This collection of true stories celebrates the lives of a handful of vagabond dogs who spurned confinement and one-family ownership.

Each dog's tale is unique:

Boozer had his own bank account and appeared on Good Morning America; Owney spent his life riding U.S. mail trains and can now be seen in the Smithsonian Institute; Greyfriars Bobby snuck into the cemetery every night for 14 years to sleep on his deceased master's grave; Lampo became famous for riding the railways of Italy but always returned to the same station; Tricksey offered companionship to the residents of a nursing home; Patsy Ann watched the shores of Alaska and knew before all others that a ship was arriving even though she was stone deaf.

These atypical dogs all share the same independent spirit that inspires human admiration and devotion.

It Takes a Dog to Raise a Village is a tribute to their spirit and their unusual bonds with the humans who knew them.

The text is highlighted by pencil drawings.