The Genius Of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
Brian Hare's The Genius of Dogs is full of discussion after discussion of scientific studies related to dog research. The book is laid out well and very interesting to anyone interested in animal cognition or dogs. The overall premise of the book is people thought domestication has made dogs dumber than other animals so they were never studied. In the last 10 years we've learned more about dogs than in the last 100. Now, scientists think domestication has made dogs smarter than other animals. The possess unique abilities to understand and communicate with humans that no other animal has. Hare drinks deep of the evolution kool-aid. He follows the typical bait and switch presentation of 'we know one species turns into another because wolves turned into dogs.' this is illogical because you start with a canine and end up with a canine. No one will disagree that this is scientific. But he presents the case that this is evidence for one species changing into another. He's comparing apples to oranges. If you can ignore this, which is throughout the book, you can easily get a grasp on the otherwise wonderful information about your dog. *book received through GoodReads giveaway*I can't be the only person out there who, despite greatly enjoying reading books dealing with science, often has a hard time trudging through them because of the dense argot that they employ. On the flipside, it is very easy for a book like this to turn into an anecdotal portrait of the author's dog extrapolated onto the canine group as a whole. Count your blessings: this book belongs in neither of these camps. John Grogan put it best when he said it is "thoroughly researched and written in the voice of a brainy scientist sitting at your kitchen table".Among other topics, Hare discusses the unusual relationship between man and wolf, the lineage of the dog, Belyaev's fox-breeding experiment, the importance of intraspecies cooperation in the survival of a species, the extraordinary ability of dogs to read the intentions of humans, the minute genetic differences between the vast majority of dog breeds, the poor treatment of dogs in many societies (in the USA and abroad), and the interdependence of dogs and humans. All of these topics are bolstered with numerous references to studies and thorough (yet not exhaustive or overwhelming) analysis. Hare does include anecdotes, but they are not meant to be "the last word" on any aspect of dog intelligence, so much as a way of relating to the facts that you read by adding a personal touch and coloring the path that the author took. For every anecdote in the book, there are references to about ten studies. The information he presents is not merely telling people what they are likely wanting to hear; in fact, there's a whole chapter devoted to a list of skills that have been dulled during the wolf-to-dog transition.As an animal lover and an inquisitive person, I really picked up a lot from this book and appreciated the vast amounts of research and dedication that went into it. I didn't always agree with the conclusions that the author drew, but he still gets full marks because he was quick to tell that they were just opinions and not unequivocal.
What do You think about The Genius Of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think (2013)?
This book will open your eyes to the incredible world of how dogs affect our lives.
—Aireekah
great look into why dogs react the way that they do.
—Kaytaryn
