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

This book is written by an ethologist, It's a non-fiction observational piece written from the perspective of one trained in the psychology of animals. It's not "Marley and Me" part 2. So in a sense, if you're expecting this book to be the endearing story of a girl and her dog you'll likely be disappointed if you're not also the kind of person that reads other science-oriented books. This book is more about the science of dog behavior and symbiosis with humans than about how cute puppies are. I did enjoy the book overall and found it to be informative and insightful. The narration is a little bland, but that's not as bad as having someone inflecting every other phrase improperly in an attempt to make false drama. I recently lost a dog to illness and old age that I lived with for 14 years and this book has made me feel better about the life I gave my dear companion. I don't completely agree with every premise herein, however that doesn't detract from quality of the product overall in my opinion. If you're into learning different ways of understanding things you're already familiar with and expanding your world-view this book might be for you.

This book is written for people who want to learn something from the author about canine behavior. She provides interesting insights, however, I think in a few places she would be at odds with The Dog Whisper, accepted norms on canine nutrition and the evolution of the canine anatomy...dew claws are not for traction.

not much substance - written more like an account of author's own dog - Pump: woven with some facts of dogs in general and other animals.

As a dog aficionado, I was very excited to listen to this audiobook but turned out to be quite disappointed when finished. The book is a series of interesting dog facts interspersed with the authors opinions on dog behavior/psychology/training. I've been around dogs my entire life and raised quite a few myself and I disagree with much of what the author says outside of her dog biology information. It seems she is basing much of her opninions from her interactions with her small, friendly dog. Anyone who's ever raised any of the large/dominant breeds of dogs will either get a good laugh from this book or will be thoroughly disgusted at having wasted the money.

Don't read this book unless you live with a dog. If a dog is part of your family, then I recommend that you read it together. Understanding your dog from her perspective will make you both happier. And when you read the book please do not take it out of the library, but spring for the audio, digital or dead tree version. We want the author to get the money, as she deserves some tangible rewards for being brave enough to break convention and make the study of the house dog a legitimate field of scientific inquiry.

The best parts of the book debunk the myths of dog training (the Dog Whisperer does not come off very well) by diving into the biology and evolutionary history of our canine companions. For instance, wolves (who share a common ancestor with dogs) do not live in hierarchical but familial packs. And if you want to understand your dog, you have to get on your hands and knees and smell the world.

I was drawn to this book by the cover art and that I have three labs at home. The book seems like the dissertation of a PhD candidate, with the "author's note" thrown in for the regular folk. When the author is being real its great, when she is being high falutent explaining her research it drags like a textbook.

I'm struggling with this book. I'm learning about ticks, rats, wolves, researchers...but not dogs. How many times can you say Anthropomorphism?

Narrator stiff and phoney. Book a bore

explains dogs' makeup

description of studies that were able to define the extent and limits of dogs' ability to reason, the reason for the reactions we don't understand and how much we mistakenly ascribe to them.

this is my only one

Maybe parts of it. It was informative and very well-written, but ran very long to me. Part of that may have been the performance, which I wasn't crazy about.

The parts of the book wherein Horowitz discusses her own dog, Pump, and how interacting with Pump helps Horowitz self-educate about animal behavior.

Uneven, pragmatic, dry

Not "moved" exactly -- it was so fact-filled I didn't have a very emotional response to it. But the sections about Pump were by far the sweetest.

A really good book about dogs and dog behavior -- next time I might just read the paper copy rather than listen, though.