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Dog lovers who enjoyed A DOG YEAR and RUNNING TO THE MOUNTAIN are forewarned. THE NEW WORK OF DOGS is not a walk in the park, though author Jon Katz indulges readers with a few anecdotal romps. This is a call to arms. Pet people around the world will reluctantly learn about the underbelly of the dog world, the realities that lurk outside the realm of most fenced yards, and bedrooms where dogs and cats lounge like royalty. And it's a hard pill to swallow, though Katz, through his wonderful writing, softens the blow.
From the cocoon of his home in Montclair, New Jersey, a wealthy suburb where many dogs and kids are pampered, Katz takes readers on a sad yet real journey into a world where dogs are thrown from cars, battered by their owners, and discarded like trash. This is the story of what happens to them if saints of the dog world, people who form organizations like Save the Pets, find them. And it is the story of what Katz calls "the new work" of dogs --- to fill the emotional voids created by a culture in which television has replaced community, where work dominates schedules and friendships fill in the gaps.
THE NEW WORK OF DOGS is a good read by an excellent author about a topic that will break the heart of any animal lover. With statistics that startle any compassionate person, let alone a dog person, the book delves into the realities of the world we have created --- a world where most dog owners call themselves mommy and daddy and spent $29 billion on their pets in 2001; the same world where between 8 and 10 million dogs enter the U.S. shelter system and close to 5 million are killed "because there are no homes for them," says Katz.
A true journalist, Katz follows a few dog owners to discover their motivation for owning dogs. And while they are all good-hearted and well intended, the discoveries that he makes will tug on heartstrings when readers realize that dogs have entered a whole new realm of existence. These are dog owners who have unwittingly delegated the responsibility of companionship and personal fulfillment to four-legged creatures whose only charge should be eating, sleeping, perhaps a bit of obedience training and, well, relieving themselves.
"…During many interviews, it seemed that the people I was talking to had holes of one sort or another in their lives; they were hoping that a dog might fill it," says Katz, who did a tremendous amount of research for this book that prompts readers to delve further.
What readers discover in this 223-page book is that, while some dogs are loved more than ever before --- in the form of hired dog walkers, gourmet dog food, and high-end pillow beds --- they are purchased to alleviate emotional needs of their owners, an unfair prospect for the sweetest of canine companions. A widow who will ultimately remarry and relegate new-found best friend to a small yard without daily walks, a workaholic who is unable to relate to his children or wife, a single woman who focuses her attention on a small dog after being continually disappointed by friends. These are some of the folks you meet in the pages of THE NEW WORK OF DOGS, a book that is difficult to pick up and even harder to put down. It is a story that will stay with you.
--- Reviewed by Heather Grimshaw
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