Dogs And The Women Who Love Them

June 16, 2011 4:47 pm | By Zootoo Editor Flinn D.

Featuring 22 essays and stories, the book “Dogs & the Women Who Love Them,” by Allen and Linda Anderson, offers readers memorable portraits of dogs who have made a difference in women’s lives — and women who, in turn, have made a difference in the world because of the canine-human bond they have experienced.

Divided into three sections — “Loyalty,” “Healing,” and “Enduring Love” — the pieces in this book are slightly longer than pieces that you might find in similar anthologies, giving the authors a chance to delve deep into the stories of the featured individuals, both two-legged and four-legged. This level of attention creates a rich experience, considering the number of essays presented in the book.

Each essay also ends with a meditation, intended to spark further contemplation. The stories are so resonant that these meditations often seem unnecessary, but they provide reflection points that can be valuable nevertheless. The book also contains a poem or quote about dogs to kick off each section, which is a nice, thoughtful touch.

The stories themselves are truly inspiring, such as the journey of a formerly mistreated dog—aggressive only because of neglect and lack of properly socialization—who is taken in by a police officer. Through her tender care and invested training, the dog becomes an invaluable presence on the police force, risking his life to save hers, and going on to become trained in narcotics and explosives detection.

Another inspiring aspect of the book is that the women who are featured not only invest their energy into the lives of their own dogs, but are motivated to spend their time and talents creating programs which help both animals and humans. For instance, one woman works to jumpstart an initiative pairing dogs with disabled veterans, while another helps to care for hundreds of rescued dogs in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. As the women find their own purpose through caring for dogs, they gain insights into the power that they have to create change beyond the bond they have with their own pets.

As a bonus, the authors of “Dogs and the Women Who Love Them” are also co-founders of the Angel Animals Network, and donate a portion of revenue from their projects to animal shelters and animal welfare — another great reason to seek out this uplifting book.

Pros: Uplifting and inspirational; thoughtful essays delve deep into the human-canine bond.

Cons: None.