Dog Quotes

“It is raining and there is a dog lying
in the gutter and the gutter is filling
with water because the sewer is clogged.

If the dog were alive he would be drowning
but as it is, the water is simply stroking
his fur.”
― Laura Gilpin, The Hocus-Pocus of the Universe

“But it was only a dog."
Of course no one actually says that, but it feels to Sune as if all his neighbors are thinking it. Everyday life just carries on out in the street while he sits in a million pieces in his kitchen. When he collects the mail someone goes past and says "sorry for your loss," but that isn't what he wants them to feel sorry about. He wants them to feel sorry about his life, and the fact that he's going to have to see it out now without that ill-disciplined, unruly little monster. Without paws on the edge of the bed and bite marks on his wrists. How's that going to work? Who's going to eat all the liver pate in the fridge? He receives a few text messages and phone calls from the committee of the hockey club and a couple of coaches of the youth teams, all very sorry, but not as if it had been a person. They're sad that Sune is sad, of course, but they don't really understand his loss. Because of course it was only a dog. It's so hard to explain that it's more than an animal when you're that animal's human. Perhaps it takes more empathy than most people are capable of. Or more imagination.”
― Fredrik Backman, The Winners

“Somehow, one of the women found time to knit a jacket for Shadow which, combined with the other gifts, left me unaccountable flustered---given my companion's size, it would have taken her hours. Bambleby and I entertained ourselves at the cottage by coaxing a recalcitrant Shadow into his new raiment, which was patterned with flowers and equipped with a jaunty hood. The dog hung his head in abject embarrassment until his tormentors deigned to relieve him of this woolen pillory, and he spent the next hour pointedly ignoring me.”
― Heather Fawcett, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

“The dog- Todd?- looks up from its leaking beer, puffs a sigh, then crosses the room to head-butt the fridge door closed.
"Ummm" I manage "Did you see he got a--"
"It's okay," she says. "He only has one."
"One...beer?"
"Todd has hip dysplasia. He drinks beer instead of taking painkillers. It's really okay."
...
"He was supposed to be a service dog," Agate explains.
"What for, bartending?"
"No, mobility...But then he flunked out."
"Because of the drinking?”
― Erin Bow, Simon Sort of Says

“But you looked away, and seemed to be avoiding looking at Shadow too, so that I immediately began to think about how it had been him who had led me to you, and then about all of his uncanny ways, not least of which is his choice of a creature like you for a master. I patted his head, feeling about for the glamor, as I have never bothered to do before---and why should I; I do not make a habit of looking beneath people's pets to see if there is a monster hiding there---and sure enough, there it was, and when I moved the magic aside, a bloody Black Hound stared back at me, all glowing eyes and glistening fangs.
You looked worried, for some reason, but you calmed down when I started laughing. "Where did you get him?" I said.
"In Scotland," you replied. "He's a Grim. I rescued him from a boggart, who was tormenting him for sport.”
― Heather Fawcett, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

“Dolly is a ten-year-old bichon frise. Her fur smells like bran flakes and her breath smells like rotting flesh. Most of the time she’s a languid, trip-over dog, a little cat of a dog, though in her usual stance, splayed sideways on the floor, she looks more like a baby polar bear. She came with the flat and has a greater claim to its ownership than I do.”
― Soula Emmanuel, Wild Geese

“As Jake the Dog from Adventure Time says: "Sucking at something is the first step to becoming sorta good at something.”
― Emilie Wapnick, How to Be Everything

“There was a dog on that Man's Best Friend show who supposedly understood like a thousand human words. Border collie, I think. Those guys need to switch to decaf.”
― Katherine Applegate, The One and Only Bob

“The similarities that we share, and the differences that confuse us, are a blessing and a curse in our relationship with dogs.”
― Patricia B. McConnell, The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs

“The more you love your dog, the more you need to understand human behavior.”
― Patricia B. McConnell, The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs

“We humans are in such a strange position -we are still animals whose behavior reflects that of our ancestors, yet we are unique- unlike any other animal on earth. Our distinctiveness separates us and makes it easy to forget where we came from. Perhaps dogs help us remember the depth of our roots, reminding us -the animals at the other end of the leash- that we may be special, but we are not alone. No wonder we call them our best friends.”
― Patricia B. McConnell, The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs

“The glamour settled around him and left a smell like burning dust. Marra saw the outlines of flesh, a shadow of fur, and then Bonedog shook himself and he was a great gray dog with a skull like a battering ram and a blaze of white across his chest. His tail was still a narrow, bony whip but there was fur across it. He had immense jowls and when he looked up at Marra, they all sagged into a gigantic smile.

'Oh, Bonedog,' she said. He licked her hand and she could feel his tongue, not quite substantial but more than it had been.”
― T. Kingfisher, Nettle & Bone

“Bernie, a giant Bernese mountain dog and Lab mix (she guessed), had a long coat, mostly black except for a streak of white starting on her forehead, then trailing down her throat and onto her chest, with another spot under her tail, making her look like a cream-filled chocolate-dipped cannoli. Three of her four paws looked dunked in white paint, like she'd made a mess during a home improvement project. She was named for one of Astra's favorite characters, Bernadette Fox from Where'd You Go, Bernadette. Like the titular character, Bernie had a small circle of people she adored; she found the rest to be annoying gnats (small children excluded--- they often had snacks to share), not to be bothered with, except the squirrel who lived in the front yard, who was her nemesis. She spent hours making sure the little rodent didn't sneak into the house.”
― Amy E. Reichert, Once Upon a December

“Jack crouched to meet Bernie and let her sniff him, her tail at half-staff. Jack loved dogs though they hadn't had one in the Julemarked since Pinecone wandered in and stayed. That was decades ago. Bernie gave a quick sample lick of his chin, clearly approved, then went in for the full-body affection, knocking him onto his butt and stepping on his lap, forgetting she was more horse than dog. He couldn't help but laugh and felt he'd passed an important test.”
― Amy E. Reichert, Once Upon a December

“I research moonlight effects on sleeping humans. The research goes well with the exception of causing excessive body hair growth, a pointy nose, and a craving for dog food!”
― Steven Magee

“Feed a dog so your neighbor doesn't bark at you”
― Ljupka Cvetanova, Yet Another New Land

“Feed a dog so your neighbor won't bark at you.”
― Ljupka Cvetanova, Yet Another New Land

“I needed the puppy. More to the point, I needed that puppy. Willow kept me connected to the world when I was tempted to give up on it. She seemed to know what I was thinking or was about to think. She followed me everywhere, her tail eager to wag, her pink tongue quick to loll with doggy laughter. If I went out without her, she knew the moment I turned for home, and waited by the door for me to appear. She filled the empty spaces of my life with her bright spirit and lively presence. I came to feel that she reflected me, in an uncanny way, as if she were the canine version of myself.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Witch's Kind

“Living alone had made me sensitive. When Will was still at the farm, I didn't differentiate the scent of wild fennel from that of slowly ripening blackberries or notice how cloud patterns changed from season to season. I didn't scan the sky to anticipate the weather or feel the air with my fingertips to decide whether to hang washing on the line. Sometimes I thought I might be acquiring some of Willow's talents. When she put up her muzzle into the breeze, her nostrils fluttered as if she were riffling the pages of a book, learning secrets carried on the wind. It seemed to me I sensed almost as much as she did.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Witch's Kind

“His eyes narrowed, and I thought this was the moment he would lose his control, begin to shout at me. Maybe even attack me, as he had done before. He stiffened and took a step forward.
Willow growled louder, a wonderfully terrifying sound. She, too, took a step forward, and that stopped Will where he was, as surely as if he had run into a wall.
I said with satisfaction, "You're afraid of her."
"When did you get a dog? She looks mean."
My anger had cooled enough for me to think clear, hard thoughts. To be as cagey as Will himself. I felt as if I had lived multiple lifetimes since I had last seen Will, and I was stronger, tougher, wiser for my experiences. I said in as chilly a tone as I could produce, "This is Willow. She is mean. You want to be careful around her. She'll bite you if you do something she doesn't like, and she never likes anything I don't like."
Willow had never bitten a person in her life, but I had told the truth. She wouldn't let Will or anyone else hurt me if she could possibly help it.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Witch's Kind

“Willow!" I shouted, as I thrust my bare feet into my gardening boots. "Find Emma!"
It wasn't a command the dog had ever heard, but Willow was no ordinary dog. Willow was a gift dog, a dog perfectly designed for the Blythe talent. She knew what I needed, and she knew how to follow her instincts. She had brought the baby home in the first place, and she would do all she could to bring her back.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Witch's Kind

“I moaned, "No!"
That seemed to be the signal Willow was waiting for. She broke, bounding away from me, racing down the dock. As she lunged forward, she emitted a sound I had never heard from her, that I had never heard from any dog. It wasn't a bark, or a snarl, or a growl. It was more like the roar of a lion than any sound a dog should make, and it cut through Emma's cries, the gulls' shrieks, the rush of the waves.”
― Louisa Morgan, The Witch's Kind

“We had stepped into their realm.
As soon as I was certain, I drew Shadow to me again. As we moved deeper into the faerie world, Shadow had grown larger. He was now twice the size, his muzzle coming up to my chest. His snout was sharper, wolfish, his paws enormous. But he followed me as calmly as ever, his black eyes trusting.”
― Heather Fawcett, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

“Shadow continues his search outside for a door to the mortal realm. I have faith in him, my oldest, most loyal friend---if there is a way out, he will find it.”
― Heather Fawcett, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

“Shadow lay curled at my side and rolled upright with a delighted snort when he sensed I was awake. He shoved his huge muzzle into my face and licked me, while I half patted, half swatted him away. I'm afraid his breath is immune to glamor and smells exactly as you'd expect a Black Hound's breath to smell---rather deathly.”
― Heather Fawcett, Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries

“I’m not your dog.”
― Charleigh Frederick, Rule 25: Don't Fall For The Target

“If not a lost art, then an art that often rushes away from contemporary writers with all the excited energy of a disobedient dog. At least, that dog runs off from me. The best I have been able to do is run after it, try to head it off, circle back, call its name, and eventually just wait for it to come trotting back covered with mud. And the odd tick.”
― Cathleen Schine, Künstlers in Paradise

“The concern coming off both Kimo and Marco was raw and sharp, I knew that if I weren't in the crate could put my head in their laps and they would be comforted. A person will always feel better with a dog's head in their lap.”
― W. Bruce Cameron, Zeus: Water Rescue

“I remember being coorie at my gran's house next to her and my granda on the sofa but now it's something I like to do with my dog.”
― Gabriella Bennett, The Art of Coorie: How to Live Happy the Scottish Way

“Here's how I figure puppy eyes got their start.
Cave humans were sitting around a fire, wearing mammoth fur and grunting about how there was nothing on TV because TV hadn't been invented yet, and some wily wolf thought, Whoa, they've got leftover mammoth meat!
And he probably whimpered and cowered and did a tummy display and looked pathetic enough that Mr. Oog finally tossed him a bone. And soon enough, a few zillion years later: voila! Man's best friend.”
― Katherine Applegate, The One and Only Bob