Customer Reviews

How Dogs Think: Understanding the Canine Mind

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In titling his book _How Dogs Think: Understanding the Canine Mind_ (The Free Press), Stanley Coren has already answered the big question. Dogs do think, or at least Coren thinks they think, and so do most of us who love and keep dogs. They don't think like humans all the time, but Coren, a professor of psychology, shows that they can often be tested like humans are tested (especially the young humans), and they are certainly doing some sort of thinking. They are not, any more than we are, automata made of biochemicals. In coming down on this point, Coren is entering a longstanding philosophical dispute, with the first shot fired by the seventeenth-century French philosopher René Descartes. While Plato had thought of the dog as a "lover of learning," Descartes refused to grant that dogs had any sort of intelligence. His refusal was an outgrowth of the strict religious doctrines of the time; anything that had consciousness had to have a soul, and those with souls could get to heaven, and Descartes and the Catholic Church found it unacceptable that dogs might get to heaven. (In the possibly unlikely event that I will wind up in that vicinity someday, and find no dogs, you can count on me to start an intense letter-writing campaign to have the management change its position on the issue.) To Descartes, dogs were no more thinkers than the clockwork dolls that were in fashion at the time; dogs were but clockwork, too, but their works were flesh and bone. And they could be taken apart like clocks; distressingly, Descartes and many others did experiments on helpless and unanaesthetized dogs, and didn't have to worry that the poor creatures actually felt anything more than a clock did.

That was the view for two centuries, and though it might be a minority view now, it is still held by some philosophers. Dog lovers will never accept such reasoning, of course, and Coren tells about experiments that help clear up the issue in a practical sphere. It has been shown that dogs who have to have surgery recover from the surgery better if they have pain management afterwards; they start eating and drinking sooner than those whose vets have skimped on the postoperative analgesics. Coren's book gives lots of experimental data, starting with the basics of senses, showing that dogs count less on vision and more on smell than we do, and exactly how well they can smell and see. It is no surprise that dogs can hear more frequencies than we can, but puppies have a sensory input unlike any of our own. Their noses have special infrared sensors, and they use them to find that reliable heat source, mother, during the time when they cannot see her. As they grow up, their noses lose this capacity.

There are many wonderful examples of testing being done on dogs that is similar to that being done on infants, tests that show comparable thinking to human two years olds. Coren considers the stories about how dogs are supposed to have some sort of ESP ability, and finds the stories just that, without scientific replicablility. In the final chapter, he gives the answer to the question of whether dogs really have conscious and rational minds, and though he has not in all the previous chapters answered it directly, his affirmation will come as no surprise. Dogs can remember objects, and do primitive counting, and remember sequences. They have an ability to empathize and to predict how other creatures will act. Despite previous studies that have shown the contrary, they can watch what another dog (or human) does and learn from it. They have a sense of fun. They can deliberately trick others. Coren obviously loves dogs, and loves his dogs, of whom he tells many anecdotes, but he has been careful to avoid "the scientific sin of anthropomorphism." When he tells you, say, that dogs have an ability to know what humans are thinking, it isn't just a besotted dog-lover talking, but one who can produce the research that demonstrates the truth of the proposition. He has performed a real service for the humans who will read his book and come away with new reasons to appreciate their dogs, and in clearly showing how dogs can think, he has paid a lasting compliment to our canine friends.

A friend gave us this book when we announced we were buying a new puppy.
It is the single best gift of it's sort I have ever recieved.

I admit to skimming over some of the info regarding studies, but the insights and tips on training your dog have been invaluable. It has helped particularly with calming Lily down when she goes into frenzy mode and with her unfortunate habit of taking books off the lower shelves to chew. Not to mention the insights into how she sees her world.

I cannot recommend this book strongly enough!
Within days of finishing it and seeing how well the advice here worked when I put it to use, I ordered The Intelligence of Dogs and How to Speak Dog and cannot wait to read them as well.

Many thanks to Stanley Coren for helping us to get off on the right foot with our new addition.

This book is amazing. Stanley Coren has deep love for dogs and thorough knowledge of them. While reading this book I was running from person to person calling out "Did you know that ...". I have read two other of his books and I love them all. I also love his TV show "Good Dog".
When talking about dogs I start all my sentences with "Stanley says ..." If you want to know more about your best friend, Stanley's books are where you will learn it.

It's been said dogs personify all virtues of humans without vices, and many a book has been written on the topic of canine attributes; but none come so close to analyzing the canine thought process as Stanley Coren's How Dogs Think: Understanding The Canine Mind, written by a dog psychologist who is one of the modern discoverers of dog psychology. Dr. Coren provides entertaining and observational works to back scholarly analysis of dog interpretations of their world: any pet owner will find his analysis astute and entertaining as well.

I have just heard an hour-long interview with the author by ethologist Scott Shalloway, Ph.D. Dr. Stanley Coren gave readily understood and illuminating answers to queries about canine pack and individual behavior. His discussions pertain to both canine-human interactions and canine-canine situations. I highly recommend that all who have an interest in dogs or share their lives with dogs purchase and peruse this informative and instructive volume. My canine companions concur.

as i read throught the book, i cannot help but feel like it might just be more apt for the title to be "do dogs think?"

first, let me say that this book is quite similar in many ways to bruce fogle's "the dog's mind". i have areview of that book as well! i shall talk about the difference at th end of the review.

this book is 320 pages long. the first half of the book is dedicated to the anatomy and functions of the 6 senses (yes, for those who vehemently believes that our best friends have a 6th sense or ESP, there is a whole chapter dedicated to it!). how we learn and think must invariably come through these 6 senses (sight, sound, touch, smell, taste and ESP), so it is appropriate to go through these to explain the difference between humans and dogs.

after these, the author goes on to talk about the learning abilities of canines. how they learn, and even digress a little to give us his views on which is the best way to teach our dogs.

this leaves us with the last part of the book, made up of 3 chapters. one is about whether our furry friends have a scientific or atistic mind. another discusses how age affects them, and the last chapter discusses if they have a "conscious mind".

this book is well written, funny at times (i laughed out loud a few times, to be honest), and witty occasionally. prof corenalso use a lot of research on various tests (some performed in the early 20th century) to tell us his stories and views.

i'll compare this book to "the dog's mind" now. dog's mind is more scientifically written, precise and succinct. whilst reading that book, you have a feeling that you are attending a lecture about the thoughts of dog's by a friendly and knowledgeable teacher.whilst in this book, you have a warmer feel, like prof coren has just invited you to his home (or comes over to yours) and tells you over coffee or tea about how the dog think. as such informal "lecture" goes, prof coren will undoubtedly stray to tell you fond stories of his own dogs (or stories he's heard or experienced with other dogs), related to the topic of discussion, just to give you examples.

it is quite a fun read, but sometimes coren gets too chatty and dwells just a tad too long with examples. nothing much to complain about unless you're in a hurry to complete the book, i suppose!

If you love dogs, have ever wondered why and how they do some of the things they do, and enjoy science to any degree, then you should find this book as interesting as did I.

It includes many fascinating discussions about how dogs perceive the world due to physiology differences, and does a good job quantifying those differences. (Their vastly superior sense of smell, in particular, is so amazing that I read a chapter twice to make sure I had it all correct.)

The way that both instincts and conditioning affect their behaviors and personalities was also of great interest to me. This book goes to great lengths to precisely define a dog's personality, and it delves deeply into the many genetic, breed-specific and environment-specific factors that are of influence.

As for whether I have realized any practical benefits of what I've learned, I must admit there are none yet, however, my dog and I already enjoy rich communication, and I can't imagine an aspect of his personality that I might ever want to change! But I'm sure when the time comes to find another dog, I will draw heavily on what this book has taught me -- and for even just that possibility, it was well worth the read.

I am only about half way through the book and already I can strongly recommend this book. The information and insight it provides regarding dog thinking in terms of sight and sound has allowed me to adjust my dog training. It provides fact based information and so rather than just skimming through it, I am taking my time reading it to ensure I absorb all of the information. Based on this I have bought another book by this author.

I don't generally write reviews, but felt a need to respond to Deanne's comments below. No, this is certainly not 'Dogs for Dummies'. This is a book that goes much deeper than 'how to' train your dog. It teaches us not only how dogs think but also helps *us* to think when dealing with the 4 footed that share our lives. Instead of an instant answer or step by step by step guide, this book is a thoroughly useful and fascinating discussion of how our dogs see and react to the world. And with that we are given the tools to further understand and work with our dogs... proving that we too can think :)

If you have read everything ethologist Patricia McConnell has ever written and want to go deeper into the nitty gritty, this book is for you. So many interesting facts, and the theories are thoroughly discussed and explained and examples given. A terrific read.

Fascinating info about the structure of a dog's brain and his sensory structures. Helps understand why dogs do what they do!