Yap!

A Short History of Small Dogs

By: Stephanie Howard-Smith

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Hardcover | 8 October 2026

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Format
Hardcover

Dimensions(cm)
22.4 x 14.2 x 3.0

Hardcover

$38.75

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Almost from humanity's very beginning, beloved small dogs have been trotting devotedly by our sides. Yap! follows in the pawprints of the breeds we have grown to love and cherish, from the small dogs touchingly memorialised in Ancient Rome through to Paris Hilton's chihuahua and the pet influencers of 21st-century, via the pug who colonised Napoleon's marital bed, King Charles II's spaniels and celebrity terriers in Victorian pubs.

Drawing on her own experience as a pug-owner, pet historian Stephanie Howard-Smith reveals how small dogs have shaped our lives as much as we have theirs, challenging social dynamics, changing the way we spend our leisure time, contributing to a global industry now worth over £250 billion, and offering valuable companionship and a chance for self-expression.

A must-read for any lover of small dogs, Yap! is a paean to the unbreakable bond between humans and their petite pets.

ENDORSEMENTS:

What they may lack in stature, small dogs more than make up for with their big personalities. Stephanie Howard-Smith's captivating history of terriers, pugs and other diminutive dogs brilliantly illuminates their oversized influence on humankind over the last 11,000 years. A treat for dog lovers of all sizes. - Chris Pearson, author of Collared: The Story of Man's Best Friend Through the Ages

The first serious history of small dogs, YAP! is a fantastic read that combines sparkling historical analysis with warm and entertaining stories that show us why the relationships between little dogs and their owners mattered in the past and continue to matter today. - Jane Hamlett, Professor of Modern British History, University of London

Yap! traces the long history of our love affair with and criticism of clever, obedient and affectionate little dogs. If this witty chronicle doesn't end up in every dog lover's Christmas stocking I'm a chihuahua. - Amanda Vickery

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