Margarita Cano's mastiff waits at the famous Malecón for democracy to arrive in Cuba. He's got plenty of water and fruit, because ''it's a long wait,'' Cano says.

The dog in Karen Rifas' sculpture wears a ''Supreme Court'' tag and lifts his leg over a yellow fire hydrant tagged ''Constitution.'' Forming the base of the work are two books -- The Letter of the Law by Tim Green and Journey Into Darkness by John Douglas and Mark Olshaker.

The protagonist of Lou Anne Colodny's video Wiggle, Waggle & Wave is just the tail of her brown dog Slyder, which tours the sculpture garden in Minneapolis' Walker Museum. Slyder's tail tale starts innocently, wagging behind a monumental Oldenberg/van Bruggen sculpture, but soon enough it's tickling the private parts of a man asleep on a bench.

Mette Tommerup's dog does yoga, and Kristin Thiele's is a benevolent Pope Innocent X in her clever oil on window pane. Jill Cannady's Big Dog represents the zenith of animal portraiture, down to its wrinkles and snaggle teeth.

Silvia Lizama, a self-described ''diehard traditional photographer,'' went digital to photograph her dog, Chimbo, surrounded by South Florida flora.

''She is the sweetest dog in the world, but I caught her on a bad day,'' Lizama says. ''She was protecting a small piece of food that she found in our driveway. I am sure she thought that if she showed us what her under bite was capable of doing, her find would be protected. She managed to hold her mean look long enough for me to stop laughing, go in the house, get my camera and shoot.'' Lizama also photographed a neighbor's dog that likes to ride in the family boat. ''As we took off, so did Sandy's ears,'' she says.

Soon Lizama had a project: A series of nine images of dogs surrounded by quilt-like panels depicting clouds, ferns, flowers and other natural elements.

Oh, so many dogs; so many ways to appreciate them.

But the library's dog exhibits also have a serious purpose, says Young, who came up with the idea after a neighbor's dog wandered into her yard, and she ended up adopting him part-time while his owner worked.

''I hadn't had one in a long time, and it took more attention on my part,'' Young says. ``I started getting interested in talking to trainers and became conscious of what's going on with animals, not only in this community but all over. These are tough times for pet owners, and pets are having to suffer the consequences as well. I wanted kids to think about what's involved with having a pet. Too many pets end up in bad situations.''

But the dogs loved by artists will live on forever.

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