Living with Freddie: How a Dog Taught Me to Be Human

by Anna Heyward

LIVING WITH FREDDIE is New Yorker writer and animal behavioural science student Anna Heyward's extraordinary memoir about learning to see the world through a dog's eyes - for readers of RAISING HARE, H IS FOR HAWK or MY BELOVED MONSTER.

When Anna Heyward adopted a rescued Italian greyhound, she was thrilled to bring a dog into her life. But Freddie, she quickly realised, had severe separation anxiety, unable to be left alone for more than thirty seconds without crying uncontrollably, biting his own tail or scratching at his body. While some would have given the dog back, writing him off as a 'bad dog', Anna transformed her life. She took Freddie to work and hid him from her boss. Her social life withered. Her relationship with her fiancé began to flounder. She dedicated her life to entering the mind of her dog. As Anna observed Freddie's behaviour, she began to experience the world as he the quality of light, the timbre of sound; a leaf falling from a tree. And she changed - but not in the way you might expect.

This is a meditation on what it means to be bad or good, on how much we can - or should - try to alter another being's behaviour, and on what is possible to know about another mind. But at its heart, LIVING WITH FREDDIE is a beautiful, heart-wrenching portrait of the relationship between a human and a dog. And at the end of Freddie's story, you, too, may find yourself changed.

Genres: Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication September 8, 2026

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given a copy of the book, "Living With Freddie" from NetGalley. I was not a fan of this book. It was okay but I guess I was not aware of the intention of this book. I thought it was about Freddie, the dog that was adopted into Anna's home. I could see it is about trying to take care of a dog that comes with "issues" for Freddie it is his difficulty with Separation anxiety which could be severe. The part of the book that I felt took up way too much room was the author writing of her research she did with many known psychologists who gave their advice on behavioral issues on dogs. She went into great lengths on her studies on what to do to help a dog with anxiety issues. Guess i should have done more research on this book. I liked the parts where she actually talked about Freddie but grew bored with the parts with research. otherwise not a bad book to read.

[G C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was such a well-written tribute full of both love and heartbreak. I was not expecting to cry but the author captured so many emotions of the bonds we share with our animals. My heart broke for Freddie and his experiences through no fault of his own.

I love how the author explored ethology and animal behaviourism and really worked hard to meet Freddie where he was at instead of making him fit into the mould people thought he should. He was so lucky to have found her and I can sense the deep emotional connection between them.

This book would be excellent reading for anyone to better understand the animals we share our lives with.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this book in exchange for an honest review.
There is a lot of science information in this book, way more than I expected. But it's well researched and a lot of the information will be interesting to those that want to know the nitty gritty of animal behavior and history. That part didn't interest me as much as reading about Freddie's life but I'm still giving this book 4 stars.
I am pretty sure the author is on the autism spectrum from some of the things she writes about like not liking small talk, lack of eye contact, and taking words at their literal meaning. I can relate to her mannerisms as I have ASD.