BOOK CLUB FRIDAY -- GUEST AUTHOR MELINDA LEIGH

Our Book Club Friday guest author today is Melinda Leigh who describes herself as a fully recovered banker, wife, mom, lifelong dog lover, and second degree black belt in kenpo karate. She is also the author of She Can Run, a kindle bestselling romantic suspense released in November 2011 from Montlake Romance. Her next book, Midnight Exposure, will be released in June 2012. Find out more Melinda at her website.

Melinda is offering a signed copy of She Can Run to one of our readers who posts a comment this week. -- AP

More Than Man’s Best Friend

In She Can Run one of my characters, a police dog reject, struck a chord with readers. In fact, Henry nearly stole the show from my hero. When I wrote the book, I had no idea how much my love of dogs would influence his character. Nor did I anticipate how much readers would fall in love with him.

No one can pinpoint exactly when humans first domesticated dogs, but archeologists suggest it was around 15,000 years ago, when people first started living in settlements and wolves would likely have been attracted to our garbage. Dogs and humans share a similar social structure. Perhaps these similarities helped the two species to bond. Since then, canine genes have been manipulated into an array of breeds bred to perform specific tasks.

Dogs have become an invaluable asset to humankind. They herd cattle and sheep and protect livestock from predators.  Guard dogs protect owners and their property. Hunting dogs help their owners find and retrieve game, or as it was historically known, dinner.

Their superior canine senses make them far better scouts then their human counterparts. Canine soldiers sniff out explosives, drugs, or other substances for the police and military. Police dogs tackle criminals, control crowds, and search buildings.  Dogs have been used by military forces since the BC years. The Romans and the Greeks trained large breed dogs to fight in battle. The Conquistadors employed Mastiffs to terrorize conquered peoples. Military dogs have been used as messengers and to haul equipment. They’ve even been used to drag wounded soldiers from the battlefield. Dalmatians are mascots for firehouses, but in the times when fire rigs were pulled by horses, the dogs would protect the horses and equipment. They also ran ahead of the rig to clear a path for the horses.

Search and rescue dogs find survivors in disasters, and their bond with humans is so strong, that when they find only the deceased, the dogs become depressed. Over 100 dogs worked tirelessly at Ground Zero.

Today, dog jobs are even more varied. Dogs can tell the hearing-impaired when the fire alarm is going off, the phone is ringing, or someone is knocking on the door. They help blind people navigate a seeing world.  Service dogs turn door knobs or fetch items for the physically handicapped, motivate chronically sick children to take their medicine. Dogs are good for our health.  Simply being around pets lowers blood pressure.

My two dogs don’t have a specific job (other than crumb patrol), but I can’t imagine my house without them. They are truly members of our family and a constant source of pleasure and companionship.

If you’re looking to add a canine companion to your household, please visit your local animal shelter. Dogs don’t deserve to be discarded after all they’ve done for us.

Thanks for joining us today, Melinda! Readers, if you’d like to read about Henry, post a comment for a chance to win a copy of She Can Run. -- AP