A dog is troubled by a flea and tries various measures to get rid of the itching.

Besides being man's best friends, our canine companions turn out to be some of the world's best comedians, from puppy antics that convulse us into giggles, to the pranks of older furry friends that keep us chortling at life's follies. Here is a compact treasury of canine humor that simply takes the biscuit. Packed with dog jokes, dog riddles (''What has four legs and one arm? A happy pit bull''), quips and quotes (''Never moon a werewolf''),''dogma,'' doggerel, and much more, such as dog license errors (''Alaskan Malibu,'' ''Borderline Collie''), it's guaranteed to have you howling with laughter. Note: Some ''mature'' (actually immature) content.

Walking through the streets of his hometown of Vienna, Lucas Grassi sees an archduke's coach, with the archduke's faithful dog running alongside. He wishes he could be the dog and be free from his everyday life. Then his wish comes true: Lucas does become the dog. Every other day he switches from his normal body to that of the archduke's canine companion. Soon he learns the dog is treated badly and the archduke is not a nice man. Lucas decides he'll do anything to reverse his wish... if only he knew what to do!

From the hilarious and subversive children's author, essayist and NPR commentator, true tales drawn from his cordial--if dysfunctional--relationships with the dogs in his life. illustrations.

“You’ll call this sentimental–perhaps–but then a dog somehow represents the private side of life, the play side,” Virginia Woolf confessed to a friend. And it is this private, playful side, the richness and power of the bond between five great women writers and their dogs, that Maureen Adams celebrates in this deeply engaging book. In Shaggy Muses, we visit Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Flush, the golden Cocker Spaniel who danced the poet away from death, back to life and human love. We roam the wild Yorkshire moors with Emily Brontë, whose fierce Mastiff mix, Keeper, provided a safe and loving outlet for the writer’s equally fierce spirit. We enter the creative sanctum of Emily Dickinson, which she shared only with Carlo, the gentle, giant Newfoundland who soothed her emotional terrors. We mingle with Edith Wharton, whose ever-faithful Pekes warmed her lonely heart during her restless travels among Europe and America’ s social and intellectual elite. We are privileged guests in the fragile universe of Virginia Woolf, who depended for emotional support and sanity not only on her human loved ones but also on her dogs, especially Pinka–a gift from her lover, Vita Sackville-West–a black Cocker Spaniel who became a strong, bright thread in the fabric of Virginia and Leonard Woolf’s life together. Based on diaries, letters, and other contemporary accounts–and featuring many illustrations of the writers and their dogs– these five miniature biographies allow us unparalleled intimacy with women of genius in their hours of domestic ease and inner vulnerability. Shaggy Muses also enchants us with a pack of new friends: Flush, Keeper, Carlo, Foxy, Linky, Grizzle, Pinka, and all the other devoted canines who loved and served these great writers.