Lying Down with Dogs is, first and foremost, a story of animals and the impact they have had on the author's life through its ups and downs. Sometimes they've provided love, sometimes diversion and, always, they have prepared her for what comes next. Ultimately, her love of animals is the story of her own redemption.

Animals have always been a part of Caradine's life and the same can be said for millions of other people. Though their pathways might be different in detail, the kinship they feel is the same. Animal lovers of all stripes will relate to the things that have happened to the author. Starting Other Mothers Animal Rescue was one of those events, a major one, and she has met many animal people who dream of starting a rescue of their own. This book will guide them in doing so and will shore them up when the going gets rough for whatever reasons.

This book is perhaps not a typical memoir. Caradine has painstakingly edited out much of the personal detritus because she did not want it to be a sad book full of tragic stories. At the same time, she left in enough of her life to give it all context. Things like divorces and nervous breakdowns are pretty hard to ignore. She likes to think she has learned from these episodes and that the lessons are apparent in the story of Other Mothers.