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Price: $17.99 - $11.99
(as of Feb 21, 2025 05:40:53 UTC – Details)
“This marvelous blend of good science and heartwarming dog story will inspire all of us to reexamine our canine friends.” —Booklist, starred review
The New York Times–bestselling story of a very smart Border collie who redefined animal intelligence. A joyous explanation of behavior, learning, and perception—any pet owner, parent, teacher, or psychologist will be enriched by this book.
When retired psychology professor John Pilley first got his new Border collie puppy, Chaser, he wanted to explore the boundaries of language learning and communication between humans and man’s best friend. Exhibiting intelligence previously thought impossible in dogs, Chaser soon learned the names of more than a thousand toys and sentences with multiple elements of grammar.
Chaser’s accomplishments are revolutionizing the way we think about the intelligence of animals. John and Chaser’s inspiring journey demonstrates the power of learning through play and opens our eyes to the boundless potential in the animals we love.
“The most scientifically important dog in over a century.” —Brian Hare, founder of the Duke Canine Cognition Center and coauthor of The Genius of Dogs
“After you read Chaser, you will realize that you may have underestimated the intelligence of your dog. Marvelous insights into a dog’s mind.” —Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation and Animals Make Us Human
“Dogs and those of us who love them owe to debt of gratitude to the brilliant, courageous author and his equally heroic subject.” —Jennifer Arnold, author of Through a Dog’s Eyes
“An engrossing and remarkable tale.” —The Bark
“A delightful memoir that offers a challenge to behavioral psychologists and inspiration for pet lovers.” —Kirkus Reviews
ASIN : B00E9FYT22
Publisher : Mariner Books; Reprint edition (October 29, 2013)
Publication date : October 29, 2013
Language : English
File size : 9.9 MB
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Print length : 282 pages
Page numbers source ISBN : 1780747020
Customers say
Customers find the book interesting and worth reading. They appreciate the good points on how dogs learn and the positive training guidance provided. Readers praise the intelligent dog and recommend it to dog lovers. They enjoy the detailed explanations and mention that the dog learned 1200 words.
AI-generated from the text of customer reviews
Spurs Household –
Very happy with this true story.
I bought this book because it was written by someone in my neighborhood. What a great read! It’s amazing what and how you can train animals. I regifted it to a person walking his three dogs. Hope he liked it as much as I did.
W.E.Momo –
Amazing
Fascinating book and amazing dog and her teacher! How easy it is for humans to overlook the potential in others, much less in our animal companions… After learning about Chaser I’m looking at my sweet Lab mix with a new perspective.
Terri Carlos –
Shares connections between dogs and humans through researching language learning with Chaser
There is a lot of details to show the scientific research and development of new thinking about dogs in the scientific community although necessary for science a bit to much for me. I already believe my dogs understand what I say to them. Very interesting and informative. I enjoyed this book.
Kathryn S –
5 star for information
Both animal and scientific interests required- this is a unique book and documentation of an extraordinary dog’s learning-made possible by the diligence of a retired scientist owner. No one else likely to repeat this but may use the principles well. Certainly a break through, beyond my imagination (as both a scientist, MD, and a hobby dog trainer.)
Terri Stewart –
Wonderful!
I’ve always been amazed by the special ani!also in my life, how they learn and communicate with me. Dr. Pulley and Chased have done a wonderful service to advance our understanding of how ,as well as how much animals learn.
Washu-chan –
Great story proving the intelligence of dogs
The author, a retired expert in animal behavior, bought a border collie puppy and spent hours per day training her to recognize verbal names for over a thousand items and fetch them on command, along the way demonstrating an understanding of abstract concepts. His description of testing methods is a nice painless introduction to scientific method as he devised ways of ruling out other possible explanations for her success. Of course, he still had trouble getting the work published. Those who like science but roll their eyes at scientism should be entertained by this story. There are a variety of cute dog anecdotes, and if you like smart, lovable dogs this will be a great book for you.
MikeAndAnnie –
This is a wonderful, heartwarming
This is a wonderful, heartwarming, and thoroughly enjoyable book. It nicely blends the life of Dr. Pilley withthe science behind Chaser’s amazing behavior and learning. Dog training is again at a crossroads, havingcrossed from outdated dominance theory to positive training via operant and classical conditioning over thepast 20 years. Now, new science about our closest friend in the animal world has shown that we can gobeyond simple click-treat to something much more complex, with Dr. Pilley’s work with Chaser providinga roadmap. But it’s also not just about the science – its about the personal journey of Dr. Pilley from hiscareer change at the age of 35 from a minister to an animal behavior psychologist, to hisbeloved dog Yasha, and how “Puppy” returned him from the depths of sadness to his love of people,science, and knowledge. If you want to know the science of Chaser, it’s there as well. I would urgeany dog ‘teacher’ (partner?) to read this book: We are at the tip of an exciting change in how werelate to, teach, and learn from what is increasingly becoming the most unique creature in the world, Canis lupus familiaris.
DLE –
Unlocking the Genius of the Dog Who Knows a Thousand Words
We too have a border collie who is extremely smart which is why I bought the book. It was a little too much on the mind of the dog which I guess I knew, but was a bit overwhelming with the details of psychology. Great story of the closeness of man and his dog for sure!
Marc-Antoine T-Hétu –
Went beyond my expectations. Great book. I feel dogs’ potential for learning is very underestimated. In the next few decades, dogs will get smarter and live way longer, I’m pretty confident.
Vanessa –
Itâs a good book if you wanna teach your dog to improve his communication with you. I am trying with cats as well but it looks more complicated!
StarbooksIH –
Tolles Buch. Gut geschrieben, voller interessanter Details. Nützlich für jeden Hundeinteressierten.
Gabriella Ribeiro –
Chegou no prazo e o livro é ótimo
Philomena the Wombat –
If you have any inkling that animals (dogs especially) are brighter than we give them credit for, then this book will open your eyes.Both Chaser and Prof PiIlley are dead now, his solid scientific methods of training and testing his “just a dog’ Chaser has changed science’s data forever.A simple and fascinating read. One that you will close the cover on and realise you will NEVER see dogs the same again.Life changing.