SilverLinings
Well-Known Member
As there are so many discussions on AAD about dog behaviour and dog training I thought it may be useful to have a thread where we could share book recommendations as there seems to be a few of us interested in these subjects.
I am currently about half way through a book about dogs, studies of their behaviour, and their place in the history of science, and I'm enjoying it so much I thought I'd post a recommendation in case anyone might be interested.
The book is 'Wonderdog: How the Science of Dogs Changed the Science of Life' by Jules Howard (2022). I spotted it by chance in Waterstones and am finding it fascinating. The chapters are based on either particular well-known scientists who have studied dogs (including Darwin, Pavlov and Skinner), or significant discoveries about dog behaviour/psychology. Some of the experiments dogs were used for contributed massively to scientific knowledge but weren't particularly nice for the dogs (as anyone who knows about Pavlov will be aware of), but some of the scientists studied the dogs because of their love for the species (e.g. Darwin).
There is also the fascinating story of a group of women (lead by Emelie Lind-af-Hagby) who campaigned in the late 1800s/early 1900s to stop invasive experiments being carried out on dogs. They gathered huge amounts of evidence and argued their case in court in a time when women were not considered 'people' in UK law. They also found a legal loophole that enabled them to enroll as medical students so that they could gather direct evidence of vivisection being used to 'teach' doctors. She published the diaries that she had kept of watching the experiments, and the book caused a national sensation and sparked public interest in the treatment of animals in medical experiments. Up until the publication of the diaries the women and their campaign had been written off by the press and men in power as 'hysterical feminists' so it was amazing what they achieved at that time.
There are also chapters on play behaviour and the love that many humans feel for dogs, and whether the dogs feel the same (I haven't read those bits yet though).
Has anyone else got any interesting and/or useful dog-related books to recommend?
I am currently about half way through a book about dogs, studies of their behaviour, and their place in the history of science, and I'm enjoying it so much I thought I'd post a recommendation in case anyone might be interested.
The book is 'Wonderdog: How the Science of Dogs Changed the Science of Life' by Jules Howard (2022). I spotted it by chance in Waterstones and am finding it fascinating. The chapters are based on either particular well-known scientists who have studied dogs (including Darwin, Pavlov and Skinner), or significant discoveries about dog behaviour/psychology. Some of the experiments dogs were used for contributed massively to scientific knowledge but weren't particularly nice for the dogs (as anyone who knows about Pavlov will be aware of), but some of the scientists studied the dogs because of their love for the species (e.g. Darwin).
There is also the fascinating story of a group of women (lead by Emelie Lind-af-Hagby) who campaigned in the late 1800s/early 1900s to stop invasive experiments being carried out on dogs. They gathered huge amounts of evidence and argued their case in court in a time when women were not considered 'people' in UK law. They also found a legal loophole that enabled them to enroll as medical students so that they could gather direct evidence of vivisection being used to 'teach' doctors. She published the diaries that she had kept of watching the experiments, and the book caused a national sensation and sparked public interest in the treatment of animals in medical experiments. Up until the publication of the diaries the women and their campaign had been written off by the press and men in power as 'hysterical feminists' so it was amazing what they achieved at that time.
There are also chapters on play behaviour and the love that many humans feel for dogs, and whether the dogs feel the same (I haven't read those bits yet though).
Has anyone else got any interesting and/or useful dog-related books to recommend?
