Compiled by Lucy Smith

Illustrations by Christopher Brown

This delightful anthology brings together a collection of wisdom, lyrical appreciation and practical experience about all aspects of living with dogs, and the dog’s life, from more than 50 writers. Accompanied by wonderful illustrations by Christopher Brown, the extracts range from comic accounts of how skilfully dogs train their owners, to dramatic depictions of the savage side of the canine character, and poignant tales of the bond between people and dogs of all shapes, ages and sizes. From the wit of Alan Bennett, deploying the dog’s comedic potential to add black humour to a dark work, to Virginia Woolf ’s exquisite imagining, in Flush, of what it might mean to be a dog; from J.M. Coetzee’s unflinching account of strays’ lives to the moor-haunting mystery of Conan Doyle’s legendary hound, there is something here to absorb and amuse anyone who has ever loved or longed for a dog.