For readers that enjoy a daily dose of puppy love, Lifesaving Labradors, available digitally and in print, offers plenty of smile-inducing moments in the context of its focus on heroic feats performed around the clock by a new breed of service dogs, those dedicated to assisting people with Type 1 diabetes. Edited by Ben McClelland, this book describes the history of the service, as well as how the dogs work with their diabetic handlers on a daily basis, helping to prevent the seizures and comas associated with the disease.

Each chapter of the book focuses on a different diabetic service dog team. From the first trained dogs, named Mr. Darcy and Teddy Bear, to those trained by world-renowned dog handler Mike Stewart, at Wildrose Kennels.

In addition to documenting the dogs’ work, the book attempts to serve in its own right, providing cautionary information about scam artists that try to take advantage of families in crisis and designating a portion of the proceeds from each sale to training the diabetic assistance dogs.

Capri Smith is a Virginia-based freelance writer and mother of four children; the youngest of whom has Type 1 diabetes and has teamed with a medical alert dog for five years.