Book Review: "The Book"

I gave Nathan a book for his birthday about dogs, but didn't expect that it would be something that he would (often) reference in relation to Shelby. So, now it is lovingly refered to in our house as "The Book," and it is interesting to know why Shelby does the things she does. Here is his review of Inside Of A Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, & Know, by Alexandra Horowitz.
I recently read a fascinating book by Alexandra Horowitz titled Inside Of A Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, & Know that takes a scientific look at why your dog does what she does and what she may be thinking when she's doing it. The author, who also happens to be a dog-person, has spent years studying the way dogs interact, and she also incorporates many studies on dogs and other animals to provide lots of evidence supporting her theories.

One of the most intriguing sections of the book to me was how dogs experience the world. First off, the author reminds us that a dog's world is close to the ground, which is common sense but not something I really considered. Imagine how different the world would seem if we were on our hands and knees all day long. Secondly, the average dog's senses are much different than a humans, because a dog's primary sense is smell. And the average dog's smelling power is 100 times better than ours. The strong smelling ability provides us with some insight as to how dogs are able to "magically" sense you from a distance. For instance, I've noticed that Shelby never barks when Whitney or I are coming to the door, even though she can't see us, but she will bark whenever it's a stranger, even when she can't yet see them.

And smelling at a distance isn't the only feat a dog can perform. A dog can tell how fresh a scent is based on the power of odor. Another seemingly magically feat is a dog's ability to detect oncoming seizures in humans (of course, they must first be trained to alert the human or someone else about the seizure for this trait to be effective) and the author theorizes that the dog can smell subtle changes in your body scent, as well as your behavior, to detect the seizure. A dog's hearing is also superior to a human's, and it's the second sense they rely on. Visual acuity is much less important to a dog. When the dog I grew up with got very old, he went blind, but never seemed too hampered by the loss of eyesight, and now I know why. As long as he could smell and hear, he could still experience the world in a meaningful way.

There are many other impactful pieces of information here for dog owners, including about whether dogs experience time in the same way we do (the answer: somewhat); doggy play and how dogs are one of the few species to self-handicap (explains how small dogs and big dogs effectively play together); and how dogs are effective communicators with humans. All interesting, assuming you're a dog lover, but it does get a bit scientific, so it could be tedious for a non-dog person. The last section I'd like to mention is how the author debunks what she calls "the pack mentality."

We often hear about how dogs believe think of its family in the terms of a pack hierarchy, because dogs are descended from wolves. The author argues that while we see some instincts that remain from a dog's wolf ancestry, the thousands of years of domestication has significantly changed how dog's think about us. The author explains that domestication has hardwired dogs to see humans as what we would consider to be more of a family. For example, a family has rules that must be followed (such as, no barking in the house), but the dog doesn't likely put itself above or below anyone (though it may not consider all newcomers to be part of the family). The difference, argues the author, is that you don't have to show dominance to control your dog. It's likely the dog would willingly do what you want, if properly motived, because it's part of your family. What a dog retains from the "pack mentality," is that it cherishes being around its "pack," and can feel lonely when left out of a group.

All in all, I think that dog owners should definitely check out this book to gain a better insight of how your dog or dogs experience life. In this way, we can better relate and communicate what we want and expect from the dog.