Synopses & Reviews
Every dog owner knows intuitively that there's something special about the high degree of mutual understanding and empathy that exists between humans and their proverbial best friends. Now, an internationally renowned Hungarian ethologist (a specialist in the scientific study of animal behavior) traces the roots of this unique relationship back to the unusual circumstances in which the two species co-evolved over many millennia.
Drawing in part on close observations of his own two pet dogs, Flip and Jerry, the author argues that the longstanding alliance of dogs and humans arose from behavioral traits present in the original wolves from which all modern dogs are descended. Wolves, like humans, are highly intelligent social predators, with well-developed cooperative problem-solving and communications skills, giving them distinct advantages in their developing relations with humans. These basic intellectual skills were refined and enhanced over tens of thousands of years, resulting in the enormously varied artificial animals we see today.
Although the book's specific focus is on dogs, it ranges far afield to discuss in an easy-going, accessible style recent experimental and theoretical work on the behavior of other animals, and especially on their interactions with humans. A highly personal work, If Dogs Could Talk makes the case that the social and emotional bonds between dogs and humans are indeed special, and that they ought to form the basis for our treatment of dogs. Moreover, the author concludes, by closely observing the cognitive behavior of dogs, we can also learn a good deal about how the human mind works.
Review
"To anyone who has lived with a dog . . . Vilmos Csányi's
If Dogs Could Talk: Exploring the Canine Mind will bring delight." --Paul Reidinger,
San Francisco Bay Guardian
Synopsis
"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.
About the Author
Vilmos Csányi is a professor and chair of the department of ethology at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. He has written extensively about his work for both professional and general audiences. If Dogs Could Talk is his twenty-third book.