cover image The Dogma of Rufus: A Canine Guide to Eating, Sleeping, Digging, Slobbering, Scratching, and Surviving with Humans

The Dogma of Rufus: A Canine Guide to Eating, Sleeping, Digging, Slobbering, Scratching, and Surviving with Humans

Larry, Zack, and Joey Arnstein. Skyhorse (Norton, dist.), $19.95 (304p) ISBN 978-1-62087-604-6

Not only dog lovers will be charmed by this hilarious how-to guide, ostensibly aimed at younger canines, offering, according to Rufus (the “old” dog who is purportedly the book’s real author), “a collection of wisdom passed down through the years from dog to dog.” These ideas should help the dog reader both lead “a more meaningful dog life” and help humans lead “less pathetic” ones. The tongue-in-cheek style continues with a glossary that defines a newspaper as “soft, very eatable, chewable thing suitable for gnawing, chomping, and spreading around the house.” The subtitle gives an accurate sense of the broad scope of topics covered, in sections such as “Human Food: Our Central Purpose (A Mission Statement”; “Licking: What, Where, When, and Why”; and “Cats: An Evolutionary Mistake.” The Arnsteins (or Rufus, if you will) offer review questions to enable self-assessment of mastery of the material by his target audience. The practice pointers for the younger generation are enhanced by photos demonstrating skills to be mastered like the “Grab-and-Go” maneuver to liberate tasty food from a kitchen table. The authors provide trenchant observations about human nature (eating while talking keeps people from enjoying either, and is the sort of multitasking dogs would never do). Readers will discover laughs on every page. Agent: Jill Marsal, Marsal Lyon Literary Agency. (July)