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Check it out: Spend the dog days of summer celebrating man’s best friend

By Jan Johnston

Published: August 12, 2018, 6:05am

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The dog days of summer are certainly upon us. Wouldn’t it be awesome if “dog days” truly meant days of dogs instead of days of insufferable heat? I might be barking up the wrong tree, but I think a season of wet noses and tail wags would make the world a better place. Since I can’t change the season, or the world, I’ll just have to settle for some doggone good reading. True, I am more of a cat lady than a dog lady, but watching dogs be dogs always makes me smile, and I’ll hazard a guess that they make you smile, too. If there’s one takeaway from reading today’s column, I hope it’s this: dogs are the comedians of the animal world. And we’re the better for it.

So, here’s a bark-out to cuddly canines, furry fidos and playful puppies. And if the reading list I’ve provided isn’t doggy enough for you, be sure to search the library’s catalog for more mutt material.

Bow-wow!

• “#Weratedogs: The Most Hilarious and Adorable Pups You’ve Ever Seen” by Matt Nelson. The subtitle says it all — hilarious and adorable. This photographic compilation will make your day.

• “Being a Dog: Following the Dog Into a World of Smell,” by Alexandra Horowitz. A dog’s nose is more than just cute — it’s a super smeller with hundreds of millions of olfactory receptor cells. You might be saying to yourself, well, what’s so special about that? Considering that a human nose has a puny 6 million receptor cells, it’s no wonder that a book about dogs and their snouts is worth reading.

• “Dogs and Their People: Photos and Stories of Life With a Four-Legged Love,” by Morgane Chang. I challenge you to read this book without saying, “Awww.” If you’ve ever owned a dog, you know the special bond that occurs between person and pup. In “Dogs and Their People,” readers will be introduced to over 200 dogs, learning along the way what makes each pooch special and unique.

• “Flydogs,” by Todd R. Berger. Another wonderful collection of canine photographs — but this time the dogs are flying! Described by the publisher as a “collection of euphoric canines sailing through the air, ears flapping in the wind,” this book will definitely put a smile on your face. Jumping, leaping, bounding, these pups are having the time of their lives.

• “Gods, Ghosts, and Black Dogs: The Fascinating Folklore and Mythology of Dogs,” by Stanley Coren. As long as there have been dogs, there have been stories about them. For an entertaining look into the folklore and mythology of man’s best friend, check out “Gods, Ghosts, and Black Dogs.” It turns out that King Arthur, Paul Bunyan, Charles de Gaulle, and Sigmund Freud, among others, have some mighty interesting connections to dogs.

• “Peanut Butter Dogs,” by Greg Murray. Photographs of dogs eating peanut butter — that is what this book is all about. Yes, it’s adorable.

• “Senior Dogs Across America,” by Nancy LeVine. I love the senior citizens of the dog world. My husband and I once had a German shepherd named Anna, and when her muzzle started turning gray she became even more beautiful to me. If you appreciate the beauty and wisdom of our older canine companions, add this sweet book of photographs to your reading list.

• “Treat!” by Christian Vieler. If I’m including books about dogs flying and dogs eating peanut butter, I have to include a book about dogs catching treats. Of course I do. Maybe I should have entitled this column “Adorable” because I’m just about to use that word again for this book. Attentive, excited, goofy are just some of the words I would use to describe the dog faces in this adorable collection of photos.

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