A Dog Year: Twelve Months, Four Dogs, and Me - Softcover

Katz, Jon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0812966902 ISBN 13: 9780812966909

Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2003

Synopsis

“Change loves me, defines and stalks me like a laser-guided smart bomb. It comes at me in all forms, suddenly and with enormous impact, from making shifts in work to having and raising a kid to buying a cabin on a distant mountaintop. Sometimes, change comes on four legs.” 

In his popular and widely praised Running to the Mountain, Jon Katz wrote of the strength and support he found in the massive forms of his two yellow Labrador retrievers, Julius and Stanley. When the Labs were six and seven, a breeder who’d read his book contacted Katz to say she had a dog that was meant for him—a two-year-old border collie named Devon, well bred but high-strung and homeless. Katz already had a full canine complement, but instinct overruled reason, and soon thereafter he brought Devon home.

A Dog Year: Twelve Months, Four Dogs, and Me is the story of how Devon and Jon—and Julius and Stanley—came to terms with each other. It shows how a man discovered a lot about himself through one dog (and then another) whose temperament seemed as different from his own as day is from night. It is a story of trust and understanding, of life and death, of continuity and change. It is by turns insightful, hilarious, and deeply moving.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

Sometimes, change comes on four legs.
In his popular and widely praised Running to the Mountain, Jon Katz wrote of the strength and support he found in the massive forms of his two yellow Labrador retrievers, Julius and Stanley. When the Labs were six and seven, a breeder who'd read his book contacted Katz to say she had a dog that was meant for him--a two-year-old border collie named Devon, well bred but high-strung and homeless. Katz already had a full canine complement--but, as he writes, "Change loves me. . . . It comes in all forms. . . . Sometimes, change comes on four legs." Shortly thereafter he brought Devon home. A Dog Year shows how a man discovered much about himself through one dog (and then another), whose temperament seemed as different from his own as day from night. It is a story of trust and understanding, of life and death, of continuity and change. It is by turns insightful, hilarious, and deeply moving.

From the Back Cover

“This gentle book is a great reminder—as if anybody needed one—of what animals can mean to people at particular times in life.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

“Moving, funny . . . This is a loveable mutt of a book.” —Chicago Tribune

“Part cautionary tale, part love story, A Dog Year reminds us that adopting a pet is a massive responsibility but one that rewards the owner with a richer, more meaningful life.” —Los Angeles Times

Edition details

• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0812966902
• ISBN 13: 9780812966909
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 240