By Our Contributors
A Small Furry Prayer by Steven Kotler
Steven Kotler was forty years old, single, and facing an existential crisis when he met Joy, a woman devoted to animal rescue. “Love me, love my dogs,” was her rule, and Steven took it to heart. Steven, Joy, and their eight dogs—then ten, then twenty, and then they lost count—bought a postage-stamp-size farm in Chimayo, New Mexico, where they started Rancho de Chihuahua, a sanctuary they created for their special needs pack.
While dog rescue is one of the largest underground movements in America, it is also one of the least understood. This insider look at the cult and culture of rescue centers on Kotler’s personal experience working with an ever-shifting pack of dogs large and small. From running canyons with a half dozen Chihuahuas to making a “Sophie’s choice” at the pound–rescue slang for choosing one dog to save–this narrative explores what it means to devote one’s life to the furry and the four-legged.
Along the way, Kotler combs through every aspect of canine-human relations, from humans’ long history with dogs through brand-new research into the neuroscience of canine companionship, in the end discovering why living in a world made of dog may be the best way to uncover the truth about what it really means to be human.
Steven Kotler is the author of the novel The Angle Quickest for Flight, a San Francisco Chronicle bestseller, and West of Jesus, a 2006 PEN West finalist. His work has appeared in the New York Times Magazine, GQ, Wired, Discover, Outside, National Geographic, and elsewhere, and he writes “The Playing Field,” a blog about the science of sport for PsychologyToday.com. Kotler runs the Rancho de Chihuahua dog sanctuary with his wife in rural New Mexico.
“I read this compelling book for hours and found myself completely hooked as I am sure any reader who loves dogs will be. Steven Kotler captures something essential about dogs and humans in a way I have not seen anyone else do. With a hip growling intensity, Small Furry Prayer is bound to inspire.” —Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of Dogs Never Lie about Love and When Elephants Weep “Thousands of books have been written about dogs, thus it’s amazing and also very encouraging to find a book like this one, filled with original thought and plenty of new information. And if that’s not enough, it’s a great read, a real page turner. I strongly recommend it to anyone who has a dog, or has more than one dog, or who just likes to read a great book.” —Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of The Hidden Life of Dogs “A Small Furry Prayer is a wonderful read that’ll take you all over the place, pondering life in general, dogs and other awesome animals, spirituality, religion, flow experiences, and who you are in the grand scheme of things.” —Marc Bekoff, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals, Wild Justice, and The Animal Manifesto