Alternately comical, melancholic, pragmatic, and poetic, Donald McCaig's collection "A Useful Dog" offers a delightful exploration of the simple yet rich relationship between dogs and humans. Having cast aside urban life in the 1970s in favor of working and living on a sheep farm in Virginia, McCaig has spent the past three decades raising working sheepdogs and writing about his experiences with them. "A Useful Dog" comprises a selection of short pieces - vintage McCaig - that reveal not only the ins and outs of sheepdog work and trials but also the joy and devotion that dogs bring to our daily lives. For any dog enthusiast, this little book will prove a telling reminder of why the dog became known as man's best friend.