The New Work of Dogs: Tending to Life, Love, and Family

By Jon Katz

Book Overview

In an increasingly fragmented and disconnected society, dogs are often treated not as pets, but as family members and human surrogates. The New Work of Dogs profiles a dozen such relationships in a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375508147
• ISBN13: 9780375508141
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: Villard Books
• Length: 225 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

A Book to Read Before You Get a Dog

This is a book that should be required reading for anyone who's thinking of buying a dog. The wide cross section of dog owners profiled allows almost anyone to find bits and pieces of themselves or their lives among the dozen or so vignettes of people and families. Each anecdote reads like a short story in which Katz tries hard not to judge the dog owners, but to help readers understand the frustrations, failures, heartbreak, joy, satisfaction and love that are all part of living with canines. His journalism background helps him draw pictures that are not always flattering and may scuttle the dreams or fantasies many would-be owners may have about what it is like to own and live with a dog. But these are stories that need to be read and understood before a dog purchase or adoption, not after.Katz proposes that the work of dogs has evolved in the past several decades. Once bred for physical labor, dogs seem to have been relegated to something akin to an emotional crutch for members of an alienated, lonely and driven society. What Katz seems to be trying to decipher is how wide a gap there is between the our modern expectations of dogs and their ability to deliver something even close to our demands.But while Katz often talks about the appeal of owners' satisfaction in their dogs' perceived unconditional love, I'm forced to wonder: Isn't the greater appeal of dogs that we are able to GIVE them unlimited amounts of love that they never reject, never mock and never betray? Because, in the end, the love humans give is almost always more satisfying and joy-filled that the love they receive. Maybe that, in the end, is the dog's true appeal.

We're Giving Dogs Work They Cannot Do

Katz's insightful thesis is that as our society grows more fragmented and irresonsible many of us will suffer intense isolation, compelling us to look to dogs for substitute sources of friendship and family. As a result, a tragic paradox has inflicted the canine world: On one hand, dogs are now regarded with higher esteem but on the other hand our unrealistic expectations result in disappointment and frustration, resulting in the neglect, abuse, and anger against dogs, many of which are abandoned. Katz isn't saying we shouldn't lavish love on dogs. Rather, he is saying we should be aware of the kind of emotional needs we're requiring our dogs to make and to perhaps not fall into the trap of overdoing our dog obsession. To make his point, he provides about a dozen in-depth profiles of dog owners, many lonely and alienated from society and shows the pressures their loneliness puts on their dogs.

The New Work of Dogs

This is a phenomenal book and a very easy read. Jon Katz writes of several case stories of different individuals and their dogs. He examines the bond between human and animal. He explains what their humans expect of them and how the dogs fit in to their world. He clearly depicts how each dog and human react in each story, but also explains later in the book that every situation and relationship is unique. Sometimes a dog will take on different roles as in the case of the author's dog Devon. Devon ordinarily was not receptive to rambunctious children but for some reason warmed up immediately to Joey, a severely disabled boy. The story of Tom and his dog Penny made me laugh at times, Donna and her dog Harry made me cry, and Diane with her dog Chaos made me smile.He examines the life of a dog by explaining the "work" that they perform in a relationship in today's world of dogs and how it differs from years ago when dogs, for the most part, were allowed to run free. You will begin to understand how dogs go from "puppyhood" to many times being one of those unfortunate enough to end up in an animal shelter. He delves into what it's like to run a dog rescue group and eloquently depicts the tremendous effort Betty Jean's organization puts into the rescue effort. Her organization can only make an imperceptible dent in the shelter population; but that dent is worth a life to the dog that's rescued.The author, without exception, must have been on an emotional roller coaster ride when writing this book. He had to delve into the lives of good, bad, and unfortunate relationships as an observer only. The composure with which he writes the book is commendable. He will have any reasonable person laughing, crying, and smiling all in the same book as well as expressing a gamut of other emotions. Any reasonable person reading this book will become introspective, ESPECIALLY a dog owner. I highly recommend reading it!

Just great...

I've followed Jon Katz's work from his mystery series through his technology writing to his more personal recent non-fiction, and his evolution has been an incredible thing to see. This is a great "dog book", so far as that goes, but it's much more besides - interesting and moving stories and people combined with an original and insightful view of our society... and beautifully written as well.