How Dogs Love Us

A Neuroscientist and His Adopted Dog Decode the Canine Brain

By: Gregory Berns

Narrated by: LJ Ganser

Length: 7 hrs and 41 mins

Publisher's summary

The powerful bond between humans and dogs is one that’s uniquely cherished. Loyal, obedient, and affectionate, they are truly “man’s best friend.” But do dogs love us the way we love them? Emory University neuroscientist Gregory Berns had spent decades using MRI imaging technology to study how the human brain works, but a different question still nagged at him: What is my dog thinking?

After his family adopted Callie, a shy, skinny terrier mix, Berns decided that there was only one way to answer that question - use an MRI machine to scan the dog’s brain. His colleagues dismissed the idea. Everyone knew that dogs needed to be restrained or sedated for MRI scans. But if the military could train dogs to operate calmly in some of the most challenging environments, surely there must be a way to train dogs to sit in an MRI scanner.

With this radical conviction, Berns and his dog would embark on a remarkable journey and be the first to glimpse the inner workings of the canine brain. Painstakingly, the two worked together to overcome the many technical, legal, and behavioral hurdles. Berns’s research offers surprising results on how dogs empathize with human emotions, how they love us, and why dogs and humans share one of the most remarkable friendships in the animal kingdom.

How Dogs Love Us answers the age-old question of dog lovers everywhere and offers profound new evidence that dogs should be treated as we would treat our best human friends: with love, respect, and appreciation for their social and emotional intelligence.

An Audible for Dogs Pick: Make your dog's day. Cesar Millan shares how audiobooks can make dogs happier and calmer. Learn more.

©2013 2013 by (P)2013 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

“This book’s abundant appeal and value come from following Berns through the challenges of constructing the experiment and especially of training his dog to participate. ‘Like a catcher and pitcher,’ he writes, he and his dog ‘became a team.’ The satisfaction of that relationship perhaps explains why our two species have lived together so long and happily.” ( The Boston Globe)

"A neuroscientist wonders what goes on in the minds of our pet dogs: Do we delude ourselves when we believe that they love us? [ How Dogs Love Us is] a solid introduction to an appealing new area of research." ( Kirkus)

"The book is as much a scientific exploration of how the canine brain might function as it is a deeply personal story about Berns's relationship with dogs as pets and colleagues. Ultimately that connection is what makes the book compelling." ( Scientific American MIND)

Funny and entertaining!

I didn’t expect this book to be funny or entertaining, but that’s what it was. If you enjoy science and dogs, get this audiobook 👍🏻

Too light on results

Most of the book is a setup for results of fmri scans of dogs. Cool, they figured out how to do it. It would have been better if they had waited a few years to get more science done to make all the setup worth reading.

Very Interesting Findings

I really enjoyed this book. It walks you through how doges were trained to get in an MRI for a brain scan. What they found and how a dogs brain scan compares to a human brain scan. I highly recommend this book.

wonderful, highly recomeded

A deeply passionate and informative book. Top recomedation for people that want to understand more about there dog

Fascinating

Truly enjoyed how all this came about and all the information they were able to gather

took a while to get going

there is a lot of information about how they did the study but to get to the meat of the story you had to get to chapter 20...seems too long to wait to get to the point to me.

Very scientific but very interesting

What did you love best about How Dogs Love Us?

I love the passion the author has for his dogs and the passion for science. Only true dog people, not to be mistaken with dog owners, would understand why he did what he did.

Were the concepts of this book easy to follow, or were they too technical?

As a RN with 5 years of Neurology experience, it was easy. I am sure that if you know nothing about radiology or neuroscience, it will be a little hard to follow.
I know that because my husband was a little (a lot) lost.

Which scene was your favorite?

Kelly chasing the ducks by the river and when she cuddled with the author (awwwww).

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I would not make a film about this book. Unless the movie was for Vet, Radiology or Neuroscience students.

Any additional comments?

If you are not into medical terminology and scientific studies, skip to chapter 23. Before that, the content is 90% study. VERY INTERESTING but, if you are looking for a mushy confy book, skip to chapter 24.

A little slow but well worth the read.

Sometimes I got a little disinterested in this book but for the most part I really enjoyed it. I'm a huge dog lover and it has helped me see my adorable Jack in a clearer light.

This book was really insightful!

This book was very scientific and sometimes difficult to follow but really excellent! The story was really interesting and I definitely recommend it if you love dogs.

Great

This book goes for little and big.I'm a deep thinker so it was easy to read and listen.