Dogs - Training, Dogs - General & Miscellaneous

The Truth About Dogs

Name: The Truth About Dogs
Author: Stephen Budiansky
ISBN: 9780141002286

by Budiansky, Stephen

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Overview

Dogs: Man's best friends-or canine con artists? For centuries dogs have stolen our hearts, our homes, and our wallets. Just how do dogs get otherwise reasonable adults to feed them sirloin, let them occupy easy chairs, and generally allow them to regulate our every waking hour? In this provocative, entertaining, and wholly admiring reappraisal of our canine companions, Stephen Budiansky calls upon the latest research on dog behavior, genes, and evolution to explain why dogs do what they do, think what they think, and feel what they feel-and how they have come to occupy such a remarkable place in our lives and affections. Challenging many of our accepted ideas about canine intelligence and emotions, Budiansky shows how the very strange things that dogs so often do-fiercely guarding pairs of shoes, barking incessantly at the UPS man, rolling in really foul-smelling things-are the product of a rich blending of their ancient wolf ancestry, their subsequent dramatic evolutionary changes in the company of man, and their ever-so-peculiar modern social environment, neither wolf nor human. This original and insightful reexamination of an animal at once so familiar and so mysterious tells us, for the first time ever, what it truly is to be a dog.

Author Biography: Stephen Budiansky, scientist, author, journalist, and dog lover, is a correspondent for The Atlantic Monthly. He is the author of five highly acclaimed books about animals, nature, and science, including The Nature of Horses.

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Editorials

From Barnes & Noble

How exactly did the dog come to be "man's best friend"? Scientist and journalist Stephen Budiansky attempts to answer that question in The Truth About Dogs. By looking at genetic and evolutionary research, he explains just how dogs developed the loyalty, intelligence, and social skills that make us love them so.

American Scientist

Budiansky...may be the best writer around on animal behavior...

Carol Memmott

In , author Stephen Budiansky sets straight humans who complain about their dogs as they are: "with doglike understanding, doglike motives, doglike perceptions, and doglike instincts." The problem, he says, is that "with our remarkably self-centered and limited imaginations", we mistakenly view dogs through our narrow, anthropomorphid lens. Dr.Dolittle may have urged us to talk to the animals, but Budiansky says it's time we think like a dog to achieve the perfect relationship with these lovable freeloaders. A great book for new dog owners or anyone looking for a better understanding of how Spot's mind works.
— USA Today

New York Times Book Review

Budiansky turns the old-fashioned idea of domestication on its head...extraordinarily entertaining.

Raymond Sokolov

Anyone who owns or ever comes into contact with dogs, which is to say everyone, should read this book...excellent.
—(Wall Street Journal)

Library Journal

Budiansky, a scientist, former editor of Nature, correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly, and author of six books on animal behavior, including If a Lion Could Talk, debunks many commonly held beliefs about the dog: "most if not all of the conventional explanations of where dogs come from, how they ended up in our homes, and why they do what they do just have to be wrong." No B.F. Skinner behaviorist, he is a firm believer in the influence of genes. Citing scholarly sources and using a sense of humor that allows him to transform some difficult concepts into lay reader's language, Budiansky explains natural selection and the genetic basis of appearance, behavior, social interactions, sensory abilities (i.e., sight, smell, and hearing), aggression, and communication. He questions whether dogs are capable of love and loyalty or whether their behavior is strictly expedient. His answers will satisfy passionate dog lovers and serious scientists alike. Recommended for undergraduate collections serving students of animal behavior and public libraries with intellectually sophisticated patrons. [Budiansky is also the author of The Battle of Wits: The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II, reviewed on p. 92.--Ed.]--Florence Scarinci, formerly with Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, NY Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\

Booknews

Budiansky is a scientist (what kind is not stated); author of books about animals, nature, and science; and journalist (a correspondent for . He covers a gamut of topics, primarily of interest to dog owners, trying to separate fact from sentiment and supporting his non-sentimental views with information about how dogs perceive the world, relate to one another, and interact with humans. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

James Gorman

The book has its share of hard-nosed biology, but it's extraordinarily entertaining . . . I can't say that Budiansky has the last word on all these questions, but every answer he offers is backed up with well-described scientific evidence.
—New York Times Book Review

U.S. News & World Report

Dogs are expert con artists, parasites, and party crashers, says this former U.S. News editor, but he insists he loves them anyway. This charming small book also explains the nuances of barking, powerful noses, and cannis familiaris's considerable neuroses.