YAP!
A Short History of Small Dogs
*Out October 2026*
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.
Praise for Yap!
“Every bit as charming, smart, perfect, and delightful as its subject. What a respite from the woes of the world, to dive into this brilliantly researched and wittily written study of the history of our love affair with small dogs. I loved it.”
“Takes the unleashed reader on a delightful romp through the lives of people and their pugs, spaniels, beagles, Maltese and other smaller canines whose joie de vivre has carried dogdom into the most intimate corners of people’s lives.”
“As a relatively recent convert to the joys of small dogs, I had no idea what a rich, complicated, and long tradition I was joining. But now I do! Erudite, and also engaging.”
“If you love little dogs, you will love this book - and if you don’t, these delightful, surprising, and informative pages will change your mind! Scholarly but highly readable, Howard-Smith’s historical research, charmingly presented, shows just how deep, and real, our adoration of toy breeds runs, and why some folks’ dislike of them says far more about the human condition than the canine.”
“A brilliant, juicy bone of a book, with lashings of history, culture and canine chronicles.”
“A delicious must read for those of us who adore our littler pets.”
“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.”
“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.”
“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.”