We Saved Each Other

Rescue dogs provide above-and-beyond value to humans at our most vulnerable: when we experience deep depression and severe mental illness; searing trauma and gripping grief; debilitating drug addiction; and of course, strained relationships with our fellow humans.

Alternating between memoir and rescue dog owner profiles, this book intimately binds together shelter dogs, mental health and human relationships, exploring the tangible benefits these damaged dogs bring to us damaged humans. The author offers firsthand experience with each of the mental health themes and relationship issues covered herein and discusses how his beloved rescue dog—a battered mutt with an odd name and a heartbreaking backstory—substantially helped him cope with these challenges. Throughout, we find rescue dogs compelling their humans to be better people—to push forward through headwinds, persist despite setbacks, and build self-esteem through the estimable acts of feeding, sheltering and loving an innocent, mistreated being.

Christopher Dale is a New York City-area communications professional and freelance writer who has contributed to several major outlets, including the New York Daily News, New York Post, Salon, The Daily Beast, The Dodo and Dogster.

Christopher Dale

Series Editor Brian Patrick Duggan

Format: softcover (6 x 9)
Pages: 223
Bibliographic Info: 35 photos, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2024
pISBN: 978-1-4766-9433-7
eISBN: 978-1-4766-5225-2
Imprint: McFarland
Series: Dogs in Our World

Preface 1
1. Partners in Grime: A Desperate Dog’s Journey to His Humbled Human—and Vice Versa 5
2. Trauma: Seeing, I, Dog 25
3. Trauma: Two Birds with One Bone 39
4. Addiction: A Hopeless Drug Addict and a Doomed Dog Walk into a Bar… 56
5. Addiction: Johnny, Be Good 70
6. Mental Health: Guide, Dog 84
7. Mental Health: Rx Rescue 97
8. Marriage and Relationships: V for Victory 111
9. Marriage and Relationships: Yes We Canine 122
10. Parenthood: Doggie ­Bro-Bro 137
11. Parenthood: Foster/Mom 152
12. Grief: Good Grief 167
13. Grief: Ophelia (You’re Breaking My Heart) 180
Epilogue: Vectorious 194
Chapter Notes 201
Bibliography 207
Index 213

• “The author pulls no punches in how much he, and his marriage, struggled from his failing eyesight and drug addiction—all to be rescued by Vector, who himself was rescued from certain death on “Dead Dog Beach” in Puerto Rico. Gritty, honest, and inspiring, the book is a testament to what the right dog can give us, when we need it most.”— Patricia McConnell, author of The Education of Will, The Puppy Primer and Family Friendly Dog Training, among other dog-centric books

• “We Saved Each Other reads both like an easy-flowing case study on the healing power of living with animals and like a meditation on the meaning of commitments—those that we make to ourselves and the ones we make to our loved ones (including pets). In all my years covering arts, Christopher Dale’s book is also one of the most moving tales of love between a human and their four-legged companion I’ve ever read. Be prepared to be charmed by literature’s new hero, Vector—all 20 pounds of him.”—Jon Jackson, deputy culture editor, Newsweek

• “As editor in chief of a mental health publication, I have published essays with titles like ‘How Poetry Saved My Life,’ ‘How a Psychotic Break Saved my Life,’ even (seriously) ‘How Severus Snape Saved My Life.’ These essays and their accompanying titles are in earnest, though their respective authors all know, I’m sure, that they are speaking at least slightly hyperbolically. In Christopher Dale’s book, We Saved Each Other, he doesn’t posit that his rescue dog, Vector, saved his life, or that one will save yours, but he eloquently and ardently makes the case, in this charming and easygoing book, that having one around could greatly enhance your mental health and overall well-being. As a rescue doggie daddums myself, I couldn’t agree more.”—Gabriel Nathan, editor in chief, OC87 Recovery Diaries

• “People know pets like dogs and cats can help folks recovering from substance abuse. Focusing on rescued dogs, Mr. Dale brings an enlightening, endearing extra appreciation of these benefits. Those in recovery from addiction will certainly relate to the hopeless-to-hopeful parallels between our personal journeys and those of these formerly lost dogs, who often have the ability to reach us in our darkest places—even when our friends and family cannot.”—Leonard Lee Buschel, Editor in Chief of Addiction Recovery eBulletin

• “We Saved Each Other is a candid examination of all that dogs bring to our lives in even our toughest times, and also a profound reminder that, even at our best, we don’t deserve dogs—but luckily, dogs don’t keep score. Christopher Dale gives us an honest, raw, deeply personal story that is a worthy homage to one special dog and to rescue dogs everywhere.”—Teresa J. Rhyne, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Dog Lived (and So Will I)