THE UNDERDOGS tells the story of Karen Shirk: felled at age 24 by a
neuromuscular disease and facing life as an immobile, deeply isolated
and depressed, ventilator-dependent patient, she was rejected by every
service dog agency in the country as "too disabled." Her nurse
encouraged her to raise her own service dog, and Ben, a German shepherd,
dragged her back into life. "How many people are stranded like I was,"
she wondered, "who could lead productive lives with a service dog?"
A thousand dogs later, Karen Shirk's service dog academy, 4 Paws for
Ability, is restoring broken children and their families to life.
Melissa Fay Greene tells the stories of isolated children, struggling
parents, and the marvelous dogs who gallop into their lives. Into these
modern wonder tales, she weaves the latest scientific discoveries about
the inner lives of dogs. It turns out that dogs really are doing the
astounding things they appear to do, and they're doing them for people
they love. The frontiers of the human/dog bond are explored here with
insight, compassion, humor, and joy. A cast of remarkable
characters-scientists and felons, dog trainers and parents, children
with disabilities and the great dogs themselves-together address
questions about our attachment to dogs, what constitutes a productive
life, and what can be accomplished with unconditional love.
