Man's best friend, domesticated since prehistoric times, a travelling companion for explorers and artists, thinkers and walkers, equally happy curled up by the fire and bounding through the great outdoors--dogs matter to us because we love them. But is that all there is to the canine's good-natured voracity and affectionate dependency? Mark Alizart dispenses with the well-worn clich s concerning dogs and their masters, seeing them not as submissive pets but rather as unexpected life coaches, ready to teach us the elusive recipes for contentment and joy. Dogs have faced their fate in...