Dogs are natural philosophers – so Socrates thought. A clerical friend has often spoken to me in the same vein, describing the ‘peace of dog that passes all understanding’. Silent but omniscient, the canine species has become our constant companion, even if we patronise our fluffy friends. But such is their inner wisdom, their ability to find happiness in action instead of enquiry, that we would do well to follow their example, as Mark Rowlands advises in his charmingly insightful The Happiness of Dogs. It is as if Alain de Botton had turned his attention from Proust to pooch in another bid to help us change our lives.

To be honest, I think Rowlands and his publisher, Granta, don’t entirely give credit where it’s due. This is really a jointly authored work between the Welsh-born, Miami-based philosophy professor and his German shepherd Shadow (as well as various departed dogs). While Rowlands spends his days thinking and writing, Shadow lives in the moment. But their existence is also symbiotic: when the canine half of the union finds joy in routine and repetition – Sisyphean tasks provide the book’s philosophical springboard – it triggers joy in the human. 

At first, Rowlands can seem a little too puppyish in his enthusiasm. Certainly, my own dog, a sprocker spaniel called Nimrod, is not always happy-go-lucky. He can display a goodly dose of neurosis – doubtless reflecting his owner – while anxiety is as common in canines as it is