The Genius Of Dogs

The author, a dog researcher, evolutionary anthropologist, and founder of the Duke Canine Cognition Center, along with h... (more)

The author, a dog researcher, evolutionary anthropologist, and founder of the Duke Canine Cognition Center, along with his co-author offer revolutionary new insights into dog intelligence and 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 the author have proven dogs have a kind of genius for getting along with people that is unique in the animal kingdom. The essence of his discovery is that when dogs domesticated themselves around 40,000 years ago they became far more like human infants than their wolf ancestors. Domestication gave dogs a whole new kind of social intelligence. This finding changes the way we think about dogs and dog training. Does your dog feel guilt? Is she pretending she can't hear you? Does she want affection or your sandwich? The author's seminal research has led him to work with every kind of dog from the tiniest shelter puppy to the exotic New Guinea singing dog, from his own childhood dog, Oreo, who could read human gestures that monkeys were blind to, to the most fashionable schnoodle. This book is nothing less than the definitive dog book of our time by the researcher who started a revolution in human understanding of dog intelligence. (less)