Slate Magazine - Heavy Petting

My border collie Izzy is a hospice dog. He comforts the dying.

Jon Katz — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:57:56 EST

Excerpted from Izzy & Lenore: Two Dogs, An Unexpected Journey, and Me, by Jon Katz, which comes out today from Villard.

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The Plott hound, the ninja warrior of dogdom.

Richard B. Woodward — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 14:02:51 EST

The Plott hound, one of four breeds making its debut on the green carpet this week at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, is unlikely to melt the hearts of television viewers. In pose-offs against bassets and dachshunds, two of its cuddlier rivals in the hound group, it will be hard for the high-strung animals to look anything but ill at ease. Weighing 50 to 60 pounds, with a homely mien, a thin, brindled coat, and a sinewy profile, they aren't noticeably prepossessing or much good as indoor pets.

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My dog's amazing gift with hospice patients.

Jon Katz — Wed, 2 Jan 2008 08:03:31 EST

Etta's* room was at the back of the nursing home, "all the way to the end, on the left," said the manager coolly. Nursing-home administrators, like some doctors and even family members, aren't always happy to see hospice volunteers, whom they sometimes see as harbingers of surrender.

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How to say no to your vet.

Emily Yoffe — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 13:06:48 EST

Recently, my friend A's vigorous 10-year-old laika (a Russian breed whose name means "barker") woke up wheezing. She seemed fine the next morning when he went to work, but that afternoon he got a call from his mother, who had come over to let the dog out, telling him the dog seemed disoriented. He left work, arriving home about an hour later, to discover his pet on the floor of the bedroom, eyes open and fixed, body stiff. He picked the dog up, put her in the car, and drove to the vet. He ran in with the rigid dog over his shoulder and announced, "I think my dog is dead!" Everything stopped in the waiting room as the techs whisked the dog away.

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The real reason we love dogs.

Jon Katz — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 07:17:24 EST

My friend and fellow dog lover Edie, an occupational therapist in Massachusetts, has been looking for a mate for nearly 10 years. She finally thought she'd found one in Jeff, a nice guy, generous and funny, who teaches high school. They dated for several months, and just as there was talk about a future, it occurred to Edie that Jeff hadn't really bonded with her yellow Lab, Sophie. In fact, as she thought more about it, she wasn't sure Jeff was a dog guy at all.

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