Things My Dog Has Taught Me

A dog's guide to life - how to be a kinder, compassionate, more mindful and wiser human.

Anyone who has ever fallen hopelessly in love with a dog will know dogs have the capacity to love us back unconditionally, welcome us home with unbridled excitement, forgive us endlessly for our impatience, comfort us when we're feeling low - and then play games with wholehearted contentment - bringing endless joy to our lives.

Dogs' sheer zest for embracing life in all its fullness is something we humans can only marvel at. But can our dogs teach us to approach life in this full, technicolour way too?

How to love and care for one another with unconditional acceptance; how to be fully present in someone's company; how to be more mindful of the beauty of the natural world around us; how to comfort each other when we're grieving or afraid; and, how to let excitement and joy bubble over in our hearts.

Dogs do all these things instinctively and more naturally than their human friends - yet they love us just the same. And in this charming and entertaining story of his beloved canine companion, Jonathan Wittenberg shares with dog lovers everwhere his inability to resist the big, brown-eyed look which says, 'I'll melt your heart if you even think of going out without me', to the security he feels on a twenty-mile trek across the bleak Scottish Highlands with not a soul for a friend but his collie - and everything else he's learned along the way.

(P)2017 John Murray Press