Behaviour of Wolves, Dogs and Related Canids [Hardcover]

Michael W. Fox (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 220 pages
• Publisher: Krieger Pub Co; New edition edition (June 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0898746868
• ISBN-13: 978-0898746860
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,069,263 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Scientific (but very readable!) overview of canid behaviour., October 17, 1997

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[e-mail] (UK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Behaviour of Wolves, Dogs and Related Canids (Hardcover)

This isn't a primer. It's a proper scientific text on canid behaviour. If you're at all serious about the subject, I recommend it: it's lucid, detailed and rather fun. I give details of its contents below.

If your interest is less formal, don't be put off by the term 'scientific'. Michael Fox writes well and sometimes rather beautifully. He leavens the solid facts with anecdotes of his experiences with canids - the story of a captive's wolf attack on him is particularly gripping. (He doesn't blame the wolf.) Yes, there is a certain amount of highly technical information, but the author has put most of it into one chapter. In the rest of the book, he manages the difficult trick of making it accessible and useful to both experts and laymen.

My copy is the 1984 edition. It's got a nice feel to it and I like the typeface. The photograph reproduction leaves something to be desired: a few of the pictures are too dark to serve their purpose.

Table of contents:
1. Evolution and classification of Canids
2. Comparative aspects of behaviour in Canids
3. The behaviour and functions of submission
4. A pack of wolves
5. Social organisation, sexual and filial bonds
6. Ecology: social economics and predation
7. Development of social relationships: wolf socialization
8. Wolves as parents
9. Interspecies relationships in Canids
10. The comparative ethology of the domesticated dog

References, a supplementary bibliography and a comprehensive index are supplied.