Books

  1. If Dogs Could Talk: Exploring the Canine Mind
    If Dogs Could Talk: Exploring the Canine Mind

  2. Hands-On Horse Care: The Complete Book of Equine First-Aid
    Hands-On Horse Care: The Complete Book of Equine First-Aid

  3. Your First Aquarium
    Your First Aquarium

  4. Your First Cockatiel
    Your First Cockatiel

  5. Your First Finch
    Your First Finch

  6. Pot-bellied Pigs as Your New Family Pet
    Pot-bellied Pigs as Your New Family Pet

  7. Your First Tropical Fish
    Your First Tropical Fish

  8. The Dalmatian
    The Dalmatian

  9. Tropical Fish: A Complete Introduction
    Tropical Fish: A Complete Introduction

  10. Complete Guide to Koi and Garden Pools
    Complete Guide to Koi and Garden Pools

  11. The World of Catfishes
    The World of Catfishes

  12. Hamsters as a Hobby (Save Our Planet S.)
    Hamsters as a Hobby (Save Our Planet S.)

  13. Guinea Pigs as a Hobby (Save Our Planet S.)
    Guinea Pigs as a Hobby (Save Our Planet S.)

  14. The Professional's Book of Conures
    The Professional's Book of Conures

  15. Step-by-step Book About Guinea Pigs
    Step-by-step Book About Guinea Pigs

  16. Your New Garden Ponds
    Your New Garden Ponds

  17. Dwarf Rabbits as a New Pet
    Dwarf Rabbits as a New Pet

  18. Aquariums for Your New Pet
    Aquariums for Your New Pet

  19. Discus: How to Breed Them
    Discus: How to Breed Them

  20. Fish Diseases Handbook
    Fish Diseases Handbook

  21. Book of the American Pit Bull Terrier
    Book of the American Pit Bull Terrier

  22. Conures
    Conures

  23. Persian Cats
    Persian Cats

  24. All About Breeding Cockatiels
    All About Breeding Cockatiels

  25. All About Iguanas
    All About Iguanas

If Dogs Could Talk: Exploring the Canine Mind
Average customer rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • Not a bedtime book!
  • Interesting, but flaky
  • Excellent Book
If Dogs Could Talk: Exploring the Canine Mind
Vilmos Csanyi
Manufacturer: North Point Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Care & HealthCare & Health | Dogs | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Dogs | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
GeneralGeneral | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Home & Garden BooksLook Inside Home & Garden Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:
  1. How To Speak Dog: Mastering the Art of Dog-Human Communication
  2. The Truth about Dogs: An Inquiry into Ancestry Social Conventions Mental Habits Moral Fiber Canis fami
  3. How Dogs Think: Understanding the Canine Mind
  4. How Dogs Think: What the World Looks Like to Them and Why They Act the Way They Do
  5. The Intelligence of Dogs: A Guide To The Thoughts, Emotions, And Inner Lives Of Our Canine Companions

ASIN: 0865477299
Release Date: 2005-12-27

Book Description

“This book is endlessly enlightening and entertaining . . . will appeal to all dog owners.” —Ann LaFarge, Taconic News

How do dogs think? Short of breeding a talking dog (not as impossible as it sounds), the best we can do is to carefully observe and record their behavior. And after a decade of research, the internationally renowned ethologist Vilmos Csányi has brilliantly captured the high degree of mutual understanding and empathy that exists between humans and their proverbial best friends.

Drawing in part on close observations of his own dogs, Flip and Jerry, Csányi argues that the long-standing alliance of dogs and humans arose from the problem-solving and communications skills evident in wolves, from which all modern dogs are descended. These basic intellectual skills were refined and enhanced as dogs and humans evolved together over tens of thousands of years. And because dogs were bred to be mankind’s helpmates, the dog owner who knows what to look for can interpret their thoughts, desires, and motivations.

Customer Reviews:

3 out of 5 stars Not a bedtime book!.......2007-04-04

I have to say that I enjoyed this book even though it was not an "easy read". The stories of Csanyi's own dogs were amusing - and he pointed out reasonable explanations for their behavior. I agree with some of his theories such as: Dogs were domestically bred to understand and communicate with humans. Makes sense although he does go a bit too far. The experiments were interesting, the study of ethology being what it is. Interesting book but not for the novice.

3 out of 5 stars Interesting, but flaky.......2005-08-04

This book is by a top ethologist (one who studies behavior and thought processes, as far as I can gather) and gives insight into the minds of dogs. The author is careful to tell us that the many anecdotes he tells about his own dogs should be interpreted with caution, but that anecdotes can lead to careful scientific experimentation, which can give more substantial information.

The work is largely pretty scholarly and goes into the way other animals, including humans, Alex the parrot and the clever Hans (a counting horse), think and reason. The author makes compelling arguments, using both anecdotes and experiments, for dogs' being able to show empathy, ask questions, respond, and perform several other high-order cognitive functions normally associated with only humans. This makes sense when you realize that among all animals, dogs are the species that has been most influenced by human tinkering. Dogs truly are adapted to living with us and being true companions.

And that was all well and good and very interesting. But sometimes, the author makes some pretty wild stretches in interpreting his dogs' actions, for example, and states his interpretations as unambiguous, when they really didn't seem that way to me. For a scientist, he doesn't always seem all that rigorous when it comes to his own dogs (who, by the way, as he himself admits, are ill-mannered).

Then right at the end he goes off on a wild tangent of how breeders should intentionally breed hybrid dogs from purebred stock (I'm a fan of the mixed breeds, but I've never heard anyone propose such a deliberate program to breed them) and even proposes developing talking dogs. He didn't seem to be kidding!

At the very end, he goes on a rant about using dogs in laboratory experiments. I don't like it much myself, but he makes several misstatements about the practice. Maybe in Hungary laboratories use dogs from shelters or stolen from loving families, but in the developed world, dogs for experimentation are bred for that purpose.

Finally, the translation from the Hungarian was often a bit stilted and odd. Still, there was a lot of interesting information among the flakiness.

5 out of 5 stars Excellent Book.......2005-03-28

Learned a great deal about the mental abilities of dogs. The book gets into great detail with experiments that are not easy to follow for the non-science reader. I gave it 5 stars because I learned so much more from this book than anywhere else.
If Dogs Could Talk: Exploring the Canine Mind
Average customer rating: Not rated
    If Dogs Could Talk: Exploring the Canine Mind
    Vilmos Csanyi
    Manufacturer: North Point Pr
    ProductGroup: Book
    Binding: Hardcover
    ASIN: B000N2ZVSQ

    Books:

    1. If Dogs Could Talk: Exploring the Canine Mind
    2. Snakes of the World: Atlas
    3. Newfoundlands Today
    4. Dreidelcat (Petites S.)
    5. Pacific Coast Mammals: A Guide to Mammals of the Pacific Coast States, Their Tracks, Skulls, and Other Signs. (Nature Study Guides)
    6. Pet Story: Publish Your Own Keepsake Pet Book!
    7. Whales With Fur: How to train any animal using dolphin training techniques
    8. Airedales: The Oorang Story
    9. Call of the Loon
    10. The Amazing Book of Fish Records (Amazing Animal Records S.)

    Books