Still looking for that perfect Christmas gift?

 

If you have a dog lover on your list, you can’t go wrong with any of these five books.

 

Soul of a Dog: Reflections on the Spirits of the Animals of Bedlam Farm (Jon Katz, Villard, $24). In his latest and most thought-provoking dispatch from his enclave in upstate New York, Katz reflects on whether animals possess souls and consciences or whether it just seems as if they do. As the owner of a border collie, I especially enjoy reading about Rose and Orson, his highly intelligent, sometimes problematic cattle dogs.

 

Old dogs are the best dogs (Gene Weingarten and Michael S. Williamson, Simon & Schuster, $19.95). Gene Weingarten is a reporter for the Washington Post and as gifted a writer as you’ll find. In this collection of essays, he extols the wisdom and loyalty of aging dogs with wrenching eloquence. Williamson’s accompanying black and white photos capture the dignity in the dogs’ shining eyes. I thumbed through this book and was hooked.

 

Inside of a Dog: What dogs see, smell, and know (Alexandra Horowitz, Scribner, $27) unravels dozens of mysteries surrounding dogs: why they’re so eager to mark territory, why they seem to be able to tell time, why they’re able to detect disease. Read this and I guarantee you’ll see your dog with new appreciation and insight. 

 

A big little life: a memoir of a joyful dog (Dean Koontz, Hyperion, $24.99) is the story of Koontz’s golden retriever, Trixie, a retired service dog who taught the best-selling writer some profound lessons about living life to the fullest. Koontz articulates the feelings of many dog lovers when he describes what Trixie’s full-out philosophy meant to him.