A return to a familiar theme today ... dogs!

For a nice look at movie dogs (no TV dogs here), try Movie Mutts: Hollywood Goes to the Dogs, by Stephen M. Silverman with Coco the Dog. From the early silent films up to 2001 take a look at the dogs who were in popular movies. One cross over dog was "Moose" who was the dog in the TV show Frasier as well as the movie My Dog Skip. Coco the dog makes some fun comments throughout.

I first read about Michael Hingson and Roselle in a chapter in Man's Best Hero (May 19 post). Thunder Dog: the True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog & the Triumph of Trust at Ground Zero, by Michael Hingson with Susy Flory is the full story of that amazing team. As people started evacuating the World Trade Center on that morning in September, no one was sure just what was happening, and since their cell phones didn't work in the stairwell, they wouldn't know for at least an hour. Hingson and his guide dog Roselle were one of the many that walked down 78 flights of stairs, more than 1000 steps. From childhood and puppyhood to the partners they became, this was a moving read. Have a hankie at hand. Thanks to Constant Reader for this recommendation.

Email from Wendy sent me looking for No Better Friend: One Man, One Dog, and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage and Survival in WWII, by Robert Weintraub. This is an amazing story! Judy was an English Pointer, born in Shanghai. She and Frank Williams developed a special bond and together would survive ships that were torpedoed, bombs, gun fire, and, amazingly, several years in a horrible Japanese POW camp. A warning here, many of the events were extremely brutal and the author pulls no punches in his descriptions. It never ceases to amaze me just what dogs can do.

Reading Hermit With Dog