“MG” stands for Maximus Gary. The black Lab was owned by Don Kingsbury who also owns Two Salty Dogs in Boothbay Harbor. Don Kingsbury has written a monthly blog from a dog’s perspective and “Day of the Dogs” is an extension of the format.  Kingsbury described the book as a “tongue in cheek heist novel” from a dog’s point of view. The book is also about leadership. “Buddy isn’t the brightest dog, but he brings three others together to achieve their objective,” he said. 

 

Buddy’s accomplices include three other of Kingsbury’s black Labs, Auggie, Teddy and Max. Two other accomplices are neighbor dogs Ginger, a dachshund with a "brazen attitude,” and Zeus, a chihuahua with ears "capable of picking satellite signals from out of space." Teddy is known as the gang’s “muscle.” Auggie is known to Two Salty Dogs blog readers as the one who writes a blog in “Elizabethan Prose.”

 

Buddy died this year at 15. Kingsbury often referred to him as “Big Dumb Buddy.” Kingsbury wrote the book in tribute to Buddy.

 

He began the book in October 2020, four months after another beloved black Lab “Buddy” died. "I really missed him and wanted to give him the swan song he deserved,” Kingsbury said in the “Day of the Dogs” dedication. “The more I wrote, the more I realized how infirm Buddy was becoming. I felt pressure to finish it because there was no way I could, if he passed.”

 

Even though the book’s protagonists are dogs, Kingsbury said “Day of the Dogs” isn’t a children’s book. One scene in particular deals with adult material. Once the dogs escape with the ham, they meet a pack of wolves outside which includes a graphic violent encounter with wolves and adult language.  “It’s funny and I hope readers get a laugh out of it, but it’s definitely not a children’s book,” he said. 

 

After the book was written, Maximus Gary also succumbed to an illness. So Kingsbury dedicated the book to his two friends: “This is dedicated to you Max and Buddy. We still miss you so much,” he wrote. 

 

Kingsbury has owned Two Salty Dogs for 11 years. He opened the shop shortly after moving to Southport, and discovered a plethora of dog owners with  no specialty shop catering to them. Kingsbury and wife Liana, both dog lovers, were too busy to properly care for dogs prior to moving to Southport due to demanding careers. “I’ve always liked dogs. When customers come in, I’m likely to remember dogs’ names before people’s,” Don said. 

 

Kingsbury self-published 700 copies. Buy copies  at Two Salty Dogs, Robinson’s Wharf Gift Shop, Newagen Inn, Sherman’s Books and Gimbel’s.