Give and take dog advice at Friday night's Mutt Mixer

I'm always looking for good dog advice -- the kind you hear from smart friends who aren't trained in canine behavior but seem to get what dogs are about. Maybe it's some vestigial wolf gene, but I've met accountants, nurses, all sorts of folks with non-dog day-jobs, who can out-whisper The Dog Whisperer [1].

So I collected some of this under-the-radar wisdom in my new book, Dog Park Wisdom: Real-World Advice on Choosing, Caring For, and Understanding Your Canine Companion [2]. It's filled with simple, straightforward and sometimes quirky suggestions and experiences from regular dog people.

On Friday, May 2, I'll be launching Dog Park Wisdom in the company of dedicated dogsters and their buddies at the Downtown Dog Lounge [3] on Capitol Hill (7-10 p.m.; 420 E. Denny Way). Seattle dog photographer Bev Sparks [4], who took all the photos in the book and shared some tips on do-it-yourself portraiture, will be there with me to sign books and talk dogs. In the first hour, local Doga instructor and Dog Park Wisdom contributor Brenda Bryan [5] will provide five-minute dog massages for lucky early bird-dogs.

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