What's a Dog For?

Author: John Homans
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143124129
Category : Pets
Languages : en
Pages : 273

Book Description
As dogs take their place as coddled family members and their numbers balloon to over 77 million in the United States alone, it’s no surprise that canine culture is undergoing a massive transformation. Now subject to many of the same questions of rights and ethics as people, the politics of dogs are more tumultuous and public than ever—with fierce moral battles raging over kill shelters, puppy mills, and breed standards. Incorporating interviews and research from scientists, activists, breeders, and trainers, What’s a Dog For? investigates how dogs have reached this exalted status, and why they hold such fascination for us humans.

What Is a Dog?

Author: Raymond Coppinger
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022635900X
Category : Pets
Languages : en
Pages : 292

Book Description
“An informative, well-written book on the evolution of all canids, including the wild types (wolves, coyotes, jackals, and dingoes)…Recommended.”—Choice Of the world’s dogs, fewer than two hundred million are pets, living with humans who provide food, shelter, squeaky toys, and fashionable sweaters. But roaming the planet are four times as many dogs who are their own masters—neighborhood dogs, dump dogs, mountain dogs. They are dogs, not companions, and these dogs, like pigeons or squirrels, are highly adapted scavengers who have evolved to fit particular niches in the vicinity of humans. This book present an eye-opening analysis of the evolution and adaptations of these unleashed dogs and what they can reveal about the species as a whole. Exploring the natural history of these animals, canine behavior experts Raymond and Lorna Coppingers explain how the village dogs of Vietnam, India, Africa, and Mexico are strikingly similar. These feral dogs, argue the Coppingers, are in fact the truly archetypal dogs, nearly uniform in size and shape and incredibly self-sufficient. Drawing on nearly five decades of research, they show how dogs actually domesticated themselves in order to become such efficient scavengers of human refuse. The Coppingers also examine the behavioral characteristics that enable dogs to live successfully and to reproduce, unconstrained by humans, in environments that we ordinarily do not think of as dog friendly. A fascinating exploration of what it actually means, genetically and behaviorally, to be a dog, What Is a Dog? is likely to change the way beagle or bulldog owners reflect on their four-legged friends.

What It's Like to Be a Dog

Author: Gregory Berns
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465096255
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 260

Book Description
"Dog lovers and neuroscientists should both read this important book." -- Dr. Temple Grandin What is it like to be a dog? A bat? Or a dolphin? To find out, neuroscientist and bestselling author Gregory Berns and his team did something nobody had ever attempted: they trained dogs to go into an MRI scanner -- completely awake -- so they could figure out what they think and feel. And dogs were just the beginning. In What It's Like to Be a Dog, Berns takes us into the minds of wild animals: sea lions who can learn to dance, dolphins who can see with sound, and even the now extinct Tasmanian tiger. Berns's latest scientific breakthroughs prove definitively that animals have feelings very much like we do -- a revelation that forces us to reconsider how we think about and treat animals. Written with insight, empathy, and humor, What It's Like to Be a Dog is the new manifesto for animal liberation of the twenty-first century.

Inside of a Dog

Author: Alexandra Horowitz
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1847379575
Category : Pets
Languages : en
Pages : 313

Book Description
As an unabashed dog lover, Alexandra Horowitz is naturally curious about what her dog thinks and what she knows. As a cognitive scientist she is intent on understanding the minds of animals who cannot say what they know or feel. This is a fresh look at the world of dogs -- from the dog's point of view. The book introduces the reader to the science of the dog -- their perceptual and cognitive Abilities -- and uses that introduction to draw a picture of what it might be like to bea dog. It answers questions no other dog book can -- such as: What is a dog's sense of time? Does she miss me? Want friends? Know when she's been bad? Horowitz's journey, and the insights she uncovered from studying her own dog, Pumpernickel, allowed her to understand her dog better, and appreciate her more through that understanding. The reader will be able to do the same with their own dog. This is not another dog training book. Instead, Inside of a Dogwill allow dog owners to look at their pets' behaviour in a different, and revealing light, enabling them to understand their dogs and enjoy their relationship even more.

Beloved Dog

Author: Maira Kalman
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 014310988X
Category : Pets
Languages : en
Pages : 162

Book Description
Maira Kalman, with wit and great sensitivity, reveals why dogs bring out the best in us Maira Kalman + Dogs = Bliss Dogs have lessons for us all. In Beloved Dog, renowned artist and author Maira Kalman illuminates our cherished companions as only she can. From the dogs lovingly illustrated in her acclaimed children’s books to the real-life pets who inspire her still, Kalman’s Beloved Dog is joyful, beautifully illustrated, and, as always, deeply philosophical. Here is Max Stravinsky, the dog poet of Oh-La-La (Max in Love)-fame, and her own Irish Wheaton Pete (almost named Einstein, until he revealed himself to be “clearly no Einstein”), who also made an appearance in the delightful What Pete Ate: From A to Z. And of course, there is Boganch, Kalman’s in-laws’ “big black slobbering Hungarian Beast.” And that’s just the beginning. With humor and intelligence, Kalman gives voice to the dogs she adores, noting that they are constant reminders that life reveals the best of itself when we live fully in the moment and extend unconditional love. “And it is very true,” she writes, “that the most tender, complicated, most generous part of our being blossoms without any effort, when it comes to the love of a dog.”

The Complete Dog Breed Book

Author: DK
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1465441344
Category : Pets
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Book Description
Looking for the ideal, perfectly compatible canine companion for your family? Your search ends here. From spaniels to sheepdogs, The Complete Dog Breed Book is all you need to find the perfect pet for your family. Fully illustrated and featuring over 400 of the world's best-loved breeds, this comprehensive guide offers expert advice on keeping, training, and caring for your beloved dog. The book's special Q&A selector charts help you make the right choice as per your lifestyle and convenience. Clear and practical instructions on care cover the essential aspects of looking after a dog, including handling, grooming, nutrition, health, and exercise. The visual training program features step-by-step photographic sequences, explaining the specifics of basic obedience. Tried-and-tested notes on how to identify and prevent common behavioral problems provide a fascinating insight into the behavior of dogs and how we interact with them. The Complete Dog Breed Book is a one-stop manual to help you become the owner of a happy, healthy, and well-behaved dog.

What Is a Dog?

Author: Raymond Coppinger
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022612794X
Category : Nature
Languages : en
Pages : 292

Book Description
"Exploring the natural history of these creatures, the Coppingers explain how the village dogs of Vietnam, India, Africa, and Mexico are strikingly similar. These feral dogs, argue the Coppingers, are in fact the real representative dogs, nearly uniform in size and shape and incredibly self-sufficient. Drawing on nearly five decades of research, they show how dogs actually domesticated themselves in order to become such sufficient scavengers of human refuse. The Coppingers also examine the behavioral characteristics that enable dogs to live successfully and to reproduce, unconstrained by humans, in environments that we ordinarily do not think of as dog- friendly."--From publisher description.

What Is a Dog?

Author: Chloe Shaw
Publisher: Flatiron Books
ISBN: 1250210755
Category : Pets
Languages : en
Pages : 224

Book Description
On the heels of her family’s beloved dog’s death, one woman returns to the canines of her past in order to imagine the human she hopes to become in the future in her memoir, What Is a Dog? Chloe Shaw is in a dog house of her own choosing. A married mother with kids, the death of Booker, her children’s eldest family pet, has left her reeling and reckoning with her lifelong relationship with dogs. Unable to shake the feeling a year later, she asks her family for some time alone to be with nothing but her thoughts and remaining canines, Safari and Otter—only to find the dogs of her past pawing at her every memory and running, sticks in mouths, back into her life. What follows is a meditation on one woman’s life through the dogs she's loved and lost. Since she was a child, Shaw had learned to escape the hardest parts of being human by immersing herself in the lives of her canine companions, an adaptive attachment that carried her to adulthood. Yet, in marriage and motherhood, Shaw finds herself facing her most human struggles yet. Her old ways of “being the dog” in the face of hardship prove destructive, and it’s not until she’s able to love herself and learn from the dogs of her past and present that can she truly thrive as a person, and show up for the family who needs her to be their person. With artful prose and a philosophical touch, Shaw takes us on an emotional journey anyone who has ever loved and lost a dog will connect with—and discovers dogs do more than just make our lives better—they quietly (and sometimes loudly) pull us boldly toward the person we were always meant to be.

A Dog For The Job

Author: Noreen Clark
Publisher: Australian Self Publishing Group
ISBN: 1922792446
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 328

Book Description
Noreen Clark has provided a history of the Cattle Dogs that fits snugly with colonial history. Her current research reveals a far more credible account of the development of Australia's Cattle Dogs than any previous publication.

I Know Your Dog Is a Good Dog

Author: Linda Scroggins
Publisher: McFarland
ISBN: 1476693668
Category : Pets
Languages : en
Pages : 213

Book Description
When a pet dog injures a human or another dog, the owner is left in a state of fear and confusion. If a dog wreaks havoc and destruction on a home, the owner is left feeling helpless. If an owner finds a dog uncontrollable, or if a dog becomes aggressive and a threat to the community, the dog becomes the one that is at risk for injury or death. Families living with these behaviorally challenged dogs may become isolated and wonder if there is help for their dog. The reality is there are thousands of families facing these issues. This book explains the process for helping dogs with behavior problems in plain language. Calling on her years of experience as a certified canine behavior consultant, the author highlights the journeys of past clients through a series of vignettes broken up by chapters that contain informative and researched guidance. While it is not meant to be a how-to training guide, the book lets people with reactive or anxious dogs know they are not alone. And for those that lose the battle, it walks with them through that final journey.