Three new titles for dog lovers are all about lessons learned or taught.

"Brain Games for Dogs "

By Claire Arrowsmith

Firefly Books, 160 pp., $19.95

The color photos and step-by-step instructions will make you want to try training your dog again. Or you can find new games for an already obedient pup.

Arrowsmith's 13 categories include games at home, water games and party games.

Each task comes with a guide on where the game should be played, learning-difficulty level and necessary props. For example, teaching your dog to jump over a pole is considered an easy one-star game. Training your dog to sit on a designated mat when the doorbell rings, however, is an advanced four-star brain game.

Some games are easier for certain breeds, which Arrowsmith outlines in the opening chapters, which also cover the basic skills dogs and handlers need.

"Life With Maxie"

By Diane Rehm

Gibbs Smith, 64 pp., $12.99

It probably didn't take long for the host of NPR's "The Diane Rehm Show" to write this love letter to her long-haired Chihuahua, Maxie, who is often at Rehm's feet in the studio when she is on the air.

Despite her husband's reluctance, Rehm brought 12-week-old Maxie into their home in 2003. Life wasn't easy with the puppy, which became aggressively territorial and a biter.

However, Maxie mellowed while living with Rehm and her husband, John Rehm, co-authors of "Toward Commitment: A Dialogue About Marriage."

The dog was a constant as the couple dealt with John's diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, their move to a condo and Rehm's recuperation after breaking her pelvis in a fall.

Rehm says the dog has strengthened her marriage and made her a better person. And Maxie has barked only once while Rehm was on the air.

"Katie: Up and Down the Hall"

By Glenn Plaskin

Center Street, 272 pp., $19.99

Plaskin's puppy brought new life to the writer's compartmentalized existence. Through gangly Katie, he met an elderly couple down the hall. Then a dad and his 3-year-old son moved into the circle of Katie's caretakers and playmates. It was a supportive group that Plaskin appreciated while he struggled with depression and physical problems. Stars of the story are Katie and elderly neighbor Pearl, who give kisses, protect their men and start to decline about the same time.

This book expands on Plaskin's Family Circle article "Granny Down the Hall: From Friendship to Family."

"I often tell my friends that maybe, right at this moment, there's somebody down their hallway or across the street just waiting to open their door to you," Plaskin writes.