About this title: Containing up-to-the minute research and providing many moments of dog-behavior recognition, this lively and absorbing book helps dog owners to see their best friend's behavior in a different, and revealing, light. b&w illustrations throughout.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Scribner
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781416583400ISBN:1416583408
Description: Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket. 9781416583400. A near fine copy in DJ with bright, clean cover and interior.; 8vo 8"-9" tall; 368 pages. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Scribner
Date Published: 2009
ISBN-13:9781416583400ISBN:1416583408
Description: New. Items ship once payments have cleared. Media mail 5-8 days Priority 2-3 days and international orders may be subject to customs clearance procedures which can cause delays. Seasonal delays can occur in postal system. All items ship within 24 hours of receiving payment. read more
"I love dogs and have had at least two at a time for most of my life. During the rare spells when I haven't had a dog, I always felt somehow incomplete. To me, then this book is of great interest. Horowitz's shtick is what it feels like to be a dog, and that is what this book is about. The science is a bit uneven: usually well-researched, but some notable gaps. She neglects some of the most recent and startling studies of dog cognition and her incomplete understanding of how humans actually speak leads her to some questionable conclusions on how much laguage dogs really understand. (Hint: they understand a whole lot.) Where she shines is on her discussions of dogs' tactile sense and how important it is for a dog to snuggle, for instance, and how uncomfortable it is for a dog to have clothing put on him. She also waxes poetic about the world of smell a dog lives in and she tries to make a case for us to be as smelly as possible and for allowing our dogs to be equally odiferous. That is, dogs would be far happier if we didn't shower so often or subject them to baths so often. Dog lover that I am, that's where I draw the line. My poor dogs will just have to be olfactorily deprived. Daily showers for me and weekly baths for them are required for me to have a happy sense of smell."
"great scientific perspective of dogs. their origins and their behaviours. I really enjoyed the references to the author's own dog and her thoughts about her. Some great info for even a well read, experienced dog owner. Highly reommend it!"
"I need to switch gears for a quick moment and read something a bit lighter. The last 3 or 4 books I've read had me in tears, albeit good tears, tears nonetheless. I need a break and will dive back in next week. Meanwhile, I need some fluff :)"
"Horowitwz is a scientist, after all. She has rigorously edited her book so that it is accessible to non-scientists, and tries to tell us which of the dog behaviors we observe are actually what we may believe them to be. Are dogs as knowledgeable as they appear? What do their behaviors signify? But first she must describe what she will do, set the parameters, explain her approach...I did not become engaged until late in the game, when Horowitz gave us a section on "theory of mind": can the dog know what we're thinking or are they simply responding to other physical cues?
From this point the book explains some experiments conducted, their results, the conclusions. This is unfailingly interesting to me, though I get breathless at the amount of time and energy involved in constructing a successful experiment which may yield one data point and no firm conclusions.
At the end of the book, Horowitz takes off her scientist hat and tells us what she thinks. She urges us to look on our pets as individuals with unique behaviors and not to be too regimented in our thinking about how they should perform or behave. Her final quote is a paean to her dead pet, Pump, in which she describes one of his ears "like a felted leaf, dried in the sun." Dog-people will find this an interesting book which will inform their understanding."
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