'There are many families where the whole interest in life is centred upon the dog.' wrote Jerome K Jerome in 1889, and any devoted dog person would agree that the same is true today. This book celebrates the special qualities of the family dog, with stories of love and devotion, of astonishing daring, or colossal mishap. More than any other family member, dogs comfort us, amuse us, tolerate our peculiarities, boost our egos, and love us no matter what we do.

THE FAMILY DOG is an album of appealing photographs with entertaining observations from well-known wits, writers and dog lovers showing the many reasons why a dog is a man's

• •and a woman's
• •best friend. Dave Barry sums it up this way: 'You can say any fool thing to a dog, and the dog will give you this look that says, My Godyou're RIGHT! I NEVER would have thought of that!'