How Dogs Think - Understanding the Canine Mind

At long last, dogs will know just how smart their owners can be. By unlocking the secrets of the hidden language of dogs, psychologist Stanley Coren allows us into the doggy dialogue, or "Doggish," and makes effective

communication a reality.

Drawing on substantial research in animal behavior, evolutionary biology, and years of personal experience, Coren demonstrates that the average house dog can understand language at about the level of a two-year-old human. While actual conversation of the sort Lassie seemed capable of in Hollywood mythmaking remains forever out of reach, Coren shows us that a great deal of real communication is possible beyond the giving and obeying of commands.

This new book by the undisputed expert on dog behavior, intelligence, and training, Stanley Coren, answers all these questions and more. For many years, most people -- even scientists -- mistakenly believed that dogs were simply domesticated wolves, with natures, minds, and behaviors significantly diminished from those of their wild cousins. But recent discoveries have demonstrated that dogs are actually much more complex than wolves, coyotes, foxes, and other wild canines; their ability to adapt to a man-made world is far more flexible, and their personalities are far more diverse. Using the fascinating findings from scientific experiments by dog breeders and the domestication of foxes and wolves, Coren re-creates the story of how dogs evolved over time into the myriad forms and breeds we love today. With specific information on which breeds were bred to become more dominant, affectionate, cooperative, or even dangerous, this practical, surprising book can help you to select a new companion or simply to understand your old friend better.

In Why Does My Dog Act That Way? Dr. Coren also presents for the first time a simple, fun test you can administer to your own dog to get a detailed picture of his personality. Based on the personality-profiling questionnaires used in human psychological studies, the "Dog Behavior Inventory" is a straightforward, user-friendly test to help you analyze the personality of your dog in relation to other members of his breed. Using the findings of the U.S. Army's once-classified studies of "Superdogs," you, too, can train your pet to become a "superdog" -- a friendly, calm, confident, "bomb-proof" dog that is not disturbed, angered, or frightened by much of anything. New, exciting data also explain the characteristics that make some dogs act heroically -- the real-life equivalents of Lassie and Rin Tin Tin who spontaneously act to save human lives.

So, why does your dog act the way he does? You'll soon find out in this uniquely complete guide to dog psychology, filled with all the entertaining anecdotes and scientific data that Coren's avid followers have come to expect and enjoy.

The answers will surprise and delight you as Alexandra Horowitz, a cognitive scientist, explains how dogs perceive their daily worlds, each other, and that other quirky animal, the human.

Horowitz introduces the reader to dogs’ cognitive abilities and then draws a picture of what it might be like to be a dog. What’s it like to be able to smell not just every bit of open food in the house but also to smell sadness in humans or even the passage of time? How does a tiny dog manage to play with a Great Dane? What is it like to hear the bodily vibrations of insects? Why must a person on a bicycle be chased? What’s it like to use your mouth as a hand? In short, what is it like for a dog to experience life from two feet off the ground, gazing at our ankles or knees?

Inside of a Dog explains these things and much more. The answers can be surprising—once we set aside our inclination to anthropomorphize dogs. Inside of a Dog also contains new research—on dogs’ detection of disease, the secrets of their tails, and their skill at reading our attention—that Horowitz puts into useful context.

So begins Born to Bark, the charming new memoir by psychologist and beloved dog expert Stan Coren of his relationship with an irrepressible gray Cairn terrier named Flint. Stan immediately loved the pup for his friendly nature and indefatigable spirit, though his wife soon found the dog’s unpredictable exuberance difficult to deal with, to say the least.

Even though Flint drove Stan’s wife up the wall, he became the joy of Stan’s life. The key to unlocking this psychologist-author’s way of looking at dog behavior, Flint also became the inspiration behind Coren’s classic, The Intelligence of Dogs. Undeterred by Flint’s irrepressible behavior (and by the breeder’s warning that he might be untrainable), Coren set out to prove that his furry companion could pass muster with the best of them. He persevered in training the unruly dog and even ventured into the competitive circles of obedience trials in dog shows, where Flint eventually made canine history as the highest-scoring Cairn terrier in obedience competition up to that time. (Stan chose not to tell his wife that the highest-ranking obedience dog of that year, a border collie, earned a total score that was fifty times higher.)

At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

Shortlisted for the Booker Prize

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