Customer Reviews

RC Series Bundle: Man Meets Dog (Routledge Classics)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As usual with Konrad Lorenz the book deserves 5 stars. He has the most charming writing style and writes of his many dogs, and cats, in tones of wonder, friendship, joy, surprise and love. Here is a man who found his life task, he simply couldn't do anything else, it is his love, his joy his purpose in life. Its rare that this happens so easily in someone's life and in that sense he is a most fortunate man as well as the fact that he recognised this path early on in his life, even as a young boy.

Lorenz not only enjoys writing but does so from both a practical and deeply knowledgeable orientation. In this book he describes the many remarkable experiences he had with his dogs and also gives plenty of practical adice: such as when to buy a dog, what sort of dog to buy, dogs and children, canine personalities etc etc. As with his other book "King Solomons Ring" the book is full of his wonderful little drawings which are most expressive of each character trait of his dogs and cats.

The book is simply invaluable as a guide to sharing your life with your very own devoted friend, whether it be a jackal or lupus dog. there is much that was unknown to me such as the previous distinction between dog types or the fact that a dog's eyesight is poor and that dogs are capable of lying, astonishing.

The book is worth every penny and then some.

Lorenz is a keen observer of dog behavior and a wonderful teller of tales. On that level, the book is very enjoyable and highly recommended. Where is comes up short, though, is in the science.

While his many tales are very insightful, they are not necessarily indications of general behavior. And though the book is a wealth of information, some information is clarified or discredited by more recent research (see Desmond Morris' DOGWATCHING and Stephen Budiansky's THE TRUTH ABOUT DOGS). His jackal/wolf theory about dog evolution, in particular, is invalid. He gives some valuable information about dog ownership, though this book is not a complete guide to owning a dog.

A slim and witty volume with many anecdotes from Lorenz's work as an animal behaviorist. But the jewel in the book is a single chapter where he lays out how to train a dog so that the dog understands what you want of him. Train your dog in two weeks, 30 minutes a day.

Beware of all people who borrow books. Their bark is promising and their bite is amnesiac. That is how I lost one of my pets (book).
Imagine my astonishment when I dug up a favourite old bone in a listless search on Amazon, Konrad Lorenz's `Man Meets Dog'. When I was twelve, this was already a buried relic from the 50s, which survived in my father's eclectic library. It articulated all my instincts about dogs and made a whole lot of new ideas sit up.
The impact of this warm, academic piece, read four decades ago, was such that I could, on reading it again, remember every detail.
Konrad Lorenz imagines, very creatively, how the dog was first domesticated and how ancient instincts form its (and the cat's) psychic, how this establishes their relationship with man and tells us a thing or two about what man's relationship should be with his dog and cat. Using personal anecdotes to denote scientific research, he leaves one unaware that you are accumulating knowledge, and the humanized and humorous drawings help along this illusion.
There are lots of modern animal behaviourists whispering about this very subject, but I have never noticed any acknowledgement for this charming pioneer who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine and Psychology in 1973 and who achieves `that miraculous state which is the highest goal of oriental sages' by venturing into nature with his dog and turning the expression `going to the dogs' into a spiritual experience.
This is one bone I'm never sharing again, so find your own.

Mr. "Kelley" hasn't read or understood the book and certainly doesn't know much about dogs or training. If he'd checked he might have noticed the first edition was in 1953 and based on research/observations going back to the 1920's. Dogs as 'pets' are a new concept. Until fairly recently dogs were strong, aggressive working animals used for herding, hunting, police, military use. I suggest Mr. "Kelley" look at training manuals from those days. He will see that trainers used a lead with a three foot length of dowling rod attached to hold the dog off of them during training. Not because the dog was vicious, simply because it was known and accepted that they were attempting to train a big tough carnivore (not a lap dog) and it only made sense to take reasonable precautions. I've talked to breeders and trainers who've had to separate some big (150+) pound males by beating them apart with shovels. Extreme? Well, the fire hose didn't work and that was a last resort. It managed to distract the dogs long enough to separate them. It turned out someone had brought a female in season into an area that was clearly marked as off limits to intact females. A cursory look at my copy (Penguin Books reprint 1988) shows two "beatings": p22:". . .a dingo . . .his manner changed entirely when he was about one and a half years olf: he still accepted every form of punishment, even a beating, without resistance, but, as soon as the business was over, he shook himself, gave a friendly wag of his tail and ran off, inviting me to chase him." p. 100: ". . . activities were thus to be interpreted: 'Dear Master, Please do not be cross, but, for the moment I much regret to say, I am quite unable to let go of this dirty dog, even if you should think fit to punish me later with a wacking or---as God forbid---at this instant with a bucket of cold water'" In the first instance it doesn't appear the Dingo was terribly impressed with the 'beating' and in the second, it was entirely hypothetical, used to described the meaning behind a dogs body language. However on page 70 he describes his disgust with a person carrying a whip to use on his dog and on page 77 when his 6 year old daughter is caught between two dogs fighting he merely separated the dogs to rescue his daughter. No 'beatings' and the dogs weren't killed as they probably would be in these more "enlightened" times. IF Mr. Kelley had read this book he would have seen that Konrad Lorenz had a tremendous amount of sympathy and love for all animals. True, many of his ideas, especially about evolution, are dated. But all science is provisional and old ideas are 'superceded with new information. Lorenz's observations, compassion and love for all animals and especially dogs has not been superceded. Suggested reading: Adam's Task by Vicki Hearne Bandit: Dossier of a Dangerous Dog by Vicki Hearne King Solomon's Ring by Konrad Lorenz The Canine Good Citizen: Every Dog Can Be One, Second Edition by Jack Volhard and Wendy Volhard Kinship with all life by J. Allen Boone The Body language and emotion of dogs by Myrna M. Milani DVM The Domestic Dog: it's evolution, behavior and interactions with people edited by James Serpell Behavior Problems in Dogs by William E. Campbell

K.Lorenz starts his book with speculative thoughts about the beginnings of the domestication (= symbiosis) of dogs (most species descend from jackals, not wolves), but then continues with personal reflections on animal behavior and the animal mind (not only of dogs, but also of cats, bears, monkeys, wolves and ... men).
He paints brilliantly innate animal behavior (removal of the umbilical cord, fight and flight distances, expressions, the importance of the gaze or the hunting and fighting lust) and shows the basis and norms of the animal mind and animal intelligence (like their understanding of spoken words).
Animal fidelity is an expression of the tie between mother and young and the tie with the pack-leader (pack loyalty). Some species however have more pack leaders than followers and show a more independent behavior.
The meaning of particular signals is determined by innate instinctive norms of action and reaction. Other important factors are ranking order and chivalrous treatment of females and puppies.
The act of killing in a beast of prey is entirely free from hatred.

K. Lorenz complains rightly that animals are deprived of rights, not only by the letter of the law, but also by people's insensitivity. For him, F. Nietzsche's word - `Let it be your aim always to love more than the other, never to be second' - should be the golden rule.

A very worthwhile read.

Sometimes people think they know everything about animal behavior just because they are behaviorist. I am an animal behaviorist and worked for 5 years. Trust me you will learn so many things about dogs in this book. Konrad Lorenz is the dad of the ethology, he learned so much just by observing his own dogs all his life. In this book, he is telling you stories, you will meet Stacy the most intelligent dog in his life, Wolf the most feared in the dogs' world, you will learn what happens when too dogs meet each other, the difference between wolf and jackal, how men meet dog at the very beginning....
In every case, you will never be disappointed by Konrad Lorenz.

I first read "Man Meets Dog" over thrity years ago and I've nerver forgotten some of his insights and the love he had for Chows. I recenlty purchased the book for my mother-in=law and decided to reread it myself.

Other fine books giving us insights and jokes about animals and our love of them have been written since. But his is still the best for combining scientific insight and humanity into one small package.

If you are not hooked on the book after the first two pages, then give your dog away. You don't deserve him.

Konrad Lorenz was one of the first scientists to give credability to those dog lovers who said "my dog understands every word I say" and to acknowledge that dogs have a fine tuned intelligence as well as emotions very like our own. He used his own family of dogs and lived with many animals in his own home during his years as an ethologist studying animal behavior and wrote about his findings in an entertaining and lively way. It is a fast and delightful read.

As a huge doglover I read this book when I was 14 year old, and I loved it. Its an easy read, entertaining, educational, and encouraging to read more about animal behaviour. I recommend it for anybody who would love to learn basics in dog behaviour.