As one who was attacked and injured by a dog not once, not twice, but thrice as a boy and as a young man, I never thought that I’d one day number myself among those who love dogs. I attribute this change in myself to the existence of and decade-long companionship and love I received from a small grey and white Havanese named Bebe, whom I shall never forget and for whom I still deeply mourn years after she shuffled off her mortal coil. During the years we spent together, I genuinely came to understand what is meant by the sayings “we don’t deserve dogs” and “be the person you’re dog thinks you are.” Truly, Bebe taught me much about how to be a better human being.
Which is likely why bioethicist Jessica Pierce‘s new book Who’s a Good Dog?; And How to Be a Better Human, publishing this month from University of Chicago Press, so readily piqued my interest. Described as “an invitation to nurture more thoughtful and balanced relationships with our canine companions,” Dr. Pierce’s book presents her readers with both the biology as well as the psychology of dogs, guiding them toward a better informed understanding of what dogs need in their relationships with us and how we can as a result become better (and I truly appreciate this description of humans who share their lives with dogs) dog guardians.
If there is presently a dog in your life, or if you are thinking of adding a dog to it, this is a book well worth your knowing. Indeed, one day I may have developed sufficient scar tissue on my own heart to meet another dog and bring him or her into our family, and when I do, I’ll be drawing upon not only what I learned from Bebe, but very likely from this book as well in guiding how we come to know and understand one another, and as a result form a relationship based on, as Dr. Pierce describes it, a “spirit of collaboration.”
