(Updated and Revised again)
It’s National Dog Day, the annual celebration of “all dogs, mixed breed and pure. Our mission is to help galvanize the public to recognize the number of dogs that need to be rescued each year and acknowledges family dogs and dogs that work selflessly each day to save lives, keep us safe and bring comfort.” So it seemed like a good day to post another version of this.

These Dog Days Aren't OverThis was a hard post to come up with a name for*, essentially this post came from a comment not too long ago about being hesitant to read books about animals if the reader doesn’t know if they survive the book. I get that, I absolutely do. I still bear the scars of Where the Red Fern Grows and Marley and Me (sure, that wasn’t that long ago, but the wound still stings). So, for readers like my correspondent, here are some perfectly safe books prominently featuring dogs!

I plan on updating this when I can remember to, so by all means, chime in with comments about Dogs I’ve forgotten about/haven’t yet!

Non-Fiction

bullet The Particulars of Peter by Kelly Conaboy—this is a collection of humorous essays giving Conaboy the opportunity to rave about her dog, Peter. In her eyes, Peter is a perfect dog, and as you read this, you’ll be tempted to agree. (my post about it)
bullet Olive, Mabel & Me by Andrew Cotter—Cotter’s charming book describes his life with the two dogs that rocketed to international stardom (and brought him along). (my post about it)
bullet My Life as a Dog by L. A. Davenport—Davenport’s short little book about the relationship between the author and his dog, Kevin, a black and tan, pure-bred dachshund. It focuses on what the two of them did over two days and then a weekend selected from the years they spent together. (my post about it)
bullet What the Dog Knows: The Science and Wonder of Working Dogs by Cat Warren—Warren basically covers three topics: there’s the science and history of using working dogs (of all sorts of breeds, not to mention pigs(!), birds, and even cats) to find cadavers, drugs, bombs, etc.; there’s the memoir of her involvement with cadaver dogs via her German Shepherd, Solo; and anecdotes of other cadaver dogs and trainers that she’s encountered/learned from/watched in action. (my post about it)
bullet What the Dog Knows Young Readers Edition by Cat Warren, Patricia J. Wynne—The above book adjusted for younger readers, with some great illustrations. It’s not dumbed-down, just adjusted. (my post about it)

Fiction

bullet Mace Reid K-9 Mystery series by Jeffrey B. Burton—A Dog Trainer/Cadaver Dog Handler and his dogs get involved in serial killer cases. (my post about it)
bullet Suspect by Robert Crais—One of my all-favorite books, a cop with PTSD gets assigned to the K-9 Unit and works with a dog fresh from Afghanistan combat. (my post about it) The pair also plays a major role in The Promise.
bullet Pug Actually by Matt Dunn—Doug, a loyal pug, plays cupid for his owner. I haven’t actually read this yet, but as I heard that Dunn is thinking about a sequel, so I’m pretty sure Doug makes it.
bullet Stepdog by Nicole Galland—A love story where the major impediment to happily ever after is her dog (a gift from her ex). (my post about it)
bullet Oberon’s Meaty Mysteries by Kevin Hearne (Audiobooks narrated by Luke Daniels)—Oberon, the scene-stealing Irish Wolfhound from The Iron Druid Chronicles narrates this series of novellas (my posts about them).
bullet Neah Bay series by Owen Laukkanen—Lucy is a dog who is trained by prisoner Mason Burke, who has to track her down when he gets out. She’s a service dog for Marine Vet Jess Winslow. Lucy connects the two humans in her life and helps to keep them safe when a corrupt deputy comes after Jess. (my post about them)
bullet I Thought You Were Dead by Pete Nelson—I’m not sure how to sum this one up in a sentence. It’s a pretty typical novel about a troubled writer with a romantic life and family in shambles. But his dog is the thing that makes all the difference. (my post about it)
bullet Chet and Bernie books by Spencer Quinn—Bernie Little is a PI in Phoenix. Chet’s his four-legged partner and the series narrator. It’s too fun to miss. (my posts about them)
bullet The Right Side by Spencer Quinn—”a deeply damaged female soldier home from the war in Afghanistan becomes obsessed with finding a missing girl, gains an unlikely ally in a stray dog, and encounters new perils beyond the combat zone.” (my post about it)
bullet Woof by Spencer Quinn—The beginning of an MG series about a with a penchant for trouble and her dog. (my post about it)
bullet Andy Carpenter books by David Rosenfelt—Andy Carpenter is New Jersey’s best defense lawyer and a devoted dog owner. He helps run a rescue shelter, too–and almost every client he takes as some sort of connection with a dog. These books aren’t dog-centric like the others on this list, but they’re dog-heavy. (my posts about them)
bullet The K-Team books by David Rosenfelt—a spin-off from the Andy Carpenter series. This features a PI team made up of Andy’s wife/investigator, Laurie; the near super-heroic Marcus; and Corey Douglas, a freshly-retired K-9 officer. His canine partner, Simon Garfunkel, co mes along, too. Simon Garfunkeldoesn’t play a giant role in the books, but he gets at least one good action scene per book. (my posts about them)
bullet Voyage of the Dogs by Greg van Eekhout—SF for all ages about a team of dogs on a long-distance space flight. (my post about it)

Supportive Roles

These dogs aren’t as significant a presence in their books as the prior group, but they’re important enough to mention.
bullet Mouse from The Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. (my posts about them)
bullet The Midnight Plan of the Repo Man by W. Bruce Cameron and the sequel Repo Madness by W. Bruce Cameron— (my posts about them)
bullet Edgar from the Washington Poe books by M. W. Craven. (my posts about them)
bullet Rutherford from The TV Detective series by Simon Hall (my posts about them)
bullet Oberon from the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne. (my post about them)
bullet Ruffin from the I. Q. series by Joe Ide. (my posts about them)
bullet Dog from the Walt Longmire books by Craig Johnson (my posts about them)
bullet Purvis (and Beau) from The Good Kill by John McMahon (my posts about them)
bullet Trogdor from The Golden Arrow Mysteries by Meghan Scott Molin (my post about them)
bullet Mingus from The Drifter by Nicholas Petrie (my post about it)

Books with paws on both sides of the line

Some books that belong on this list, but might be a bit too close to not fitting on it for some readers
bullet Lessons From Lucy by Dave Barry—there’s a strong “my beloved dog is old and will die soon-vibe throughout this (it’s the whole point), so some may want to avoid it. But the focus is on what Barry is learning from his aging but still full-of-life dog. (my post about it)
bullet Dead is … series by Jo Perry—the canine protagonist in these mystery novels is a ghost, so there’s a dog death involved. But we meet her as a ghost, so she won’t die (again) in the series. (my posts about them)
bullet Lessons from Tara by David Rosenfelt—Inspired by the death of their dog, Tara, the Rosenfelt’s now operate a no-kill shelter for senior dogs. This is the story about the origins and day-to-day of that life. There’s discussion of Tara’s death, and he has to cover the end of days for dogs, but it’s not the focus of the book. One some will want to avoid, but you probably shouldn’t. (my post about it)

  • I brainstormed this a bit with my family, and wanted to share some of those titles that didn’t make the cut, just because I enejoyed their creativity:
    bullet These Dogs Didn’t Go To Heaven/Not All Dogs Go to Heaven implies these dogs aren’t wonderful creatures, and that’s a solid loser
    bullet No Kleenex Required too vague, and not necessarily true, they’re just not required because of a death
    bullet The Best Bois
    bullet Books Where the Author isn’t A Heartless Bastard (Looking at You, Marley and Me) too long, and boy howdy, does it seem my son has bigger issues with the book than I did
    bullet Books that Even PETA Would Be Okay With
    bullet Books for the Vegan in You suggests the dog books I don’t mention are in favor of eating them…
    bullet Paw Patrol I’m almost confident my daughter’s boyfriend suggested as a joke, for his sake I’m assuming it was
    bullet Pawfect Dog Stories I refuse to resort to that kind of joke

(Images by S K from Pixabay and josmo from Pixabay