Dogs I Have Met

October 1, 2007
In this moving sequel to his 2006 bestseller The Dogs Who Found Me, Foster introduces readers to dogs and owners he encountered while promoting his earlier book. In many cases, the dogs had been rescued from death by people who had "decided that they were worth the work of saving," and Foster interweaves their remarkable stories with updates on his own life and the dogs who continue to change his life in surprising ways. The stories are as diverse as the dogs themselves, from a woman who found a pregnant, one-eyed stray in the exact spot where she had been involved in a car crash six years earlier that killed her best friend, to a man certain that his adoption of a pit bull saved him from Hurricane Katrina. Foster concludes with a more detailed look at the animals affected by Katrina's devastation, including a moving tribute to the volunteers who helped give shelter to the dogs of New Orleans. Dog lovers will welcome this new collection of moving and poignant canine stories.

August 1, 2007
Following a 2006 interview on NPR to promote his book "The Dogs Who Found Me: What I Learned from Pets Who Were Left Behind", Foster received a flood of letters from people who had also rescued dogs, many of them pit bulls or mixed breeds and many with medical or psychological issues. These letters form the basis of this book and give Foster the opportunity to comment on the multifaceted aspects of the human-animal bond, particularly on how allowing a rescue dog into one's life can change it. Among the stories Foster relates is that of pit bull Trap, whose adoption forced his owner to move to a dog-friendly apartment, escaping the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. He retells the story of shepherd mix Max, the hemophiliac adopted hours before euthanasia, who works as a therapy dog and touches the lives of many people similarly afflicted. With well-told, moving stories, this is a good choice for public libraries.Florence Scarinci, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, NY

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