Invariably the farmer’s best friend, the faithful farm dog is a beloved fixture of rural American life: rounding up the cattle, bringing home the stray lamb, minding the children, hopping into the pickup for a ride into town. Here are the purebred shepherds and collies hard at work—and at play—in the fields; and here are the heart-stealing mongrels and mutts that no farming family can do without. Alongside these delightful pictures that capture the farm dog at his-or her-trusty best are words, now humorous, now heartfelt, that aptly convey the essential place of the dog in the heart of America’s heartland.