Anyone who has ever loved an old dog will love Old Dogs. In this collection of profiles and photographs, Weingarten and Williamson document the unique appeal of man's best friend in his or her last, and best, years.

This book is a tribute to every dog who has made it to that time of life when the hearing and eyesight begin to go, when the step becomes uncertain, but when other, richer traits ripen and coalesce. It is when a dog attains a special sort of dignity and a charm all his own.

If you've known a favorite old dog, you'll find him or her on these pages. Your dog might go by a different name and have a different shape, but you'll recognize him or her by the look in an eye or the contours of a life story. There is the dog who thinks he is a house cat; the herder, the fetcher, the punk and the peacock, the escape artist, the demolition artist, the patrician, the lovable lout, the amiable dope, the laughable clown, the schemer, the singer, the daredevil, the diplomat, the politician, the gourmand, and the thief. Plus, as a special bonus, you will find the first Latvian elkhounds ever photographed.

Old Dogs is a glorious gift book and a fitting tribute to that one dog you can't ever forget.

Honey, 10

Shanna solemnly passed the butcher knife to Lance, her 16-year-old son. Shanna was a recent widow, Lance, the new man of the house. It was Lance who had brought home the stray.

Shanna had heard about this breed, particularly ones hardened by the streets, trained to do God Knows What. She knew of a test to find out if a dog is too vicious to keep. The test is not without risk.

"I'm going to give her some food," Shanna said, "and then I'm going to suddenly take it away. If she attacks me, you have to kill her."

Shanna put down the bowl. Lance gripped the knife, white-knuckled, wary...

They laugh about it now, nine years later. Honey the pit bull, as sweet as her name.Copyright © 2008 by Gene Weingarten and Michael S. Williamson

Gene Weingarten, pictured here with Murphy, his Plott Hound, is a nationally syndicated humor columnist and a Pulitzer Prize-winning staff writer for The Washington Post. He has written two books: The Hypochondriac's Guide to Life. And Death. and I'm with Stupid (with Gina Barreca). Weingarten lives in Washington, D.C. He has instructed his family that he wishes to be buried in Washington's Congressional Cemetery, because it allows dogs to run free. He wants his tombstone to include only his birth and death dates, and this: "A funny man who loved dogs." The stone will be carved in the shape of a fire hydrant.

Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Distributor: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: 10-07-2008
Pages: 160
Measurements: 8in X 7.375in X 19.775oz