Hero is a German shepherd who belongs to Elizabeth Drury. She writes to her dog: "You are my heartbeat, my blessing...You keep hope alive within me."

Emily Scott Pottruck says, "My dogs changed me; I'm serious; they made me a better person. My dogs are my heart, and they're a part of me."

Drury is homeless. Pottruck is married to the former CEO of Charles Schwab and Co., David Pottruck.

There are lots of books about pets, but few illustrate as graphically the crossover of ages and socioeconomic classes that pets link. Also, seldom are 100 percent of the profits from the sale of any book given to animal welfare organizations.

"I felt I needed to do something to honor my Andy," says Emily Scott Pottruck, author of the picture-filled self-published coffee table book, "Tails of Devotion: A Look at the Bond Between People and Their Pets."

Pottruck was on a ski trip in 2000 when Andy, her 5-1/2-pound Yorkshire terrier, was attacked by a 100-pound dog. "The first veterinarian I went to wanted to put him down," she recalls, as her voice even now quivers with emotion. "I said, 'You'll have to put me down first.' Instinctively, in my heart, I knew he had a chance."

A second emergency clinic performed surgery, which was followed by a long recovery. The dog that attacked Andy literally bit off a piece of the terrier's backbone. After the surgery, Andy was flown to the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of California at Davis, where he was under the care of a veterinary neurologist and a team of technicians, plus additional vets for two weeks before he was released. While Andy was hospitalized, Pottruck visited daily and read him emails she'd received from around the world.

Writer Amy Tan ("Joy Luck Club"), a friend of Pottruck's, posted the story of the attack on a Yorkshire terrier bulletin board on the Internet. "The response from new virtual friends was amazing," says Pottruck. "These people really could understand what I was going through. I don't know if reading all the letters (email) truly made Andy feel better but they made me feel better."

Still, no one knew if Andy would ever walk again, let alone how long he'd live. Pottruck cared for Andy, even helping him to defecate. She started him on a physical therapy regiment, which to this day she continues at home. While Andy has some difficulty with one leg and can't jump up on the furniture, he gets around. He's still "my love bug," as Pottruck puts it.

Pottruck says she wrote "Tails of Devotion" to honor all the people who helped save Andy's life — including newfound friends on the Internet — and to raise money for several animal welfare organizations. That's why the book is self-published; Pottruck didn't want a for-profit publisher to take dollars from her not-for-profits.

While you might think Pottruck could simply write checks for the welfare groups, she says, "Not quite — a check doesn't tell these stories." She credits the photographers (Lacy Atkins, of the San Francisco Chronicle and Jocelyn Knight, a free-lance photographer). "You can see what it's all about, what I try to say in words about what a difference pets can make in a life if you just let them. And I've met amazing people through my dogs (Pottruck also has a second Yorkie named Boomer)."

Pottruck began the project in January 2005, and over an 8-month span attended each of the 58 photo shoots for the book. It was raining when she arrived for the scheduled shoot in the park with Drury, which was arranged through a third party. Pottruck wanted to meet the homeless woman and her pet, both living and struggling on the fringes of society. Bad weather or not, there would be no re-scheduling of the shoot, since Drury didn't know where she'd be in a week. Drury arrived with a gouge in her leg, the result of breaking up a dog fight in the park the previous evening.

What Pottruck didn't realize was how protective Hero was. The dog wouldn't let anyone approach. Luckily, once the photographer began to shoot, Hero became the perfect accommodating subject.

While the book is filled with stories and photos of ordinary people, some of the subjects are well known; luminaries include two Hall of Fame athletes, ex-football player Ronnie Lott and baseball's Orlando Cepeda; actor Robin Williams and former California governor, now Oakland Mayor, Jerry Brown. "It didn't matter who it was; people are people and their pets are their pets," Pottruck says.

Asked about her favorite human photo subject, Pottruck has no answer. Asked about her favorite non-human subject, she manages to come up with a response: Guido, an Italian greyhound belonging to artist Tom Mogensen. A macaw named Poppy and a second Italian greyhound named Dolci also participated. "It was our longest photo shoot because I fell in love (with Guido) and I didn't want to leave," says Pottruck. "Those two dogs look at you and melt your heart. And you can see the love Tom gives back — you can see it — it's all right there in their faces."

"Tails of Devotion" is $29.95, available at www.tailsofdevotion.com, and at www.amazon.com, as well as some boutique pet stores. Proceeds benefit Pets are Wonderful Support in San Francisco, The San Francisco SPCA, Friends of San Francisco Animal Care and Control, Rocket Dog Rescue for saving dogs with no other hope, and Pets Unlimited, also based in San Francisco.