Great Dog Stories: Inspirational Tales About Exceptional Dogs

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

These small collections of tales are pleasant enough but lack the focus
needed to be high-impact. Great Cat Stories touches on the life of
ferals and strays, the demands on show cats, therapy cats, and, in
general, how cats become part of our families. Great Dog Stories leans
toward the heroic, with people, rather than the animals, being the ones
rescued or saved in unusual ways.

In both books, the focus often strays from animals to people: for
example, the volunteer cat custodian on Parliament Hill, the journalist
who writes in her cat’s voice, and author Jean Little and her
seeing-eye dogs.

In style and content, the essays vary from bland descriptions of
animal–human relationships to a dramatic tale of dogs fending off a
moose attack. Each book contains nine stories.