DARING DOGS

There has never been a shortage of heroic dogs, but this effort singles out a kennelful for special attention.

From search-and-rescue dogs to those that showed special dedication to their human companions, film-star dogs to those that attend to humans with special needs, royal dogs to pups that have provided distinguished service on the battlefield, they run the gamut. So does the clarity of the presentation. Hamilton starts off with a timeline of human-canine interaction, with entries including: “1925 / Life-Saving Serum Run in Alaska Sled Dogs to the Rescue”; “C. 450 BC / Plato Says, ‘A Dog Has the Soul of a Philosopher’ ”; and “14,000 BC / Earliest Dog Is Discovered in Germany.” Another page, “They Also Served,” lists the exploits of 15 brave dogs in World War II—and Buster, who sniffed bombs in Iraq in 2003. Most of the work is taken up with one-page biographies (with life dates if known) of 30 well-known and some other less-recognized canines. These brief tales are engaging and include stylized illustrations of the dogs, provided by 17 different illustrators. Clumsy writing, however, results in the not-infrequent infelicitous sentence: A former stray “buries any leftovers in his food bowl,” for instance. Inaccurate glossary definitions further diminish the book’s utility. A final list includes 10 useful ways to help dogs.

Uncritical dog lovers may lap this up.