Woof! Their eyes roll, they wag and wriggle, they have expressive eyebrows and massive mouths. They run, jump, lie down, roll and sniff everything in sight. Their primary aim is to make us feel wanted and good about ourselves. What’s not to like? Well, they can be, messy, dribbly, a bit barking and smell like an old rug when wet. But that’s enough about the owners …

I love dogs. But while the politics of the pack – whether in wolves or wild dogs – is at the beating heart of their ancient psychology, history has made an inextricable link between dogs and human companions. Is there something deep within our genetic history to attach us to the canine species? What is it about the dog that endlessly fascinates us? Perhaps most of all it is the sheer range of emotions they seem able to express – whether that be running, jumping joyful affection, undying bravery and loyalty, or hungry, sad-eyed sorrow. It is to such feelings that humans can project or identify as an expression of themselves. Perhaps then that is why dogs can be such a rich subject then for song.

Welcome then to this special musical edition of best in show, with an opportunity to throw out then fetch and retrieve some particularly tasty musical snacks. Read on, but beware, as Groucho Marx put it: “Outside of a dog, a book is man’s best friend. Inside of a dog it’s too dark to read.” Those dogs are always hungry. Dogs are not humans, let us emphasise, and they inhabit an olfactory world hard for us to imagine. But first, to reveal the parallels and comparisons and differences between dog and owner, let’s dip into a sample of the film Best in Show (2000), starring in superb ensemble pack, including director Christopher Guest, of This is Spinal Tap fame. You can’t get much better than that.

This week’s musical Crufts can be put into a few of its own categories with a variety of associations between dog and human, as much metaphorical as literal.

On the downbeat, dogs are often referred to in songs as lowly creatures - as in dog’s dinner, a dog’s life, and the phrase “every dog having his day” implies the rest of the time it has an unimportant or miserable life. Why so? And especially in hip-hop, why does a dog have to be a lazy, brutal, manipulative or a horny nuisance? Is a dog’s life really all about toil or tough luck? Why are pet greyhounds always retired when you can get one as a pet, or whippets associated with rainy northern towns and men with flat caps? It doesn’t have to be that way.

The reason for all of this is that the dog is simply projected as having human qualities, often stereotyped, though it it is hard to deny that this is still effective in song. To say, for example, that you’re nothing but hound dog, crying all the time is a classic negative association, but which artist, if not Elvis of course, did the best version of this? One alternative is offered by John Cooper Clarke who suggested:

“You ain’t nothing but a hedgehog, foraging all the time. you ain’t nothing but a hedgehog foraging all the time, you never pricked a predator you ain’t no porcupine.”

Dogs can also be incredibly cute, and spoiled worse than any child. Think of of the overfed Tricky Woo in James Herriot’s All Creature Great and Small series or indeed the balls of yapping fluff owned by any modern celebrity from Paris Hilton to Johnny Depp, who himself got into trouble in Australia for flying in his pets on a private plane. Or any number of pugs and tiny terriers from the Scottish to the silky, the Schnoodle, Papillon or Peekapoo, Bolognese or Bichon Frise.

Then there are big dogs. Have a look, for example, at the now sadly deceased Guinness World Record holder Zeus. What’s for dinner? Stand well back …

Dogs can not only be big, but also clever, especially working dogs. Life may be hard for a husky but there is something magically musical about them when they begin a spontaneous chorus of howling. I once heard a pack of around 50 do so across a glacier in Iceland. An incredible, eerie, primeval sound. Sheepdogs and dogs for the blind are incredibly bright, patient and sensitive. Lassie, played by several dogs, is a classic famous example of a heroic film dog, and more recently, another who sadly passed away, is the star of the Oscar-winning silent film, The Artist (2011), Uggie, who happily visited Guardian Towers to say hello.

Wild dogs, including wolves and foxes, also count this week, but perhaps the strangest aspect of dogs is sheer variety of their breeds, originally for various hunting purposes, but now simply many and various. I find it amazing, that, in theory a chihuahua could mate with a Irish wolfhound. Best not to imagine it in too much detail. What’s your favourite dog? At the moment, mine’s an Airedale, but labradoodles are pretty appealing. Evolution’s giant leap has thrown up many forms. Let’s mop up with this amazing Hungarian Puli sheep dog.

Quick reference – previously there have been broad topics of animals, mammals and pets, but this leaves a huge opportunity for a howling, barking, brilliant canine canon. So then, it’s time to take your top dog songs for a walk. This week’s happy handler is RR’s stupendous Suzi, who will make make us all musically beg, roll over and run. Put in your nominations by last orders (11pm BST) this coming Monday 7 September for the results out on Thursday 10 September. Heel!

To increase the likelihood of your nomination being considered, please:

• Tell us why it’s a worthy contender.
• Quote lyrics if helpful, but for copyright reasons no more than a third of a song’s words.
• Provide a link to the song. We prefer Muzu or YouTube, but Spotify or SoundCloud are fine.
• Listen to others people’s suggestions and add yours to a collaborative Spotify playlist.
• If you have a good theme for Readers recommend, or if you’d like to volunteer to compile a playlist from readers’ suggestions, please email peter.kimpton@theguardian.com
• There’s a wealth of data on RR, including the songs that are “zedded”, at the Marconium. It also tells you the meaning of “zedded”, “donds” and other strange words used by RR regulars.
• Many RR regulars also congregate at the ‘Spill blog.

During the week of 19 September 2015 the glorious Guardian Readers Recommend blog is going to be 10 years old. There will be an informal celebration of this during the weekend of Saturday 19 September, with a meeting up from lunchtime onwards on that Saturday in London, near the Guardian’s offices. For more details, and possible other meet-ups around this time, please email peter.kimpton@theguardian.com or keep an eye out on the Readers Recommend topics appearing here each Thursday.

Interested in compiling and writing about a list of songs from readers’ suggestions? Email peter.kimpton@theguardian.com.