Photo by Skip Lawrence Gwen Carr and her dog, Icarus, are featured in a book about the value of rescue dogs and what they can offer to others.

For two months, the Labrador retriever moped in his cage, given up by his owners twice in three years -- for unknown reasons the first time. The second time was due to divorce.

But Icarus got a new lease on life in January 2004 when Gwen and Chris Carr saw potential in the black dog with the prominent orange eyes.

After several visits with him at the shelter, the Frederick couple took Icarus home and showered him with love, stability and training.

Then they got to work giving him a sense of purpose.

Fully ensconced in a home that has seen three other critters join him, Icarus is accomplished in five areas: therapy, agility, flyball, rally obedience and traditional obedience, Carr said.

In the coming days, Icarus' therapy work will be forever memorialized in a book set for nationwide release Nov. 1.

Icarus' tale is one of 53 told in the latest work by animal adoption advocate Elise Lufkin: "To the Rescue: Found Dogs With a Mission." Photographs by Diana Walker accompany the stories.

Carr, 32, said she was thrilled when Lufkin selected her essay for inclusion in the 150-page hardback book, which features rescue dogs who give to others by visiting nursing homes, hospitals and hospice rooms.

She recently returned to the shelter on Rosemont Avenue, where she adopted Icarus, to share the news of the book with Animal Control Director Harold L. Domer and his staff.

Two of Carr's four pets came from the Frederick shelter.

"They do great work at the shelter," said Carr, who works with dogs for a living. She's a dog groomer at Two Paws Up, a pet store on South Carroll Street in Frederick.

"Everything they do, they do with the animals' best interest at heart."

The shelter goes to great lengths to find families for the cats, the dogs and the other creatures they take in who don't have a place to call home.

When adopting a pet, people need to look beyond the surface appearance of an animal, or its breed, before making a snap judgment.

"Icarus was a plain black dog. He looked so sad, sitting in the corner," she said. He didn't look remarkable.

But with lots of attention and love, the Carrs discovered the dog had a great temperament.

In September, Icarus participated in the North American Dog Agility Council Championships in Shelbyville, Tenn. The next month, he traveled to Bloomington, Ill., for the Labrador Retriever National Specialty.

Icarus is patient with the elderly and the infirm -- and his roommates at home.

There's Max, a Labrador mix, and Nelson, a cat. Fire, a flat-coated retriever puppy, just joined the brood.

Icarus' position is safe. "He's No. 1," Carr said.