Eventually, he did another, and another, eventually including a "Zoom meeting" with Olive and Mabel. Olive and Mabel became famous. As life started to open up again, they were being stopped, when out and about, by people, especially children, who wanted to meet the dogs, not Andrew Cotter.

But Cotter doesn't tell us only about the videos, but also about Olive and Mabel, and climbing the hills and mountains of Scotland with them. We learn about the dogs, their lives, their personalities, and both the joys and the challenges of going up snow-covered mountains with two very active, enthusiastic dogs.

It's a lot of fun, and very satisfying.

I bought this audiobook.

What a welcome, happy, and funny approach to a gentle life with two loving dogs.

Andrew Cotter delivers an honest departure from dominating our fellow creatures
to a true and easy enjoyment of the friendship of canine companions.

And, how wonderful to have a book that includes many, many great photographs -
Thank You Olive and Mabel!

Fewer mentions of a future without Olive or Mabel would be welcome,
as well as fewer of the repeating mountain adventures.½

I really needed this book. It’s a gentle, often humorous and occasionally profound story of a man and his dogs, and a fair bit of mountain walking thrown in. If you were hanging around on Twitter last March, you may have come across a cute little video tweet featuring two dogs having an eating contest, as their sports commentator owner provided the play-by-play commentary, as seen here: I was bored.

It's a clever takeoff on traditional sports commentary but of course what makes it so charming (beyond the very appealing Scottish accent of Mr. Cotter) are those adorable Labradors, Olive (the black one) and Mabel. It went as viral as you'd expect, ricocheting around the Internet at a time when we were all just beginning to come to terms with what the pandemic had in store for us. I loved it, promptly began following Cotter (who I confess to never having heard of, not being privy to much in the way of overseas sports broadcasting) and delighted in the occasional videos he has posted since. (If you'd like to catch up, you can find them all on his YouTube channel.)

Really, there’s not much more to say. If you love dogs, I think you’d very much enjoy the book. The canine averse will probably want to give it a pass. It is not a book that will haunt your dreams or cause you to despair of the loss of our common humanity — that's what the news is for. Indeed, it will not teach you much about the world, except that Dogs Are Very Good Boys and Girls. I deducted a half-star only because the author has an unfortunate fondness for sentence fragments that made my left eye twitch just a tiny bit. A few moments’ break to look at pictures of Olive and Mabel and all was well again.½

When covid put professional sports on hiatus last spring, BBC sportscaster Cotter turned his commentary to the escapades of his two Labrador Retrievers, Olive and Mabel -- and popular demand brought forth this book, a memoir (with photographs) of the dogs of his life (plus some notables from sports). It’s tender and funny; I laughed out loud at several passages and they held up to being read aloud to make my husband laugh. It’s also great armchair travel to Scotland and some mountain hiking, and inspired me to Google numerous dog breeds and Scottish locations.½