TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER The Bookworm Sez Advertisement

Remember falling in love?

Remember how your senses go on full alert? The smell of her hair, the feel of his cheek, the sound of her voice, the look in his eyes, the taste of kisses, all imprinted on your brain for good.

What can compare to that giddy feeling you get when you're close to your beloved?

So who ever said that the one you love has to have two feet? In the new book "Dreaming in Libro," by Louise Bernikow, you'll read about a love affair that you can really sink your canines into.

Bernikow is a writer. She's used to coming and going as she pleases, leaving for Paris on a minute's notice, flying to workshops and flitting to book signings. She was positively not a "dog person."

That is, until she was jogging in Riverside Park in Manhattan and saw a crowd of people surrounding a police car. Curious and despite herself, Bernikow looked inside the car and found herself eyeball-to-eyeball with a boxer dog who nearly demanded that she help him. She claimed him and, with dog in tow, headed home. She promised both herself and the dog that it would only be temporary.

"Temporary" lasted nine years.

Far from the inconvenience Bernikow thought he might be, Libro quickly became Bernikow's Saturday night date, her lunch companion, sounding board, office staff, protector on walks, travel buddy, giver of slobbery kisses, and the subject of her last book.

He accompanied her on book-signing trips around the country, on relaxing walks in the city, and on vacation in the Hamptons.

He shared a bed with her sometimes; meals, now and then; and the sofa, as often as possible. Libro gathered friends faster than a Dale Carnegie graduate, and he introduced his new buddies to his housemate. Bernikow, former come-and-go-as-she-pleased writer, had become a completely smitten, head-over-heels dog lover.

But -- as Bernikow struggled to remember -- the answer to "How long does a dog live?" is "Not as long as his owner."

Libro had physical issues when he adopted Bernikow. As he aged, his health declined and veterinarian visits increased. Libro's presence had protected Bernikow on the streets of Manhattan. Could anything protect her heart from the inevitable?

On your way home from getting this book, be sure to give yourself time to stop for a box of tissues. You're going to need it when you read "Dreaming in Libro".

Author Bernikow is alternately funny and wise; willing to poke fun at her lack of knowledge, shrug her shoulders and treat Libro as the person she knows lurks inside his brown coat.

Typical of a newly-minted (or any) dog lover, she's eager to tell "tails" about her boy, coo over his intelligence, comment on his superb abilities and brag about his social life and the friends he accumulates.

If you've ever carried a photo of your dog in your wallet, "Dreaming in Libro" is a book you'll completely identify with. For dog lovers of any age, this book is an absolute dream.

"Dreaming in Libro" by Louise Bernikow, DaCapo LifeLong, $22.95, 202 pages.