A whole herd of dachshunds frolic throughout every room of Fallingwater, the landmark Fayette County house designed by fabled architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

Long-bodied, short-legged dogs bask in front of a fireplace, swim in the plunge pool, scrounge for food dropped on the kitchen floor, mingle with guests and engage in canine high jinks such as stealing the shoes of people who live in the house.

The tale is told in a new book, "Moxie: The Dachshund of Fallingwater." It's written and illustrated by Cara Armstrong, who has been curator of education at the landmark house since 2006.

Dachshunds really did live at Fallingwater, and one of them really was named Moxie. Liliane Kaufmann, wife of Edgar Kaufmann, raised longhaired dachshunds in the family's weekend retreat home. Who knew?

Ms. Armstrong never met the Kaufmanns, but she has interviewed Elsie Henderson, who cooked for the family, including the dachshunds. In the book, Moxie eats bacon and eggs from fine china plates in Mrs. Kaufmann's bedroom. That really happened, Ms. Armstrong said in a telephone interview.

The 32-page book was written for children, but I don't think I'm the only adult who would enjoy buying it or receiving it as a gift.

It's not often that a writer and artist can combine a love of architecture with a love of animals, but Ms. Armstrong does that. The backdrop for Moxie and her doxie siblings are accurate depictions of the interior and exterior of the house in a style that Ms. Armstrong describes as "line drawings with a watercolor wash."

Ms. Armstrong, who has a master's degree in architecture from Columbia University, explains architecture in charming ways, like this:

"Just as our tails stick out from our bodies, he [Mr. Wright] designed built-in desks which hang out, or cantilever, from the walls like a diving board. Terraces cantilever from the Main House. They are supported only on one side."

Ms. Armstrong is doing her first book signing Sunday from 2 to 4 p.m. at Knit One, 2721 Murray Ave., Squirrel Hill. Proceeds from book sales that day will be donated to the Animal Friends shelter in Ohio Township. All other proceeds from sales of the $19.95 book go directly to preserving Fallingwater and supporting its education programs. The book, published by Bright SK Press, is available at the Fallingwater Museum Store (www.fallingwater.org) and through Barnes & Noble, Amazon and other retailers.

The Moxie book is dedicated to Poppy, Ms. Armstrong's tri-color collie mix, who died recently from cancer. The author and artist lives in Ligonier with four cats that she rescued: Alice, Molly, Nigella and Madeline.

Trevor, a yellow Labrador retriever, was 8-10 weeks old when he and his litter-mates were dumped at a construction site.

Lucas, an orange tabby cat, was a cold and hungry stray who was lucky enough to wander into the right yard -- property owned by an animal shelter volunteer.

Trevor and Lucas ended up in great homes with people who love them. Now their faces appear on 44-cent stamps from the U.S. Postal Service.

Starting Friday, post offices will be selling stamps featuring five cats and five dogs. Sally Anderson-Bruce photographed the pets in her hometown of New Milford, Conn. All were saved and re-homed by shelters and rescue groups.

The goal, according to the Postal Service website, is "to raise awareness of the need to adopt shelter pets." Millions of animals end up in shelters and "nearly half are euthanized."

Talk show host and "American Idol" judge Ellen DeGeneres is part of this. She's co-owner of Halo Purely for Pets. The natural pet food company will buy food for 1 million animals in shelters all over the country during the animal stamp campaign.

Go to http://stampstotherescue.com to see a wirehaired Jack Russell terrier, golden retriever, Australian shepherd and Boston terrier. The five cats are identified by color, including a calico. Click on the picture of each animal and a biography pops up.

Stamps can be ordered from the site, as well as notecards, coffee mugs, coasters and other products.