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Wonderdog: The Science of Dogs and Their Unique Friendship with Humans - Paperback | Diverse Reads

Wonderdog: The Science of Dogs and Their Unique Friendship with Humans

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A celebration of dogs, the scientists who've lived alongside them, and how canines have been key to advancements in science for the betterment of all species.

Almost everywhere there are humans on planet Earth, there are dogs. But what do dogs know and understand of the world? Do their emotions feel like our own? Do they love like we do? What do they think of us?

Since our alliance first began on the hunt and on the farm, our relationship with dogs has evolved considerably. And with domestic dog population rising twenty per cent in the last decade alone, it is a bond that will continue to evolve. In order to gauge where our relationship with dogs goes from here, author and zoologist Jules Howard takes a look at the historical paths we have trod together, and at the many scientists before him who turned their analytic eye on their own four-legged companions.

Charles Darwin and his contemporaries toyed with dog sign language and made special puzzle boxes and elaborate sniff tests using old socks. Later, the same questions drove Pavlov and Pasteur to unspeakable cruelty in their search for knowledge. Since then, leagues of psychologists and animal behaviourists have built upon the study of dogs and their much-improved methods have fetched increasingly important results: dogs have episodic memory similar to ours; they recognise themselves as individuals; and, in addition to their expert sense of smell, dogs’ noses can even detect thermal radiation.

With the help of vets, ethologists, neurologists, historians and, naturally, his own dogs, Wonderdog reveals the study of dogs to be key in the advancement of compassion in scientific research, and crucial to making life on Earth better for all species.

ISBN-13: 9781639366095

Media Type: Paperback

Publisher: Pegasus Books

Publication Date: 02-13-2024

Pages: 288

Product Dimensions: 8.25h x 5.50w x 0.72d

Jules Howard is a wildlife expert, zoology correspondent, science-writer and broadcaster. He writes regularly for many publications, including the Guardian, and appears regularly on television in the United Kingdom. He is the author of several nonfiction books for both adults and children and lives in London.

Table of Contents

Prologue 9

Introduction 13

Section I Sit, Stay 23

Chapter 1 From streets they came 25

Chapter 2 Emancipation Day 45

Chapter 3 Sacrificed for science 59

Chapter 4 The Brown Dog Affair 73

Section II Fetch, Retrieve 91

Chapter 5 Alpha, beta, doubter 93

Chapter 6 Skinner, unboxed 113

Chapter 7 The cognition ignition 123

Chapter 8 How nature met nurture 137

Section III Meet, Play, Love 155

Chapter 9 What is it like to be a dog? 157

Chapter 10 Flip, the switch 175

Chapter 11 The power of play 193

Chapter 12 To see love coming 215

Epilogue: … and see love depart 239

Acknowledgements 245

Research notes and further reading 247

Index 279