Suguri with her faithful mongrel, Lupin. The covers of each volume features Suguri with the prominent dog of the volume.

Inubaka (いぬばか, Inubaka, lit. Dog Idiot from Wikipedia) is a manga you can find published my Viz media right now in your local bookstores. The story follows 18-year-old Suguri, a slightly ditzy and airheaded girl from the countryside who loves dogs, and for good reason too: she is empathic towards dogs. Deciding for a change of pace, she moves to Tokyo with her dog, Lupin, in tow. Once there, Lupin, who's a mongrel figuratively and literally, mates with another dog belonging to Teppei, the local pet store owner. With a mongrel breeding with Teppei's prized purebred and shattering his dreams of a purebred litter, Suguri takes responsibility and starts working for Teppei, where the story begins proper chronicling her adventures and antics with other dogs and owners.

When I walked by this one cloudy afternoon last year, I judged it on a lot of things. It seemed to be a shoujo/drama manga, but it can also be a comedy manga. It looks to primarily aim for the female audience, but if you like dogs, males can also find it enjoyable. The art is clean and nice to look at, the type is clear and readable, and it's style is uniquely itself. Nothing reminiscent of some other artist or series (like reading Zombie Powder and distinctly remembering "Hey! This looks like Bleach!")
As for the story itself, it functions in a sort of "episode of the week" format. There's no clear ending in sight, at not now (Viz has published 10 volumes), but something new appears to keep the interest chugging along. The story is predominantly comedy, with bits of some drama in between.

You have your emphasis on relationships and the trials and errors of life. However much you want to define this manga though, it has one big hook that sets it apart that I like: the dogs. They're apart of the story as much as the human characters. It might be a little cliche, sure, that with every new character introduced, a new dog counterpart can't be far behind, but the story is a refreshing change of pace with the involvement of dogs. Every character is not only a unique addition to the story, but is hilariously reflected by their pets as well.

And if you're worried about this seeming special ability being too straight foward, don't worry. Her power isn't pivotal towards the story like she's some sort of hero protagonist. It only makes her special, but the events and people around her shape the story. An anime otaku who becomes a dog otaku, competing in an agility competition, making ends meet.

If you're looking for a manga based on drama or comedy (or dramedy, as I call it), like dogs, or are genuinely interested in something that's clearly different, Inubaka might be up your alley.

A grade of 89%, or roughly a B+

Pros
+ Different kind of drama with the focus on dog care
+ Unique characters

Cons
- No structured story arch to mention