The Family Dog: Celebrating Our Favorite Relative

“There are many families where the whole interest in life is centered upon the dog,” wrote Jerome K. Jerome in 1889, and any devoted dog person would agree that the same is true today.

There’s a tale behind every family dog. The Family Dog celebrates the oft-told stories of love and devotion, of astonishing daring or colossal mishap, recounted by an eclectic group of writers, including E. B. White, James Thurber, Dave Barry, Jack London, Caroline Knapp, and David Sedaris. Here are stories about the Airedale who bit, well, almost everyone; the collie who traveled fourteen miles over frozen pastures to reunite with his family; the poodle with the bluest eyes; the Great Dane who had business to do; the pug who ate three socks and a T-shirt in one sitting; the boxer who only answered to one name: Food; and the dachshund who even disobeyed when asked to do something he wanted to do.

Illustrated with stunning black-and-white photographs from many diverse sources, this book confirms that, quite often, the most popular family member is the one with four legs.