I gotta tell ya that this is one of the more amazing books I’ve read in a while.  Warm, touching, sad, joyous — it covered the whole gamut.  It details the journey of Jon Katz (of Slashdot fame, as well as other things), his two yellow labs (Stanley and Julius), and the introduction of a quirky border collie (Devon) to the mix.

This is first book of Jon’s I’ve read, and I’ve got to say I ws impressed.  His writing is not in the least bit presumptuous, and is jsut like you’d expect someone to think and talk.  That goes a long way with me.  And you feel every twist and turn in the book.

Spoilers ahead…

I try to bring books to work, and read during lunch when I can or care to.  This is the only book I’ve had to take home to finish.  The chapters in which Stanley and Julius are put down due to illness were waaaaay more than I could handle.  I guess with the all the close calls and work on Molly over the last four years, it just rings too close to home.  The description of the hereafter his labs have earned is so amazingly detailed, and sounds like so many of the descriptions of The Rainbow Bridge many pet sites mention.  Dunno if that was the inspiration for that, but, man does it strike a heart-wrenching picture, joyous and somber, celebratory and mournful.

So who’s the fourth dog?  Well, that would be Homer, another border collie, and another adventure in dog integration in the household.

I can’t begin to say just how hard this book hit me, and how much it resonated with my relationship with the dogs in my house.  Like I said, this is one of the more amazing books I’ve read in a while.  Highly recommended!