The underdogs : children, dogs, and the power of unconditional love [electronic resource] / Melissa Fay Greene ; read by Christina Delaine.

Downloadable eAudiobook.

Non fiction.

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?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.

Adult.

Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Duration: 10:33:00.

Read by Christina Delaine.