This book is a celebration of happy dogs and the happy people who own them. At once a companion, a manual and a repository of useful information, The Goodness of Dogs also contains avid dog-lover India Knight's reflections on the sheer brilliance of dogs and the life-enhancing delight of dog ownership. If you have reached dog nirvana, you will recognize yourself. If you haven't yet - this book will help you. With chapters ranging from how to choose a breed (and where to get it from), to the joy and chaos of puppies, to feeding and training your dog, to choosing a vet and even how to cope with illnesses and death, The Goodness of Dogs will take you through every facet of dog ownership. Full of India Knight's inimitable wit and the sound advice she is famous for, and beautifully illustrated by artist Sally Muir, this book will make the perfect gift for any dog-lover.

In this heart-stealing picture book, fine artist Robert Rahway Zakanitch gives us 16 masterful, soulful, impossibly expressive portraits of dogs, and Maya Gottfried wonderfully captures their voices and inner personalities in 16 enchanting poems. It’s a doggie delight! These dogs beg to be patted, tickled, scratched, and ruffled. Which one will be your best friend?

“Bella, Bella, Bella! A wonderful, funny, heartfelt tale of a very good ‘bad’ dog, and her enduring quest for that thing we all seek: a place to call home. I loved this book! I love Bella!” —Garth Stein, New York Times bestselling author of The Art of Racing in the Rain Perfect for fans of Racing in the Rain and Because of Winn Dixie! Ali Standish, author of the critically acclaimed The Ethan I Was Before and August Isle, delivers a rebarkable tale of one extraordinary pup’s search for a new family, inspired by her real-life rescue dog Bella. Bella is the very best dog a family could ask for. Only her family, the McBrides, don’t see it that way. Ever since Mrs. McBride’s belly started growing, they don’t seem to appreciate the way Bella cleans the crumbs from the kitchen floor or how she’s always willing to play fetch after a long day. And when Bella’s valiant attempt to save the Christmas tree ends in disaster, she finds herself being swiftly abandoned at the pound. As the reality sinks in that she is unwanted, Bella is heartbroken. Where did she go wrong? Things look bleak until a kind couple, the Roses, take Bella in. Her new life is filled with wonderful things like parks and snowballs, vanilla ice cream, and the National Geographic Channel. But as the weather turns cold again, the Roses start acting strangely and Bella wonders if she can really trust them. Do they actually love her, or is history about to repeat itself? And will Bella be able to find a true home in time for Christmas this year?

A layabout mutt turned therapy dog leads her owner to a new understanding of the good life. At loose ends with her daughter leaving home and her husband on the road, Sue Halpern decided to give herself and Pransky, her under-occupied Labradoodle, a new leash—er, lease—on life by getting the two of them certified as a therapy dog team. Smart, spirited, and instinctively compassionate, Pransky turned out to be not only a terrific therapist but an unerring moral compass. In the unlikely sounding arena of a public nursing home, she led her teammate into a series of encounters with the residents that revealed depths of warmth, humor, and insight Halpern hadn’t expected. And little by little, their adventures expanded and illuminated Halpern’s sense of what virtue is and does—how acts of kindness transform the giver as well as the given-to. Funny, moving, and profound, A Dog Walks into a Nursing Home is the story of how one faithful, charitable, loving, and sometimes prudent mutt—showing great hope, fortitude, and restraint along the way (the occasional begged or stolen treat notwithstanding)—taught a well-meaning woman the true nature and pleasures of the good life.

A pioneering canine behaviorist draws on cutting-edge research to show that a single, simple trait--the capacity to love--is what makes dogs such perfect companions for humans, and to explain how we can better reciprocate their affection.

A tour of the psychiatric service dog industry traces the author's work with unwanted shelter dogs before matching them with people in need, documenting her own partnership with a search canine while sharing uplifting success stories.--

Offering a scientifically informed perspective on canines and their relations with humans, two biologists take a close look at eight different types of dogs--household, village, livestock guarding, herding, sled pulling, pointing, retrieving and hound. 34 halftones.