The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think Author: Brian Hare | Language: English | ISBN:
B008BM4MBC | Format: EPUB
The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think Description
For readers of Inside of a Dog by Alexandra Horowitz, this New York Times bestseller offers mesmerizing insights into the interior lives of our smartest pets
In the past decade, we have learned more about how dogs think than in the last century. Breakthroughs in cognitive science, pioneered by Brian Hare, have proven dogs have a kind of genius for getting along with people that is unique in the animal kingdom. This dog genius revolution is transforming how we live and work with our canine friends, including how we train them. Does your dog feel guilt? Is she pretending she can't hear you? Does she want affection—or just your sandwich? In The Genius of Dogs, Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods lay out what discoveries at the Duke Canine Cognition Lab and other research facilities around the world are revealing about how your dog thinks and how we humans can have even deeper relationships with our best four-legged friends.
- File Size: 4644 KB
- Print Length: 384 pages
- Publisher: Plume; 1 edition (February 5, 2013)
- Sold by: Penguin Group (USA) LLC
- Language: English
- ASIN: B008BM4MBC
- Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
- Lending: Not Enabled
- Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #21,914 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
- #4
in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Zoology > Animal Psychology - #7
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Science > Biological Sciences > Biology - #8
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Biology
- #4
in Books > Science & Math > Biological Sciences > Zoology > Animal Psychology - #7
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Science > Biological Sciences > Biology - #8
in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Nonfiction > Professional & Technical > Professional Science > Biological Sciences > Biology
I bought this book because Victoria Stilwell recommended it. In fact, treat trainer that she can be, I'd love to read her honest and full review of this book if one is available...
This book is really quite engaging from the beginning through halfway into the read. The essays build a case, chapter by chapter, towards the most fascinating part (in my opinion) called "Survival of the Friendliest," which looks at the evolution of dogs - and humans - in a way that I've never heard of. It really is fantastic food for thought.
However, the book's title points to another supposedly revelatory finding in the area of dog cognition or "dognition." And, having finally arrived at its application for us dog owners/handlers, the section was disappointingly thin, just one chapter titled "Teaching Genius" that runs about 30 pages. And this came at the unnecessary expense of pitting itself against Behaviorism (a.k.a. reward-based training or clicker training). There's even a section very unfortunately named "The Tyranny of Behaviorism." Really, tyranny?
This poor choice of words and perspective really does the author's writing a disservice. Behavioral training has done A LOT to advance the methodologies of the everyday trainer. For generations prior, well-meaning but totally misinformed people applying Dominance theory were beating and choking their dogs half to death. The Behavioral approach has given tools that regular people (not just elite scientists and researchers) can understand and use. It's proven to work, it's safe, and has improved the relationships of many households with their pets. How is that tyranny?
Here is a book of real, cutting-edge science that will be accessible to anyone. It's reporting of genuine scholarship, it describes experiments in detail, it has graphs, and it's got seventy pages of footnotes at the end. The reason the science here goes down so easily is simply the subject matter. _The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think_ (Dutton) is by the founder of the Duke Canine Cognition Center Brian Hare and his wife Vanessa Woods, a research scientist at the center. It tells about how dogs got to be partners with humans with advantages to both sides, what dogs can figure out and how, what dog breeds are smartest, and much more. The book is written in the first person with Hare being the person; he affably describes how much he learned as a kid from his dog Oreo. A professor told him that chimpanzees could not understand human gestures, and Hare blurted out, "My dog can do that!" The professor didn't shut him up, but encouraged him to do research, and Oreo was his first subject. The book invites all of us to have some scientific fun learning what our dogs can do, and the authors have set up a website to help with home research that will supply broad-based data for their team.
The experiments described here are fascinating, all the more so because there is a "try this at home" attitude. It is surprising how involved the research had to be in order meticulously to weed out alternative explanations. For instance, Oreo had a choice of two cups, under one of which was a treat. Naturally, Hare the experimenter had not put food under one without faking putting food under the other. He settled himself between the two cups, and pointed to the one hiding the food. "Okay, Oreo, go find it!" he said, and Oreo went to the cup pointed at.
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