by Helen Humphreys

Into my writer's isolation will come a dog, to sit beside my chair or to lie on the couch while I work, to force me outside for a walk, and suddenly, although still lonely, this writer will have a companion.

 

by Taylor Wolfe

The funny and poignant story of one woman's wonderfully codependent relationship with her dog - and what he taught her about chosen family and the reward of motherhood.

by Simon Garfield

Ludo is a dog--Simon Garfield's beloved black Labrador retriever, one of millions of canines who have become integral parts of our lives. But how did the dog become top dog? How did these faithful animals come to assist us not only in hunting, but in bomb disposal and cancer detection--and ultimately become our closest companions? 

by Rodney Habib

Like their human counterparts, dogs have been getting sicker and dying prematurely over the past few decades. Why? Scientists are beginning to understand that the chronic diseases afflicting humans--cancer, obesity, diabetes, organ degeneration and autoimmune disorders -- also beset canines.

by Jennifer Finney Boylan

A remarkable story: showing how a young boy became a middle-aged woman -- accompanied at seven crucial moments of growth and transformation by seven memorable dogs. Their love enables us to pull off what seem like impossible feats: to find our way home when we are lost, to live our lives with humor and courage, and above all, to best become our true selves.

by E. B. Bartels

An unexpected, poignant, and personal account of loving and losing pets, exploring the singular bonds we have with our companion animals, and how to grieve them once they've passed.

by Christina Hunger

When speech-language pathologist Christina Hunger first came home with her puppy, Stella, it didn't take long for her to start drawing connections between her job and her new pet. During the day, she worked with toddlers with significant delays in language development. At night, she wondered: If dogs can understand words we say to them, shouldn't they be able to say words to us?

by Dave Barry

Dave Barry shows how to age gracefully, taking cues from his beloved and highly intelligent dog, Lucy. Faced with the obstacles and challenges of life after middle age, Dave Barry turns to his best dog, Lucy, to learn how to live his best life.

by Kate MacDougall

Aside from the odd biter or growler, the occasional bolter and the one dog who didn't want to walk, the canines were the easy part. They were a muddy, messy joy in all shapes, sizes and breeds, from greedy Labradors to pampered pugs and everything in between. It was the owners who were the real challenge.

by Meredith May

Edie is an unusually anxious dog. She cowers around most people and the slightest noise sends her into a frenzy. Edie's fears become so intense that May can't leave the house. Is this normal puppy behavior or something more? May grows determined to fix Edie, but what will she do if Edie can't be fixed?

by Andrew Cotter

When sporting events were put on hold in March 2020, commentator Andrew Cotter shifted to working from home. The one-on-one competitors? His two Labrador retrievers, Olive and Mabel. 

by Karen Fine

The pain and joy of loving animals.  Fine, a holistic veterinarian and expert in the emerging field of veterinary narrative medicine, draws on her 30-year career to create a lively, often moving memoir of caring for animals.

by Melissa Shapiro

When Connecticut veterinarian Melissa Shapiro gets a call about a tiny deaf blind puppy rescued from a hoarding situation in need of fostering, she doesn't hesitate to say, "yes." Little does she know how that decision will transform her, her family, and legions of admirers destined to embrace the saga of the indomitable pink pup.

by Rick Bragg

Speck is not a good boy. He is a terrible boy, a defiant self-destructive, often malodorous boy, a grave robber and a screen-door muncher who spends his days playing chicken with the FedEx man, picking up livestock, and rolling in donkey manure, and his nights howling at the moon. 

by Rowan Jacobsen

The scent of one freshly unearthed white truffle in Barolo was all it took to lead Rowan Jacobsen down a rabbit hole into a world of secretive hunts, misty woods, black-market deals, obsessive chefs, quixotic scientists, muddy dogs, maddening smells, and some of the most memorable meals ever created.

by Martha Teichner

There's a special camaraderie among early-morning dog walkers. Gathering at dog runs in the park, or strolling through the farmer's market at Union Square before the bustling crowd appears, fellow pet owners become familiar-as do the personalities of their beloved animals. In this special space and time, a chance encounter with an old acquaintance changed Martha Teichner's world.

by Susannah Charleson

One in six dogs go missing at some point in their lives, leaving bereft owners to search high and low, hang missing posters, check shelters, and hope for good news. But amid these grim statistics, countless happy endings are forged. Tails wag again. Best friends are reunited.

by Jenna Blum

A divorcée who has experienced her share of sadness and loss, Jenna discovers, over the months she spends caring for her ailing dog, what it is to be present in the moment, and what it truly means to love.

by Alexandra Horowitz

Horowitz follows Quid's first weeks with her mother and ten roly-poly littermates, and then each week after the puppy joins her household of three humans, two large dogs, and a wary cat. She documents the social and cognitive milestones that so many of us miss in our puppies' lives, when caught up in the housetraining and behavioral training that easily overwhelms the first months of a dog's life with a new family.