In the book Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell and Know, Alexandra Horowitz gives us a glimpse into what might be going through the mind of a dog.
What do you think is going through a dog’s mind when they do things such as jump on the bed, eat your beloved shoe collection, or run through the house covered in mud?
Inside of a Dog is not really a training manual but rather a great companion to a more formal training. With a background in animal cognition and animal behaviour, Dr. Horowitz breaks the novel into sections making it an easy read for anyone interested in dog psychology.
“in training a dog you must reward only those behaviours you desire the dog to repeat endlessly.”
Even the biology of the dog eye is explained but in an easy-to-follow way so that it can be appreciated by everyone.
Dr. Horowitz also inserts playful storytelling vignettes of experiences with her own dog, Pumpernickel. All the vignettes definitely made me laugh and reminded me of times with my own dogs. This is a great book for someone who wants a scientifically-backed explanation of dog behaviour.
Some concepts you will find in this book:
- Differences and similarities between dogs and their closest living relatives, wolves
- Why a dog is able to jump and catch a ball mid-air
- Why they insist on chasing bicyclists, roller-bladers and skateboarders
- Explores experiments done with dogs versus chimps (all safe, educational experiments not animal-testing sorts of experiments) and amazingly enough dogs sometimes outperform the chimps in these experiments!
- She also answers all the why and how questions a dog owner might ask.
Check out her book Inside of a Dog as well as interviews with Alexandra Horowitz here.
Written by: Daniela Oliverio-Lauderdale
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