The visuals are wonderful. Two of my favorites are a gorgeous, moody shot of four velvety weimaraners, and a poignant portrait at the end of the book of an elderly man and his grey-muzzled Labrador retriever. There are many more especially memorable images, including a number of fascinating historical photos of dogs. (How could any dog lover not be charmed by the shot of a tiny Yorkshire terrier mascot who helped out in the trenches in World War II, happily peering out from an infantryman's upturned helmet?)

But at least equaling the high caliber of the photography is the extremely fine and interesting writing about dogs. Passages of text excerpted throughout range from fascinating turn-of-the-century commentaries on life with dogs, to snippets of dog-related wartime news from the 1940s, humorous pieces, and moving and heartfelt recent meditations on our relationship with dogs by top-notch modern writers.

Included is an eloquent essay, "Homer the Earth Diver," by novelist Rick Bass, on his soulful, aging hound's seeming ventures across the bounds of mortality. "Some mornings when I go to her room," he writes, "she is sleeping so soundly, and in so loose and strange a sprawl that I think she has died in her sleep. And on those mornings, I get the impression that she has slept deeper, has dived deeper into the land of dreams, than she used to. That surely, now more than ever, the two worlds are blurring, and that she travels further and farther into a place where I can't go. . . ."

His thoughtful writing comes from a place that will be intimately understood by those who have ever loved a dog, who have had a dog live its lifetime devotedly beside you, who have known the sad but profound experience of confronting the loss of that dear friend. In this piece, and many others in the book, those with an interest in dogs will truly appreciate wonderful writing by kindred spirits.

All in all, Our Dogs is a beautiful addition to any dog lover's library.