Dog lovers, rejoice! This wonderful, whimsical collection of trivia, anecdotes, quotations, musings, and legends is a charming tribute to man's best friend. Beautifully illustrated, chock-full of little-known facts and intriguing tales, this must-have compendium gives us skydiving dogs, swimming dogs, dogs that don't shed, dogs that don't give up, dogs that have set records, and dogs whose loyalty to their masters is the very essence of the most remarkable interspecies relationship on earth.

Chronicling the fascinating background of both popular and rare breeds around the world, Dogs' Miscellany pays homage to famous dogs throughout the ages, ordinary dogs that have behaved famously, and dogs of famous people--from Mary Queen of Scots (who hid her Skye terrier under petticoats when she went to her execution) to Paris Hilton, dog lover. Here are curious tales of canine brilliance and literary quotations from the work of such authors as Emily Bronte, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Jack London. And here are dogs as they appear in the Bible, in Shakespeare, at work, at play, in our language ("dog days," "hair of the dog," "doggone"), in Native American wisdom, on a tombstone inscribed by Lord Byron to his dog, Boatswain, and in an afterlife imagined in Hindu legend.

What is the smallest dog ever recorded? How quickly can a Border Collie roll down a mechanical car window? Should you think twice before giving a dog a bone? From the ridiculous to the sublime, the answers are here in a book that is at once a celebration, an education, and an essential literary companion for dog lovers everywhere.

From the Hardcover edition.