This NYT piece looks at the surprising popularity of a book about a misbehaving yellow Labrador retriever -- and talks about how the real problem might be with the excessively high expectations of today's dog owners.

An excerpt from the Feb. 23 story:

It took the success of "Marley and Me: Life and Love With the World's Worst Dog" by John Grogan, which has bounded to the top of best-seller lists, to expose a secret not easily given up by dog owners. Their dogs are often bad dogs.

"I held my dog up as the world's worst dog," Mr. Grogan said. "But I've heard from hundreds and hundreds of people who can match my story point for point."

Marley — the indelible rascal of a yellow Labrador retriever that placed himself at the core of Mr. Grogan's family despite always seeming to have some household object in his jaws or heading down his gullet — has so resonated with readers that Mr. Grogan has received thousands of "that darned dog" letters, e-mail messages and comments at his Web site, www.marleyandme.com. The letters express relief at finding others with misbehaving dogs and challenge Marley's claim as "world's worst."

Dog experts have noticed other signs of a growing concern over bad behavior by dogs, despite all the gourmet biscuits, educational toys and $70 dog sweaters lavished on them. (Perhaps because of that treatment, others argue.) Enrollment in obedience classes is escalating, veterinarians are seeing an increasing demand for help with behavior problems, and ratings for "Dog Whisperer," the National Geographic Channel's dog-behavior program, are rising. Figuring out how to make the dog mind, it seems, has become a national obsession.

The problem, some dog experts suspect, is not that there are more bad dogs, only more demanding owners. People expect their dogs to cooperate with their busier lives — to behave at cocktail parties, at real estate open houses and in cafes and shops — and to respect their better-appointed homes. And in a culture that values achievement and excellence, they readily assume that dogs value the same things, especially when there are obstacle courses to master and social graces to display.

Some dog experts wonder whether the focus on behavior is the best thing for the dog or just the latest form of self-help for people: with their furniture, their clothes and their cooking skills already up to snuff, the only way to make their lives better now is by improving the dog.

"This is the generation that invented the gifted and talented kid," said Jon Katz, the author of books on the human-dog relationship, "so now you have the gifted and talented dog."