From two-time National Book Award nominee Melissa Fay Greene comes a profound and surprising account of dogs on the front lines of rescuing both children and adults from the trenches of grief, emotional, physical, and cognitive disability, and post-traumatic stress disorder.The Underdogs tells the story of Karen Shirk, felled at age twenty-four by a neuromuscular disease and facing life as a … facing life as a ventilator-dependent, immobile patient, who was turned down by every service dog agency in the country because she was “too disabled.” Her nurse encouraged her to tone down the suicidal thoughts, find a puppy, and raise her own service dog. Karen did this, and Ben, a German shepherd, dragged her back into life. “How many people are stranded like I was,” she wondered, “who would lead productive lives if only they had a dog?”
A thousand state-of-the-art dogs later, Karen Shirk’s service dog academy, 4 Paws for Ability, is restoring broken children and their families to life. Long shunned by scientists as a manmade, synthetic species, and oft- referred to as “Man’s Best Friend” almost patronizingly, dogs are finally paid respectful attention by a new generation of neuroscientists and animal behaviorists. Melissa Fay Greene weaves the latest scientific discoveries about our co-evolution with dogs with Karen’s story and a few exquisitely rendered stories of suffering children and their heartbroken families.
Written with characteristic insight, humanity, humor, and irrepressible joy, what could have been merely touching is a penetrating, compassionate exploration of larger questions: about our attachment to dogs, what constitutes a productive life, and what can be accomplished with unconditional love.
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A true story of a woman denied a service dog because she has too many obstacles starts a dog training program of her own.
I enjoyed this book although I was a little disappointed because the stories were pretty disjointed; I would have preferred to see entire stories together.
Hard to keep in context. I would get interested in one story, and then it just left me up in the air. I did not read it all.
For any dog lover a must-read and for anyone not already a dog-lover, you may become a true dog fan when you read this book
Fascinating case histories and amazing research on canine emotions. I couldn’t put it down and when I finished it, I immediately sent a copy to a service dog owner and dog lover.
Reading about the Service Dogs, their training, their handlers and their families was enjoyable. The alternate chapters had information about the history of domesticated dogs in and out of Service Training.
I loved this book and have bought it for a couple friends!
Loved it!
I enjoyed the stories about the dogs and children, but I found the book disjointed and not sticking to one theme.
A book to read for anyone who knows an autistic child.
Dog lovers will be enchanted with this book. Hats off, too, to Karen Shirk who could never accept the ‘assurance’ that “it can’t be done!” Such a loving spirit is too rare.
“4 Paws for Ability” doesn’t begin to identify the marvels that are achieved every day by our canine friends who understand to unbelievable depths the meaning of ‘responsibility’. We have long known about dogs used for rescue work in various situations, been vaguely aware of their value in the military, and more recently heard of them being paired up with police to help keep us safe.
“The Underdogs” brings to our attention the value of dogs in situations far and beyond anything we have thought possible. One incident that amazed so many was of a dog assigned to care for a child unable to express his needs. One night the dog, already on alert in the sleeping child’s room, waited until the parents retired, but before they could get to sleep made an unusual visit to their room. He gave one bark, which he never does, and followed them to the child who was peacefully sleeping. The situation was repeated three times before the mother noticed that the baby alarm, connecting the two rooms, was not plugged in. She plugged it into an outlet near their bed, the dog turned and quietly returned to the child’s room and settled down until needed. How could a dog know anything about such equipment connections?
The stories about unusual needs and how they were fulfilled continue to amaze the reader, and again prove that animals are not stupid.
Excellent book, well thought out page turner. I am not a dog lover, but this book was great.
did not think that it was multiple stories. didn’t hold my interest.
I was fully absorbed from page one to the end!
If you love dogs or have a special needs child, read this. Inspiring, heartfelt true stories of service dogs rescued from shelters changing lives of children with special needs. Well researched and written.
Quite good.
I really enjoyed reading about the various families and the special children who were helped by these amazing service dogs. Beyond that, I learned so much about new research on dogs’ cognition, perceptions, and training.