For the Love of Dog: How Dogs Think and the Unbreakable Bond That Connects Us, by Maggie Marton

 Publication Sept. 16, 2025

We really don't deserve dogs.  

The title of the final chapter pretty much sums it up, "Dogs Are Love: Plain and Simple". It's a heartfelt, lovely tribute to our furry friends. Be prepared, however, for both laughter and tears. Every dog in our lives teaches us something and, sadly, that includes about loss.

The focus of the book, however, is what the author learned about herself and, in a sense, human nature in general from her own experience. It details her learning curve with Emmett, with his separation anxiety, Lucas, who was basically afraid of everything, and Scooter, later renamed Cooper, who made the author and her husband failed fosters despite his housebreaking challenges. Trust me, they have a lot of company in that category of people who volunteered to care for a dog until a suitable home is found only to fall in love with the dog and adopt it themselves. Each dog, while ultimately loving, had their own personalities and quirks and it was a at times to work through their issues with them. Kudos for the author for persisting. She learned something about dogs from each encounter, not to mention herself and others. There is quite a bit of easy to digest research and science shared but it was the personal experience and growth of the author that kept me reading.

Although I took pages of notes as I read, I'm opting to simply say that this is a book all dog lovers should read. Trust me, reading this with my own now senior dog at my feet, this wasn't an easy read at times but it was a thoughtful, loving one. The pain of loss is well worth the joy of knowing and sharing their life, however brief in comparison to our own. Dogs live in the moment and don't overthink, they simply live. There's something to be said for that. 

Bottom line, well worth the time it'll take to read. It's actually an easy read but I tended to spread out my sessions with it to both savor the content and think, really think, about what my own dog means to me. Thanks to #PostHillPress for making this early copy available to me. It wasn't always a "fun" read but it was a great read with my own furry friend curled up somewhere beside me. I'm going to check out a few of the references given at the back, too, I think, as time permits.