National Dog Day is all about our furry friends, the woofy kind. It is a day to celebrate dogs, no matter what their breed, to bring some attention to how many dogs need to be rescued each year, to honour the many brave doggies that help save lives and keep people safe, and bring comfort to so many people world-wide.

In my house EVERY DAY is all about dogs. (Yes, I do have a husband and teenage children too!) But everywhere I go there is a dachshund or three watching me, making me laugh, giving me cuddles, love and so much joy.

Dogs, or woman’s best friend as I call them, are a big part of what makes me happy. They provide me with so much – I simply couldn’t picture my life without a few dogs. Without them I would be missing something beautiful.

Below I have shared some of my favourite books about dogs, and a few I’d like to read. It was only after compiling this list that I realised that each and every one made me cry. They also made me laugh. But most of all they make me glad that I have dogs in my life.

Some of my favourite books about dogs. 

• First up – my book!! You didn’t think I was going to miss this opportunity did you! :-)

Destination Dachshund: Three Months, Three Generations & Sixty Dachshunds offers a unique twist on the travel memoir with an often hilarious dachshund-spotting competition at the heart of one family’s journey through Turkey, Russia, Europe and the USA.

Through the wonder of travel Destination Dachshund explores the bond of family and the grieving of loved ones, both human and hound, and the extraordinary effect they have on our lives.

Want to grab a copy? You can do that HERE :-)

• Next up is Lily & the Octopus by Steven Rowley – such a funny, heartbreaking and engaging read. I am getting tears in my eyes just thinking about it. Highly recommended read. 

Lily and the Octopus is a novel about finding that special someone to share your life with. For Ted Flask, that someone is Lily, and she happens to be a dog. This novel reminds us how to love fiercely, how difficult it can be to let go and the fight for those we love is the greatest fight of all.

Read my book review HERE. 

 

• Following on is The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. I read this a few years ago now but it is a book I have never forgotten. It is not often that you read a book written entirely in the perspective of a dog. 

Enzo knows he is different from other dogs: he has educated himself by watching television extensively, and by listening very closely to the words of his master, Denny Swift, an up-and-coming race car driver.

Through Denny, Enzo has gained tremendous insight into the human condition, and he sees that life, like racing, isn’t simply about going fast. On the eve of his death, Enzo takes stock of his life, recalling all that he and his family have been through. A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope, The Art of Racing in the Rain is a beautifully crafted and captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life…as only a dog could tell it.

 

• I haven’t read this book, but the movie is an absolute winner. I’ve seen it so many times I’ve lost count. Tears in my eyes again just thinking about Red Dog. 

No reader, regardless of age, will fail to be captivated by this charming story of a legendary dog, in Louis de Bernières’ Canadian publishing debut.

After his beloved master, John, is killed in an accident, Red spends the rest of his life looking for him, not understanding that John is gone for good. Ensuingly, Red becomes everyone’ s dog. Welcomed by everyone he meets, Red goes to parties, hitches rides, steals food at beach barbecues, and makes friends with the most reluctant people and wary cats. Based on the wonderfully irresistible adventures of a legendary Aussie dog, Red Dog is about devotion, independence and good food — the things that matter.

 

• Only the Animals by Ceridwen Dovey is an amazing read. Even though only one story is about a dog, it was such a powerful story. This collection of short stories is well worth the read. 

The souls of ten animals caught up in human conflicts over the last century tell their astonishing stories of life and death. In a trench on the Western Front a cat recalls her owner Colette’s theatrical antics in Paris. In Nazi Germany a dog seeks enlightenment. A Russian tortoise once owned by the Tolstoys drifts in space during the Cold War. In the siege of Sarajevo a bear starving to death tells a fairytale. And a dolphin sent to Iraq by the US Navy writes a letter to Sylvia Plath…

An animal’s-eye view of humans at our brutal worst and our creative best, Only the Animals asks us to believe again in the redemptive power of reading and writing fiction.

 

Lastly, here is Oprah’s 17 Great Books for Dog Lovers.

Enjoy!