How Dogs Think: Understanding the Canine Mind
by Stanley Coren
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Book Summary Information
Author: Stanley CorenEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-08-03
ISBN: 0743222326
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Free Press
Book Reviews of How Dogs Think: Understanding the Canine Mind
Book Review: Thinking About Dogs Thinking Like Dogs Think
Summary: 5 Stars
In titling his book _How Dogs Think: Understanding the Canine Mind_ (The Free Press), Stanley Coren has already answered the big question. Dogs do think, or at least Coren thinks they think, and so do most of us who love and keep dogs. They don't think like humans all the time, but Coren, a professor of psychology, shows that they can often be tested like humans are tested (especially the young humans), and they are certainly doing some sort of thinking. They are not, any more than we are, automata made of biochemicals. In coming down on this point, Coren is entering a longstanding philosophical dispute, with the first shot fired by the seventeenth-century French philosopher René Descartes. While Plato had thought of the dog as a "lover of learning," Descartes refused to grant that dogs had any sort of intelligence. His refusal was an outgrowth of the strict religious doctrines of the time; anything that had consciousness had to have a soul, and those with souls could get to heaven, and Descartes and the Catholic Church found it unacceptable that dogs might get to heaven. (In the possibly unlikely event that I will wind up in that vicinity someday, and find no dogs, you can count on me to start an intense letter-writing campaign to have the management change its position on the issue.) To Descartes, dogs were no more thinkers than the clockwork dolls that were in fashion at the time; dogs were but clockwork, too, but their works were flesh and bone. And they could be taken apart like clocks; distressingly, Descartes and many others did experiments on helpless and unanaesthetized dogs, and didn't have to worry that the poor creatures actually felt anything more than a clock did.
That was the view for two centuries, and though it might be a minority view now, it is still held by some philosophers. Dog lovers will never accept such reasoning, of course, and Coren tells about experiments that help clear up the issue in a practical sphere. It has been shown that dogs who have to have surgery recover from the surgery better if they have pain management afterwards; they start eating and drinking sooner than those whose vets have skimped on the postoperative analgesics. Coren's book gives lots of experimental data, starting with the basics of senses, showing that dogs count less on vision and more on smell than we do, and exactly how well they can smell and see. It is no surprise that dogs can hear more frequencies than we can, but puppies have a sensory input unlike any of our own. Their noses have special infrared sensors, and they use them to find that reliable heat source, mother, during the time when they cannot see her. As they grow up, their noses lose this capacity.
There are many wonderful examples of testing being done on dogs that is similar to that being done on infants, tests that show comparable thinking to human two years olds. Coren considers the stories about how dogs are supposed to have some sort of ESP ability, and finds the stories just that, without scientific replicablility. In the final chapter, he gives the answer to the question of whether dogs really have conscious and rational minds, and though he has not in all the previous chapters answered it directly, his affirmation will come as no surprise. Dogs can remember objects, and do primitive counting, and remember sequences. They have an ability to empathize and to predict how other creatures will act. Despite previous studies that have shown the contrary, they can watch what another dog (or human) does and learn from it. They have a sense of fun. They can deliberately trick others. Coren obviously loves dogs, and loves his dogs, of whom he tells many anecdotes, but he has been careful to avoid "the scientific sin of anthropomorphism." When he tells you, say, that dogs have an ability to know what humans are thinking, it isn't just a besotted dog-lover talking, but one who can produce the research that demonstrates the truth of the proposition. He has performed a real service for the humans who will read his book and come away with new reasons to appreciate their dogs, and in clearly showing how dogs can think, he has paid a lasting compliment to our canine friends.
Summary of How Dogs Think: Understanding the Canine Mind
It's been said that dogs personify all the virtues of humans without the vices. Henry James wrote that his dog was "most reasonable and well-mannered" and Plato that "a dog has the soul of a philosopher." Over the years, dogs have taught us many things: loyalty, courage, and to turn around three times before lying down. Yet even in the face of millennia of evidence of thoughtful dogs, there has been little systematic scientific study until recently of what is actually going on in the dog's mind, and some people even question whether dogs have the capacity for that which we call mind. In this long-anticipated new book, written in the vein of his enormously popular "The Intelligence of Dogs" and "How to Speak Dog," Dr. Stanley Coren looks at both the heights of intellect and the depth of our misunderstanding of what goes on in a dog's mind.A bestselling author, psychologist, and world-renowned expert on dog behavior and training, Dr. Coren is always at the forefront of discoveries about dogs. With his ever-entertaining, erudite style, he provides a fascinating picture of the way dogs interpret their world and their owners, how they solve problems, learn, and take in new information. Dr. Coren lets you see through a dog's eyes, hear through his ears, and even sense the world through a dog's nose, giving you the insight that you need to understand the silly, quirky, and apparently irrational behaviors that dogs demonstrate, as well as those stunning flashes of brilliance and creativity that they occasionally display. Along the way, "How Dogs Think" will answer the questions about which you have always wondered, including: Can dogs count? Do they have an appreciation of art or music?Can a dog learn how to do something by just watching another dog or even a person do it? Do dogs dream? What is the nature of dog personality? Which behaviors are prewired into your dog and which can you actually change? And, can dogs sense future earthquakes or detect cancer?
With information not widely known to lay people, this lively guide also provides practical advice and wisdom that allows owners to discover the best ways to teach dogs new things, why punishment doesn't work, how a dog can actually learn to love or to fear, and how to turn that new puppy into a "perfect," emotionally sound, inquisitive, happy, and obedient dog.
Combining solid science with numerous funny, informative anecdotes and firsthand observations -- all characterized by Dr. Coren's own searching intelligence and his (and sometimes his dogs') irrepressible sense of humor -- "How Dogs Think" shatters many common myths and misconceptions about our four-legged friends and reveals a wealth of surprises about their mental abilities and intellectual potential.
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