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| For the Love of a Dog: Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend | 
 enlarge | Author: Patricia Mcconnell
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy New: $8.80
You Save: $7.15 (45%)
New (34) Used (12) from $8.80
Avg. Customer Rating:  60 reviews
Sales Rank: 3390
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.1 x 0.9
ISBN: 0345477154
Dewey Decimal Number: 636
EAN: 9780345477156
ASIN: 0345477154
Publication Date: August 28, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
Dogs, people and emotions December 1, 2006
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
This is an exciting new book that is a welcome addition to our understanding of companion dogs and our relationship with them. The book is at turns engaging, funny, joyous, passionate, sad and poignant. It is a wonderful blend of science, social commentary and great story telling.
Dr. McConnell has tackled a subject that has been a source of confusion and misunderstanding to scientists and pet owners for generations. Everybody thinks they know what emotions are, we all have them, but few of us can define them or really understand them. Most of us believe that our pets experience some sort of emotions, but our understanding of their emotions is even more confusing to us. Dr. McConnell deftly weaves a story that integrates our newest knowledge from the sciences of neuroscience, human psychology and animal behavior.
Dr. McConnell gives us a very workable framework for understanding emotions - what they are, where they came from and what they are good for. In some places she has oversimplified things to make them easier to understand but she tells us when she is doing it. As a scientist, I appreciate that.
There will be some that will disagree with some of her interpretations and conclusions, but this is to be expected in an area with such a variety of opinions and heated debate. I found a few things to quibble with myself, but that does not distract from the quality of her work. I think some readers will find parts of the book difficult (It's science for God's sake! If you want easy, read a comic book.) because they deal with some difficult subjects. Understanding how the brain works and what we think about emotions and thinking have kept scientists and philosophers employed for hundreds of years. The book is always entertaining and well worth the effort expended to understand the subject matter.
I would say to any dog owner - once you have read this book you may very well love your dog more than you do now. You will definitely think differently about her and have a better understanding of why she does the things she does.
Excellent insight into the mind of your dog November 29, 2006
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
I was initially surprised that Patricia McConnell was writing about canine emotional states given her solid scientific background. In fact, she said during a presentation that she didn't start out to write this book, but it became clear that's what she needed to do. I started reading and was instantly intrigued and I have learned a lot. She continues her observations that she started in The Other End of the Leash, but instead of showing how dogs and humans are different she points out the striking similarities of the facial expressions and how learning to read them well not only will help your dog training, but may save you from being bitten. The pictures alone that show open mouth, happy, relaxed dogs and closed mouth, stressed, staring, tense dogs are worth the price of the book.
One section that I loved was that she goes into detail about how the dog brain has the same parts as a human brain that are associated with emotion and mood. (The amydala being one of them). Dog brains certainly have the ability to experience emotions (which are just the physical manifestation of the biochemical state of the brain.) What became clear is that the burden of proof is now on those that claim that dogs don't have emotions. They can no longer just state it as something categorically obvious as obvious it is not.
Once you've read the book I highly recommend attending a seminar by her for further analysis.
Good Window into our Dog's Emotions November 14, 2006
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Provides new insight into the emotional life of our dogs, and enables us to better know what's going on in their minds at any given moments. The section on the similiar facial expressions of humans and dogs was fascinating. A good companion book is On Talking Terms with Dogs: Calming Signals by Turid Rugaas.
For the Love of Communication November 10, 2006
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
Patricia McConnell's latest book on our human relationship with dogs and, indirectly, with all other sentient inhabitants of this world is written with great aplomb. She picks up the gauntlet thrown by those who charge anthropomorphism at the slightest provocation and dares to examine the subject of emotion in our best friends. While I must admit to some bias since I'm already a fan of both Patricia McConnell and Suzanne Clothier, and she's thus preaching to the choir, I thought that her arguments were very carefully researched and presented in the most entertaining, moving and usually warm manner. If you've enjoyed her previous book "The Other End of the Leash", you're sure to get as much from this latest offering. This is far from a primer on dog training but, whether you're a new dog owner or experienced trainer, I would highly recommend this book to deepen your understanding of our relationship with our best friends and, indirectly, with others of our own species.
GOOD FOR ALL SPECIES November 10, 2006
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
THE INFORMATION IN THIS BOOK APPLIES INTERESTINGLY NOT ONLY TO THE CANINE
WORLD BUT PROBABLY FITS ALL SPECIES, ESPECIALLY HUMAN. I KNOW IT TOUCHED
ONE SEVERAL AREAS IN MY LIFE PSYCHOLOGICALLY. VERY GOOD BOOK.
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