Listen to a sample

What to expect

At twenty-two, Julie Barton collapsed on her kitchen floor in Manhattan. She was one year out of college and severely depressed. Summoned by Julie's incoherent phone call, her mother raced from Ohio to New York and took her home. Psychiatrists, therapists and family tried to intervene, but nothing reached her until the day she decided to do one hopeful thing: adopt a Golden Retriever puppy she named Bunker.

Dog Medicine captures in beautiful, elegiac language the anguish of depression, the slow path to recovery, and the astonishing way animals can heal even the most broken hearts and minds.

Critics Review

  • A beautiful, soulful, insightful book that simply has to be your next must-read

    Cheryl Strayed, bestselling author of Wild
  • A heartfelt page-turner about depression and how dogs can save us from ourselves

    Kirkus
  • A stunning new memoir from Julie Barton explores the topics of severe depression and canine companionship as treatment in poignant and revealing language

    Foreword Reviews
  • Barton’s story of her life with Bunker is truly moving, and provides heartwarming proof of the ability of pets to alter our lives for the better

    San Francisco Book Review
  • Read this book if you or someone you love is wrestling with depression. Read this book if you love dogs. Read this book if you want to remember what hope feels like. Just read this book

    Susan Chernak McElroy, New York Times bestselling author of All My Relations: Living with Animals as Teachers and Healers
  • Anyone who has ever loved a dog will relate to Julie Barton’s Dog Medicine. This memoir is a heartfelt tribute to man’s best friend

    Elliott Holt, author of You Are One of Them

Subscribe to our newsletter

Sign up to get tailored content recommendations, product updates and info on new releases. Your data is your own: we commit to protect your data and respect your privacy.