Jon and his wife live in a New Jersey suburb with two perfectly behaved Labradors. Then into the mix comes Devon, who creates havoc from the moment he arrives at the airport, when it takes Jon, two baggage handlers and three police officers to track him down after he escapes.

Jon learns the hard way how to encourage Devon to behave. But amongst the difficulties of their first year together, Jon discovers his life is enlivened by a creature with so much mischievousness andjoie de vivre. In fact, Jon finds that he is to change as much as Devon.

By turns insightful, hilarious and deeply moving,A Dog Yearis a delightful true story of the age-old bond between man and dog.

Jon Katz has written for theNew York Times, theWall Street Journal,Rolling Stone,GQand other magazines as well as having a regular column about dogs and rural life for online magazine Slate. He has written sixteen books, many of them about dogs, and co-hosts an awardwinning radio showDog Talk. After the period of this book, he moved to a farm in upstate New York where he and his wife live together with their dogs, sheep, cows, donkeys, a barn cat and four chickens. His website is www.bedlamfarm.com.

When Jon Katz takes in a young troubled border collie, his calm, sedate life will never be the same again