Synopses & Reviews
andlt;Bandgt;"For Christmas the woman who would become my wife bought me a dogand#8212;a little terrier. The next year her Christmas gift to me was a shotgun. Most of the people in my family believe that those two gifts were not unrelated." andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;andlt;/Bandgt;So begins andlt;Iandgt;Born to Barkandlt;/Iandgt;, the charming new memoir by psychologist and beloved dog expert Stan Coren of his relationship with an irrepressible gray Cairn terrier named Flint. Stan immediately loved the pup for his friendly nature and indefatigable spirit, though his wife soon found the dogand#8217;s unpredictable exuberance difficult to deal with, to say the least. andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;Even though Flint drove Stanand#8217;s wife up the wall, he became the joy of Stanand#8217;s life. The key to unlocking this psychologist-authorand#8217;s way of looking at dog behavior, Flint also became the inspiration behind Corenand#8217;s classic, andlt;Iandgt;The Intelligence of Dogsandlt;/Iandgt;. Undeterred by Flintand#8217;s irrepressible behavior (and by the breederand#8217;s warning that he might be untrainable), Coren set out to prove that his furry companion could pass muster with the best of them. He persevered in training the unruly dog and even ventured into the competitive circles of obedience trials in dog shows, where Flint eventually made canine history as the highest-scoring Cairn terrier in obedience competition up to that time. (Stan chose not to tell his wife that the highest-ranking obedience dog of that year, a border collie, earned a total score that was fifty times higher.) andlt;BRandgt;andlt;BRandgt;The longest-running popular expert on human-dog bonding, Coren has enlivened his respected books and theories about dogs with accounts of his own experiences in training, living with, loving, and trying to understand them. A consummate storyteller, Coren now tells the wry, poignant, goofy, and good-hearted tale of his life with the dog who (in the words of his own book titles) taught him andlt;Iandgt;How to Speak Dog andlt;/Iandgt;and andlt;Iandgt;How Dogs Think andlt;/Iandgt;and whose antics made him ask andlt;Iandgt;Why Does My Dog Act That Way? andlt;/Iandgt;Illustrated with Corenand#8217;s own delightful line drawings and photos, and interwoven with his heartfelt anecdotes of other beloved dogs from his earlier life, andlt;Iandgt;Born to Bark andlt;/Iandgt;is an irresistible good dog/bad dog tale of this extraordinary, willful pooch and his profound impact on his masterand#8217;s insights into canine behavior as a research psychologist and on his outlook on life as a whole.
Review
"Enchanting" --Library Journal
Review
andlt;bandgt;"[A] quirky blend of history, science, and personal experienceandlt;/bandgt; by psychologist and trainer Stanley Coren...has a lot to teach us about dogs." --andlt;iandgt;O: The Oprah Magazineandlt;/iandgt;
Review
andlt;bandgt;"Enchanting"andlt;/bandgt; --andlt;iandgt;Library Journalandlt;/iandgt;
About the Author
Stanley Coren, PhD, a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, is a recognized expert on dog-human interaction who has appeared on Dateline; The Oprah Winfrey Show; Good Morning, America; 20/20; Larry King Live; and many other TV and radio programs. He lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, with a beagle, a Cavalier King Charles spaniel, and a Nova Scotia duck-tolling retriever, as well as his wife and her cat.