How Smart Is Your Dog?: 30 Fun Science Activities with Your Pet [Hardcover]

D. Caroline Coile PhD (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 28, 2003

Your dog will act "smarter" if you know more about how he "thinks." Enter the world of canine senses--how your dog sees, hears, smells, tastes, and touches differently from you, and how a dog's life and aging process differ from yours. You even learn to read your dog's mind-brain function, intelligence, memory, and learning abilities--based on its biological origins. The most fun part is the experiments to test your dog's health, reflexes, vision, and scent; or even trace its behavior back to the wolves that are its ancestors.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-7-Dog lovers will find plenty of useful activities and helpful advice in this title. Children are invited to read the safety tips at the start, then skip around to their favorite activity. They can learn how to make a footprint and nose print of their pet, take Spot's pulse, test canine cranial nerves, find Fido's favorite food, give a massage, etc. Safety hints include how to avoid bites and what to do if a menacing dog approaches. Most activities require only a few readily available tools and supplies. The type is set amid plenty of white space. Colorful cartoon illustrations portray myriad hounds and their multiethnic human friends. Abundant anthropomorphism is used as a visual aid to the lively text. A "yawn with your dog" activity shows poodle and girl yawning at each other. A discussion of the heart depicts a bulldog clipping out valentines. And smiling pups are everywhere. Additional information is set apart in green-rimmed fact bubbles. Fun, enlightening fare for inquisitive dog owners, and good for reports.
Anne Chapman Callaghan, Racine Public Library, WI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 3-5. What is the nictitating membrane and why is muzzle length relevant? How can one interpret a dog's postures? Technical and medical terms are defined and applied as these and many other topics pertinent to canine physiology and psychology are comprehensibly covered. Abundant pen, ink, and watercolor art lucidly diagrams dogs' anatomy, while lighthearted cartoon illustrations humorously reinforce the many absorbing facts. The ideas for interactive learning, including tests of dogs' ESP, reasoning ability, and memory skills, are intriguing and achievable; activities for identifying a dog's skeletal bones by applying labeled stickers to pets or making canine nose prints will be more difficult to accomplish. Fortunately, from the beginning, the book encourages a healthy respect for dogs and offers safety tips and advice for avoiding canine confrontations. From its irresistible cover photograph to its concluding ideas for directing a love of dogs into a lifetime career, this is an appealing, user-friendly book, buttressed by plenty of scientific fact. Ellen Mandel
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Sterling (May 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806976772
• ISBN-13: 978-0806976778
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 8.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,313,330 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

D. Caroline Coile, Ph.D. has written 34 books and hundreds of magazine and scientific articles about dogs. She writes the monthly Breeder's Notebook column for Dog World magazine and the bi-monthly Nutrition column for the AKC Gazette. Her dog writing awards include the Dog Writer's Association of America Maxwell Award (eight times), the AKC Canine Health Foundation Award (twice), the Eukanuba Canine Health Award (twice), and the DWAA Denlinger Award. Her best-known book is Barron's Encyclopedia of Dog Breeds. She has also written two children's books about dogs.

Caroline holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from Florida State University, with research interests in canine behavior, senses, genetics and neuropsychology. She has taught college classes in psychology, behavioral genetics, animal senses, and animal learning, among others. She has served as a canine consultant to the FAA and has served on the AKC Canine Health Foundation President's Council. She has appeared on television and radio shows, including NPR's Talk of the Nation and Australia's Breakfast Radio. She has been quoted in Newsweek magazine and USA Today.

On a practical level, Caroline has lived with dogs all of her life, and has competed in dog events since 1975. She is the only person to have owned Best in Show, Best in Field, High in Trial (obedience), and High in Trial (agility) salukis, and they were all owner-handled. Her dogs have included nationally ranked #1 show and #1 obedience salukis, and top-10 lure-coursing, agility, rally and racing salukis.

www.carolinecoile.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fun with science and dogs!, July 4, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: How Smart Is Your Dog?: 30 Fun Science Activities with Your Pet (Hardcover)

This book is great! It has all sorts of facts about how the dog's body and mind works. It has experiments that could be used for science fair projects or just for fun at home. The dogs have fun too! It would be a great book for any young person who wanted to understand their pet more, and especially for any aspiring veterinarian! The information in it is very informative for both children and adults.