My Life with George: What I Learned about Joy from One Neurotic (and Very Expensive) Dog - Tapa dura

"Been there...done that...wouldn't change it for the world."

"What a lovely story, both funny and touching. As a dog lover, with surprisingly low maintenance dogs until now, it was right up my street."

"How can you put a price on love? I had a dog with a chronic problem, yet every day she laughed at me and brought me so much happiness. I was and still am bereft when she died. Live every day with your dog as a bonus."

"What a touching story. I used to own a Cavalier and all of the ailments, costs, and temper tantrums must run in the breed... The joy and love he brought us, however, remains to this day. No dog compares and he is never ever forgotten. So every penny is worth it."

When Judith Summers first met George, the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel who would change her life, she and her young son, Joshua, were mourning the deaths of her husband and her father, who had died barely two weeks apart.

It was love at first sight. George was the ultimate upper-class pooch, and seemingly the perfect puppy, brimming with love and joy and complete with "the kind of film-star looks that made strangers stop in the street and coo over him."

But, as Judith soon discovered, George was as time-consuming as a full-time job and as expensive to run as a Ferrari. Willful, possessive and badly behaved, he refused to eat anything other than organic roast chicken, destroyed her work, and suffered from every allergy and illness under the sun. On top of that, George was horribly accident-prone. Stuff happened to him. His vet bills alone have run to $25,000, and George is still only nine years old!

It wasn't long before King George ruled the roost in Judith's home. But even after he drove away one of her suitors, she couldn't fathom giving him up. Just as his naughtiness was boundless, so was his devotion to her and her son. A foot-warmer on cold nights, a good listener, and a fierce (okay, not so fierce) protector, George was always by their side--and much of the time underfoot.

For anyone who has ever loved an incorrigible pet or known what it was like to lose a loved one, My Life with George is the hilarious and moving account of the impossible but adorable George, and of the wonderful way in which he helped to fill a huge void in the lives of both Judith and her son while driving them absolutely barking mad along the way.