Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know by Alexandra Horowitz

The #1 New York Times bestselling book from the author of The Year of the Puppy that asks what dogs know and how they think. The answers will surprise and delight you as Alexandra Horowitz, a cognitive scientist, explains how dogs perceive their daily worlds, each other, and that other quirky animal, the human. Horowitz introduces the reader to dogs' perceptual and cognitive abilities and then draws a picture of what it might be like to be a dog. What's it like to be able to smell not just every bit of open food in the house but also to smell sadness in humans, or even the passage of time? How does a tiny dog manage to play successfully with a Great Dane? What is it like to hear the bodily vibrations of insects or the hum of a fluorescent light? Why must a person on a bicycle be chased? What's it like to use your mouth as a hand? In short, what is it like for a dog to experience life from two feet off the ground, amidst the smells of the sidewalk, gazing at our ankles or knees? Inside of a Dog explains these things and much more. The answers can be surprising-once we set aside our natural inclination to anthropomorphize dogs. Inside of a Dog also contains up-to-the-minute research-on dogs' detection of disease, the secrets of their tails, and their skill at reading our attention-that Horowitz puts into useful context. Although not a formal training guide, Inside of a Dog has practical application for dog lovers interested in understanding why their dogs do what they do. With a light touch and the weight of science behind her, Alexandra Horowitz examines the animal we think we know best but may actually understand the least. This book is as close as you can get to knowing about dogs without being a dog yourself. Editorial Reviews "Causes one's dog-loving heart to flutter with astonishment and gratitude." --The New York Times "Engaging . . . entertainin . . . an empathetic quest to experience the world from a dog's perspective. . . . Although this book certainly isn't a training manual, Horowitz offers all kinds of useful advice for dog owners." --The Guardian "Clears up common misconceptions about our four-legged friends " --NPR "A thoughtful take on the interior life of the dog . . . long on insight and short on jargon." --The Washington Post "An intelligent, fully dimensional portrait of the way dogs experience the world." --The Star-Ledger "An essential read for pet owners and students of animal behavior." --Library Journal "Nearly flawless." --The Bark "Discover why your dog is so sensitive to your emotions, gaze, and body language. Dogs live in a world of ever changing intricate detail of smell. Read this captivating book and enter the sensory world of your dog." --Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation and Animals Make us Human "Inside of a Dog is a most welcomed authoritative, personal, and witty book about what it is like to be a dog. Alexandra Horowitz has spent a lot of time studying our best friends and shares her knowledge in a readable volume that also serves as a corrective to the many myths that circulate about just who our canine companions are." --Marc Bekoff, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals "This fascinating and elegant book will open your eyes, ears, and nose to what your dog thinks and understands. Part science, part personal observation, part love letter to a rescued dog named Pumpernickel--and all pure fun." --Karen Pryor, author of Reaching the Animal Mind and Don't Shoot the Dog!: The Art of Teaching and Training - From the Publisher In promotional copy, the publishers invite readers to think of this book as "Temple Grandin meets Stephen Pinker," a somewhat daunting assignment, not far wrong. As both a cognitive scientist and a dog-owner, Dr. Alexandra Horowitz has attentively studied both humans and canines. Her Inside of a Dog fulfills many pet lovers' fondest wish: to learn what Fido or Frida really thinks and knows. Scientific rigor, literary flair, and a most endearing subject. Enthusiastic reader response in hardcover; now in paperback. - Alexandra Horowitz's smart new book fills a niche in this field. Most authors seeking to explain canine minds are pushing a trendy training style or a worthy humane-treatment goal. Horowitz sets out to study dogs for their own fascinating sake...Inside of a Dog offers a thoughtful take on the interior life of the dog, a topic often left to poets and philosophers and Marley & Me. A Barnard psychologist, Horowitz doesn't deliver an academic monograph based on, say, freshly unearthed details about the wild dogs of the Siberian steppe. Rather, she mixes observations of her own dog with a breezy survey of animal-science literature as she ponders more basic questions about the pet dogs of the American living room: What's with the sniffing? Why do they bark? Oh, and do they actually like us? The result is a work long on insight and short on jargon. -The Washington Post - Michael Schaffer In one enormously important variation from wolf behavior, dogs will look into our eyes. "Though they have inherited some aversion to staring too long at eyes, dogs seem to be predisposed to inspect our faces for information, for reassurance, for guidance." They are staring, soulfully, into our umwelts. It seems only right that we try a little harder to reciprocate, and Horowitz's book is a good step in that direction. -The New York Times - Cathleen Schine Psychology professor and dog person Horowitz was studying the ethology (the science of animal behavior) of white rhinos and bonobos at the San Diego Zoo when she realized that her research techniques could just as easily apply to dogs at the local dog park; there, she began to see "snapshots of the minds of the dogs" in their play. Over eight years of study, she's found that, though humans bond with their dogs closely, they're clueless when it comes to understanding what dogs perceive-leading her to the not-inconsequential notion that dogs know us better than we know them. Horowitz begins by inviting readers into a dog's umwelt-his worldview-by imagining themselves living 18 inches or so above the ground, with incredible olfactory senses comparable to the human capacity for detailed sight in three dimensions (though dogs' sight, in combination with their sense of smell, may result in a more complex perception of "color" than humans can imagine). Social and communications skills are also explored, as well as the practicalities of dog owning (Horowitz disagrees with the "pack" approach to dog training). Dog lovers will find this book largely fascinating, despite Horowitz's meandering style and somnolent tone. Copyright Æ Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. - Publishers Weekly Dry as doggie kibble, this fact-filled book by Horowitz (psychology, Barnard Coll.) is nonetheless full of useful information for the 68 million dog owners in the United States. Actress/narrator Karen White (My Kind of Place) does a superb job of presenting this program, and dog lovers will be interested in much of Horowitz's research. However, because the author's copious notes interrupt the flow of the narrative, at times making it difficult to follow along, the print edition might be preferable to this audio edition. [The Scribner hc received a starred review, LJ Xpress Reviews 9/18/09.--Ed.]--Theresa Connors, Arkansas Tech Univ. Lib., Russellville - Library Journal An animal behavioral scientist takes listeners on a journey into the mind of a dog and helps us to look at the world through canine eyes. This is first-rate science blended with the insights of a consummate dog lover; together these elements make Horowitz's discussion accessible and exciting. Karen White is a masterful narrator who delivers a powerful presentation. She captures the author's passion for dogs, so evident in the narrative, without overwhelming the listener with the science. For all dog lovers who want to better understand what their best friend is thinking. M.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine - DECEMBER 2009 - AudioFile An animal behavioral scientist takes listeners on a journey into the mind of a dog and helps us to look at the world through canine eyes. This is first-rate science blended with the insights of a consummate dog lover; together these elements make Horowitz's discussion accessible and exciting. Karen White is a masterful narrator who delivers a powerful presentation. She captures the author's passion for dogs, so evident in the narrative, without overwhelming the listener with the science. For all dog lovers who want to better understand what their best friend is thinking. M.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine - DECEMBER 2009 - AudioFile