From the very beginning, Orson was a misfit. Like all border collies, he needed to work. But since there weren't any sheep available for herding in the New Jersey suburbs, Orson instead tried to corral school buses, garbages trucks, and skateboarding kids. So Katz pulled up stakes and moved to a farm in upstate New York. There, Orson improved dramatically - until the day he started nipping people. The nips soon turned to bites, forcing Katz to face an incredibly painful decision.

Living with four dogs on a rural New York farm is one thing. But what happens when you add a couple cows, four donkeys, a growing flock of sheep, a few hens, a temperamental rooster, and even Mother (a barn cat) to the mix?

With his signature insight and gift for storytelling, Jon Katz here shares 16 stories about one of life’s most unique relationships. In the title story, a housekeeper loses her job, but discovers her four-legged “children” have some toe-tapping talents that just may get the whole family back on its feet.

In 2007, a few years after purchasing Bedlam Farm in upstate New York, Jon Katz met Maria Wulf, a quiet, sensitive artist hoping to rekindle her creative spark. Jon, like her, was introspective yet restless, a writer struggling to find his purpose. He felt a connection with her immediately, but a formidable obstacle stood in the way: Maria' s dog, Frieda. A rottweiler-shepherd mix who had been abandoned by her previous owner in the Adirondacks, where she lived in the wild for several years, Frieda was ferociously protective and barely tamed.

With its endearing blend of humor, wisdom, and insight, Soul of a Dog, by New York Times best-selling author Jon Katz, illuminates the interaction between humans and animals.

Although he features his ever-faithful border collie, Rose, Katz also includes revealing observations about Mother the murderous barn cat, Elvis the doughnut-loving steer, and his other dogs - Izzy, Lenore, and Pearl.

When Jon Katz got a call from an animal control officer about Simon, a neglected donkey who had been found on a failing farm in upstate New York, he wasn't expecting to add another animal to his already full life. But when he made the trek out to meet him, he couldn't help falling in love with the skinny, mangy donkey who had already suffered so much, and he ended up taking him into his home. It was Simon who listened in the fields as Jon read to him and discussed philosophy.

World-renowned as a source of science and soul, Patricia McConnell combines brilliant insights into canine behavior - gained from her work with aggressive and fearful dogs - with heartwarming stories of her own dogs and their life on the farm. Now, she reveals that it wasn't just the dogs who had serious problems. For decades Dr. McConnell secretly grappled with her own guilt and fear, which were rooted in the harrowing traumas of her youth.

Woody Bookman hasn’t spoken a word in his eleven years of life. Not when his father died in a freak accident. Not when his mother, Megan, tells him she loves him. For Megan, keeping her boy safe and happy is what matters. But Woody believes a monstrous evil was behind his father’s death and now threatens him and his mother. And he’s not alone in his thoughts. An ally unknown to him is listening.

After Tova Sullivan’s husband died, she began working the night shift at the Sowell Bay Aquarium, mopping floors and tidying up. Keeping busy has always helped her cope, which she’s been doing since her eighteen-year-old son, Erik, mysteriously vanished on a boat in Puget Sound over thirty years ago. Tova becomes acquainted with curmudgeonly Marcellus, a giant Pacific octopus living at the aquarium. Marcellus knows more than anyone can imagine but wouldn’t dream of lifting one of his eight arms for his human captors—until he forms a remarkable friendship with Tova.

In a profound, funny, and beautifully rendered portrait of a beloved companion, bestselling novelist Dean Koontz remembers the golden retriever who changed his life. A retired service dog, Trixie was three when Dean and his wife, Gerda, welcomed her into their home. She was superbly trained, but her greatest gifts couldn’t be taught: her keen intelligence, her innate joy, and an uncanny knack for living in the moment.

A single mom learns that her chronically ill son can communicate with a very special dog - and the lessons this dog teaches can shape the future and transform their lives. And what Whistler inspires in Kate and Jasper may be his most important lesson of all.

The New York Times best-selling novel from Garth Stein - a heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope - a captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life...as only a dog could tell it.

Fiver could sense danger. Something terrible was going to happen to the warren; he felt sure of it. They had to leave immediately. So begins a long and perilous journey of survival for a small band of rabbits. As the rabbits skirt danger at every turn, we become acquainted with the band, its humorous characters, and its compelling culture, complete with its own folk history and mythos. Fiver’s vision finally leads them to Watership Down, an upland meadow. But here they face their most difficult challenges of all.

On his thirty-sixth birthday, Travis Cornell hikes into the foothills of the Santa Ana Mountains. But his path is soon blocked by a bedraggled Golden Retriever who will let him go no further into the dark woods. That morning, Travis had been desperate to find some happiness in his lonely, seemingly cursed life. What he finds is a dog of alarming intelligence that soon leads him into a relentless storm of mankind’s darkest creation....

Heartwarming, insightful, and often laugh-out-loud funny, A Dog's Purpose is not only the emotional and hilarious story of a dog's many lives, but also a dog's-eye commentary on human relationships and the unbreakable bonds between man and man's best friend. This moving and beautifully crafted story teaches us that love never dies, that our true friends are always with us, and that every creature on earth is born with a purpose.

With its endearing blend of humor, wisdom, and insight, Soul of a Dog, by New York Times best-selling author Jon Katz, illuminates the interaction between humans and animals.

Although he features his ever-faithful border collie, Rose, Katz also includes revealing observations about Mother the murderous barn cat, Elvis the doughnut-loving steer, and his other dogs - Izzy, Lenore, and Pearl.

From the very beginning, Orson was a misfit. Like all border collies, he needed to work. But since there weren't any sheep available for herding in the New Jersey suburbs, Orson instead tried to corral school buses, garbages trucks, and skateboarding kids. So Katz pulled up stakes and moved to a farm in upstate New York. There, Orson improved dramatically - until the day he started nipping people. The nips soon turned to bites, forcing Katz to face an incredibly painful decision.

Living with four dogs on a rural New York farm is one thing. But what happens when you add a couple cows, four donkeys, a growing flock of sheep, a few hens, a temperamental rooster, and even Mother (a barn cat) to the mix?

When Jon Katz got a call from an animal control officer about Simon, a neglected donkey who had been found on a failing farm in upstate New York, he wasn't expecting to add another animal to his already full life. But when he made the trek out to meet him, he couldn't help falling in love with the skinny, mangy donkey who had already suffered so much, and he ended up taking him into his home. It was Simon who listened in the fields as Jon read to him and discussed philosophy.

Thousands of cats and dogs have come through Barby Keel's English countryside animal sanctuary and, with the aid of Barby and her dedicated staff, found loving forever homes. But Gabby, a small terrier with solemn, terrified eyes, is like no case Barby has ever encountered before. Gabby has spent all eight years of her life indoors. She has no idea how to play with a toy or chew a treat. She has never dug in the dirt or rolled happily in the grass. Strangest of all, Gabby does not know how to bark.