The Truth about Dogs: An Inquiry into Ancestry, Social Conventions, Mental Habits, and Moral Fiber of Canis familiaris [Mass Market Paperback]

Stephen Budiansky (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2001

Dogs: Man's best friends-or canine con artists? For centuries dogs have stolen our hearts, our homes, and our wallets. Just how do dogs get otherwise reasonable adults to feed them sirloin, let them occupy easy chairs, and generally allow them to regulate our every waking hour? In this provocative, entertaining, and wholly admiring reappraisal of our canine companions, Stephen Budiansky calls upon the latest research on dog behavior, genes, and evolution to explain why dogs do what they do, think what they think, and feel what they feel-and how they have come to occupy such a remarkable place in our lives and affections. Challenging many of our accepted ideas about canine intelligence and emotions, Budiansky shows how the very strange things that dogs so often do-fiercely guarding pairs of shoes, barking incessantly at the UPS man, rolling in really foul-smelling things-are the product of a rich blending of their ancient wolf ancestry, their subsequent dramatic evolutionary changes in the company of man, and their ever-so-peculiar modern social environment, neither wolf nor human. This original and insightful reexamination of an animal at once so familiar and so mysterious tells us, for the first time ever, what it truly is to be a dog.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Prepare to have any illusions about your canine companion totally shattered. In writing The Truth About Dogs, author Stephen Budiansky (The Nature of Horses) is determined to uncover the true nature of our beloved beasts, and it's not always a pretty picture. The introduction presents a basic question: why on earth have we allowed these disease-carrying, biting, destructive, and expensive animals into our lives? We know why--it's because we love them, warts and all. So does Budiansky, and once you read past his inflammatory introduction, you'll find a book that presents a new way of looking at old behaviors.

His insistence on the recent evolution of separate breeds, even those generally considered to have originated centuries ago like the Mexican hairless, is sure to be controversial. His interpretation of recent behavioral research may raise some hackles as well, and begins with an examination of pack behavior in wolves. While wild packs have only one dominant male and female, we often expect our dogs to behave submissively to an extended family of dominants--not only can that be difficult, but some of their natural "submissive" behavior can be extremely frustrating. Face-licking is an easy example of this poor conduct; Rover thinks he's showing submission, but Grandma's not thrilled with having an 80-pound shepherd jumping on her. In discussions of more general behaviors, Budiansky's examinations of the motivation levels present in different breeds seems to explain much about the success or failure of obedience training. While you may raise your eyebrows and frown through a few of his assertions, this fresh look at old assumptions makes a fascinating read for anyone who's ever loved a dog. --Jill Lightner --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Budiansky, a scientist, former editor of Nature, correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly, and author of six books on animal behavior, including If a Lion Could Talk, debunks many commonly held beliefs about the dog: "most if not all of the conventional explanations of where dogs come from, how they ended up in our homes, and why they do what they do just have to be wrong." No B.F. Skinner behaviorist, he is a firm believer in the influence of genes. Citing scholarly sources and using a sense of humor that allows him to transform some difficult concepts into lay reader's language, Budiansky explains natural selection and the genetic basis of appearance, behavior, social interactions, sensory abilities (i.e., sight, smell, and hearing), aggression, and communication. He questions whether dogs are capable of love and loyalty or whether their behavior is strictly expedient. His answers will satisfy passionate dog lovers and serious scientists alike. Recommended for undergraduate collections serving students of animal behavior and public libraries with intellectually sophisticated patrons. [Budiansky is also the author of The Battle of Wits: The Complete Story of Codebreaking in World War II, reviewed on p. 92.DEd.]DFlorence Scarinci, formerly with Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, N.
-DFlorence Scarinci, formerly with Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Penguin (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 014100228X
• ISBN-13: 978-0141002286
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #808,666 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephen Budiansky is a writer, historian, and journalist, the author of 14 books about military and intelligence history, science, and the natural world. He is a former editor and writer at U.S. News & World Report and The Atlantic and the former Washington Editor of the scientific journal Nature. He lives on a small farm in northern Virginia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 96 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating mix of science and insight, October 8, 2000

By 

Jussi Bjorling - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Truth About Dogs (Hardcover)

Stephen Budiansky has written the smartest book about dogs to come out in years. Rather than simply make observations about the relationships he has witnessed between people and their pets, he assembles decades of scientific research and archaeological evidence to explain how the deep bond between people and animals came about, how dogs and their owners have helped each other for tens of thousands of years. Although the story is not always warm and fuzzy (people have put dogs to many unsavory uses over the millennia), Budiansky still makes the strongest case I've seen for the unique nature of the human-dog bond. A terrific read, and incredibly informative.

37 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Man's Best Parasite, January 17, 2001

By 

R. Hardy "Rob Hardy" (Columbus, Mississippi USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Truth About Dogs (Hardcover)

Stephen Budiansky has written good books on various aspects of nature before, and he brings nature into the home in his most recent one, _The Truth About Dogs: An Inquiry into the Ancestry, Social Conventions, Mental Habits, and Moral Fiber of Canis Familiaris_ (Viking Press). This is a fine book about viewing dogs in a scientific light, but as such, it will offend those who love dogs because they think that dogs provide unconditional love or because they view dogs as people or because they are convinced that dogs understand the thoughts of humans and can equally with humans experience such things as guilt and affection. Dogs, Budiansky says, do what dogs do because they are their own species, not because they are "almost human." Dogs get along with us because dogs are parasites.

Now, Budiansky says he keeps dogs, and it is obvious he loves and appreciates them and that his dogs have a perceptive and caring owner. But he points out that as dogs, dogs are wonderful, but if they were humans, they would be jerks: they compete for our food and other resources, they spread disease, they bite and cause injuries, they relieve themselves where we do not want them to, they chew up valuable items, and they behave in countless other ways that would turn humans who so behaved into enemies very quickly. Dogs exploit the "Awww Effect" and we can't help but look at them as something like human. Dogs have our number. Dogs are on our side just as tapeworms are.

That's a bit too strong, of course, since we do get something back from dogs. I think we get more than the cool scientific appreciation of a living, breathing bundle of conditioned reflexes which Budiansky encourages, but even if it is only that, dogs and we have more of a symbiotic rather than parasitical relationship. Seen this way, his book cannot make us appreciate them any less. He describes very well their evolutionary history, their peculiar ways of looking at the world and how they got them, their uncanny ability to respond to stimuli that will please us, the peculiar deviancies of aggressive or hypochondriacal dogs (and how we encourage such behaviors), and the dangers and cures of inbreeding. There is much to learn in this amusing and well informed book, and this is a scientific view that admirably encourages delight: "[Dogs'] enrichment to us is visceral and cerebral - the joy of touching and feeling the mind of another so different, the awe, even, of contemplating the sublime forces of evolution that have fashioned such a wondrous array of life on Earth. Dogs are a constant reminder that we are just one species among many, and that our automatic and daily assumptions about the set nature of society and the rules of the world are the height of parochialism for all that evolution cares about it."

19 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining and insightful, December 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Truth About Dogs (Hardcover)

Both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal gave this book rave reviews and I couldn't agree more. Calling on the latest scientific studies on dog genetics, evolution, and psychology, The Truth About Dogs is both fascinating for its insights into what makes your dog tick as well as (VERY unusually for dog books) extremely humorous and well written. Though Budiansky does not set out to write a training manual, and tries to stick to what we really know from science, no dog owner can read this book without coming away with many practical insights into how to better handle--and better understand and enjoy--his or her dog. I especially liked the sections dealing with why dogs bark, whether some breeds are really smarter than others, and why dogs invent the incredible variety of attention getting devices that they do. Reviewers often say that this or that book is a "must" but this one REALLY is a must for all dog owners and dog lovers.