Originally published in hardcover: New York : Villard Books, 2006.

"Includes a new afterword"--Cover.

"People who love dogs often talk about a 'lifetime' dog. I'd heard the phrase a dozen times before I came to recognize its significance. Lifetime dogs are dogs we love in especially powerful, sometimes inexplicable ways." Author Katz tells the story of his lifetime dog, Orson: a beautiful border collie--intense, smart, crazy, and unforgettable. From the moment Katz and Orson meet, their relationship is deep, stormy, and loving. Two years old, Katz's new companion is a great herder of school buses, a scholar of refrigerators, but a dud at herding sheep. Everything Katz attempts--obedience training, herding instruction, a new name, herb and alternative therapies--helps a little but not enough, and not for long. While Katz is trying to help his dog, Orson is helping him, shepherding him toward a new life on a two-hundred-year-old hillside farm in upstate New York.--From publisher description.