The Underdogs : children, dogs, and the power of unconditional love
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references (pages 323-336) and index.

The Underdogs tells the story of Karen Shirk, felled at age twenty-four by a neuromuscular disease and 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{u2019}s service dog academy, 4 Paws for Ability, is restoring broken children and their families to life. Author Melissa Fay Greene weaves the latest scientific discoveries about our co-evolution with dogs with Karen{u2019}s story and a few exquisitely rendered stories of suffering children and their heartbroken families. Written with characteristic insight, humanity, humor, and irrepressible joy, the book is a compassionate exploration into our attachment to dogs, what constitutes a productive life, and what can be accomplished with unconditional love.