Description
Price: $19.99 - $13.99
(as of Mar 02, 2025 23:09:15 UTC – Details)
How Smart Is Your Dog?
If you’ve ever wondered what is really going on inside your dog’s head, here is your chance to find out. In this revised and updated version of this perennially popular book, psychologist and prizewinning trainer Stanley Coren provides a startling view of the intelligence of our oldest and closest animal companions.
Do dogs really think? Are they conscious in the same way humans are? What is the nature of canine memory? Can dogs communicate with us — and, if so, how can we understand them? Do they have feelings such as guilt, loyalty, and jealousy? Do they experience joy and sorrow?
Drawing on scientific research that has stood the test of the past decade, interviews with top breeders and trainers, and his own personal observations as a lifelong dog lover, Stanley Coren speculates on these and many other fascinating questions about man’s best friend. He offers practical tips on how to evaluate your dog’s body language and understand the sophisticated “language” of a dog’s bark, and how to tailor a training program to suit your dog’s special needs. Here, too, are the famous, controversial lists and rankings of more than 100 breeds for obedience and working intelligence, as well as for specialized tasks such as hunting, home security, and companionship.
Rich in wit, wisdom, and anecdote, The Intelligence of Dogs is a book that will bring you a greater understanding and enjoyment of the habits, antics, and abilities of your dog.
Publisher : Atria; Reissue edition (January 5, 2006)
Language : English
Paperback : 320 pages
ISBN-10 : 0743280873
ISBN-13 : 978-0743280877
Item Weight : 12 ounces
Dimensions : 6 x 0.8 x 9 inches
Customers say
Customers find the book informative and comprehensive on dog intelligence. They say it provides a deeper understanding of dog behavior. Readers describe the book as well-written and easy to read. However, some feel the author takes the subject too seriously and the personality tests are ridiculous.
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Luv2Travel –
Everything you need to know….
about dogs is in this book. I’ve purchased several copies and given to dog lover friends (especially friends trying to decide what type of dog they would like to have). It’s a wonderful guide.
Abi RadKyle –
Dog Expert Here-Trust my opinion! 🙂
This is one of the classics when it comes to the workings of the canine mind. My mom had it when I was a child, and I was always performing intelligence tests on the many dogs that came through the house. The only issue for me is that it’s very dry. There are really no funny comments or cute stories. It is strictly the facts, but, like I said, it is one of the first books of it’s kind and is a must read for anyone interested in dogs.
Cookie, Olive, Sadie, Stella –
Best book on dog intelligence
Not only is this the best book on dog intelligence —— it is so comprehensive in the amount of material it covers —– easy to understand, and puts an entirely new perspective on how we may think about our fur kids. Also provides an IQ test you can give your fur kid, if you really want to test his/her intelligence level. I learned so much from this one book that I wouldn’t even know where to begin to explain how valuable this book has been to me. So much informaton and so much to absorb, that I plan to read it again!
Casey Herman –
Why all dog owners should read this BEFORE getting a dog!
This book will help you understand WHY a lot of scientists and so-called animal experts historically considered that dogs (and all other animals!) have no intelligence, feelings or emotions. You will come to understand that this is not so! If you’ve already owned or own a pet, you’ll already know this. The reasons given for such negative attitudes will astound you! I won’t spoilt the surprise.Coren then goes on to describe the history and lineage of dogs, types of dog intelligence, and the variations amongst the breeds. He goes into great depth about the different types of dogs and their purposes and abilities, and even provides you with ways to test your dog’s intelligence.More importantly, he guides you in ways to INCREASE the intelligence of your dog!While this book is still very helpful for people with older dogs, I’d consider this a MUST-READ before anyone considers even selecting a particular breed.
MagnoliaSouth –
Fascinating
This is not a review where I will tell you what the book is about. There are plenty of other reviews on that point. However, I will tell you that I found this book so absorbing that I could hardly put it down. This says a lot when I tell you that non-fiction doesn’t have that effect on me. His book is informative, without being difficult to read. Simply put, if you have a dog, are considering getting a dog, or you’re just interested in dogs, then this book is for you. Every dog lover should own a copy. End of story.
Harry Homebody –
Stinkbug!
My delivery was fine but there was a living stinkbug in the box. I never want to see this again!
Pete S. –
Excellent read
The book is well written and provides a good number of chuckles too.
Twinkly1216 –
A Disappointment
I had high hopes for this book as it seemed to take a rather unique look at dogs apart from the various breed books and training books out there. What sold me on this book was the first line in the description for this book: ‘If you’ve ever wondered what is really going on inside your dog’s head, here is your chance to find out.’ It also raised questions for the reader such as ‘do they [dogs] have feelings such as guilt, loyalty, and jealousy? Do they experience joy and sorrow”?’. This book sounded fascinating!Unfortunately I really don’t think this book answered any of that for me and I’m really as clueless as to what’s going inside my dog’s head as I was when I started. In the middle of reading this book I explained my frustrations with it to my fiance and he likened it to a history paper he had written in school that had to fulfill a certain number of pages but he just didn’t have that much to say about it. So what did he do? He filled it full of information that was just barely relevant to the topic at hand simply to fulfill the quota on page requirements. That is exactly how I see this book. There are 13 chapters in this book and I feel like only about 5 of them are really, truly relevant to what this book promises to address.Now don’t be fooled, the chapter titles all sound very promising but the material inside them really just seems like fluff. The reason I’m giving this review 3 stars is because it does seem like the author did quite a bit of research and I did learn some pretty interesting trivia regarding dogs and certain breeds of dogs that I wouldn’t have known otherwise. But that can’t make up for the fact that this book doesn’t fully address the topic it’s supposed to be discussing. Here are examples of what I mean:He spends a good part of one chapter (if not the whole chapter) addressing Descarte’s views on dogs as nothing more than machines capable of no conscious thought and unable to feel pain or sorrow. Part of the chapter explains Descarte’s point of view and the other part counters it as if trying to convince the reader that dogs are more than mere machines. The following chapter is spent explaining that some behaviorists think that dogs are incapable of conscious thought and simply respond to stimuli. He also spends part of this chapter trying to convince the reader that those behaviorists are wrong and that dogs do have conscious thought. While this is all interesting information I feel that it could have been significantly condensed and all fit into one chapter regarding the history of dogs. He simply explained each point to death and quite honestly, any person who is going to pick up this book based on the title probably already accepts that these prior notions are false. He doesn’t need to convince us.Another chapter is spent on the origins of the dog…once again interesting…once again could be significantly condensed and also grouped into one chapter titled history of dogs.And yet another chapter discusses the role of dogs in movies, dogs in books…interesting information but to warrant a chapter?So there’s 4 chapters out of 13 that really barely skirt around the topic of dog intelligence and could have been condensed all into one chapter that the reader would have found informative and interesting without a lot of of wasted words and time.If we’re going to be honest, the rest of the chapters while more relevant, could also probably have been condensed into about 6 chapters, maybe even less. He includes a dog IQ test and a dog personality test you can do with your dog which is great ADDITIONAL information and shouldn’t be used to bulk up a chapter. The personality test takes up 7 pages (front and back) and I really feel like should have just been included at the end of the book as a fun bonus. For his chapter on linguistic intelligence, he spends 2 pages (front and back) simply listing the different commands his dogs know and what their response to them is. That should give you an idea of the kind of detail this author felt was necessary to this book.In summary, it’s a disappointing book that leaves the reader still wondering about what really goes inside their dog’s head.
FATIMA CAVALCANTI –
Além do livro ser para aqueles que gostam de uma pesquisa cientÃfica, o que muito me interessa, o vendedor é show de bola.E entregou bem antes da data combinada.
Jesus Morales Nava –
Me gustó su estilo informativo y divertido con bastantes citas.
VWC –
I loved this book. Stanley Coren is one trainer whom I have followed for years. I have read all his books. He is one of the best in the field.
sanjib kumar padhi –
Very good book
LAURA –
I highly recommend this book , every dog owner could learn a lot from this very well written book .My purchase arrived very quickly and in woofingly good condition !