What's a Dog For?: The Surprising History, Science, Philosophy, and Politics of Man's Best Friend

What's a Dog For?: The Surprising History, Science, Philosophy, and Politics of Man's Best Friend by John Homans (Author). John Homans adopted his canine, Stella, from a shelter for all the standard reasons: fond recollections of canines from his past, a companion for his son, an excuse for long walks around the neighborhood. Quickly enough, she is happily ensconced within the every day workings of his family.

And not only that: Stella is treated like a member of the family-in ways that dogs of his youth had been not. Spending humanlike sums on vet bills, questioning her diet and train regimens, contemplating her happiness-how had this all come to pass, when the canines from Homans’s childhood seemed quite content residing principally out within the yard? In What’s a Canine For?, Homans explores the dog’s complicated and prominent place in our world and how it got here to be. 

Evolving from wild animals to working animals to almost human members of our social material, dogs are now the subject of great scientific research regarding pet possession, evolutionary idea, and even cognitive science. From new insights into what makes canines so interesting to people to the well being benefits related to owning a dog, Homans investigates why the human-canine relationship has developed so quickly-how canine moved into our households, our properties, and sometimes even our beds within the span of a generation, changing into a $53 billion trade in the United States within the process. As dogs take their place as coddled family members and their numbers balloon to more than seventy-seven million within the United States alone, it’s no shock that canine culture at large is also undergoing a massive transformation.

They are now subject to most of the same questions of rights and ethics as individuals, and the politics of dogs are extra tumultuous and public than ever- with fierce ethical battles raging over kill shelters, puppy mills, and breed standards. Incorporating interviews and research from scientists, activists, breeders, and trainers, What’s a Dog For? investigates how dogs have reached this exalted status and why they hold such fascination for us. With one paw in the animal world and one paw within the human world, it seems they've a lot to show us about love, dying, and morality-and in the end, of their closeness and difference, about what it means to be human.

My favourite line out of Homans' exceptional guide is 'the dog is now in the means of being reimagined'. This could not be more true. In an age the place the whole lot worthwhile seems to have already been accomplished or discovered, it is incredible that one of the vital thrilling topics of examine sleeps placidly at our toes, or as Stella, the heroine of Homans' guide does, turns her nostril up at milk biscuits, realizing there is steak within the refrigerator. There has been a revolution in how we take into consideration canine intelligence, and what goes on in the canine thoughts, that has actually solely taken flight within the last decade. Hohman admirably weaves the threads of scientific discovery collectively in a fast paced, web page turner, that's no surprise, given his expertise as Government Editor of NY Journal and author for different revered nationwide publications. Stella is a compelling character, because she is each dog. Homans does not declare there may be anything extraordinary about her compared to different canine, however simply that being a dog makes her extraordinary.

Stella is the canine we've all had, the place looking into their eyes, you can't help however marvel what is going on behind them. To find out the reply, Homans traveled all over the world, interviewing leading scientists on dog cognition. Homans' grasp on the science is admirable especially since he's not a tutorial - the uncooked material has taken years for me to change into familiar with, and Homans manages to clarify advanced ideas clearly without losing any of the subtleties. Full disclosure - one of many scientists Homans interviewed was my husband - Brian Hare - which leads me to my second favourite line 'Hare.... is somewhere between school boy and rock star'. Mentioned line has result in much hilarity in our household. Having just had a new child, many requests are prefaced as such 'Hey rockstar, change this diaper...' A fantastic read for the vacations - and one that may bring a new understanding that may make your relationship with your best good friend even better. I am extraordinarily biased, for the reason that writer used to be my editor (and was nearly the perfect and smartest editor there may be), but I believe I can nonetheless say with some extent of objectivity that this is an especially good book.

It provides an historical and scientific basis for what anyone who has ever liked a canine already intuitively is aware of: that dogs are people too. John (the writer) would hate that formulation (too mushy, sensitive-feely), and that's why he wrote the ebook as he did: as a thinker, thinker, researcher, canine-master. However really, it is about why canine win our love; it is much less clear why they love us back... But that thriller makes us love them all the more. It's also a pleasure to learn a the writing of a writer who can write really well. I totally enjoyed it.

What's a Dog For?: The Surprising History, Science, Philosophy, and Politics of Man's Best Friend
John Homans (Author
272 pages
Penguin Press HC, The; 1 edition (November 8, 2012)

More details about this books.