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Long before the Dog Whisperer, anthropologist Elizabeth Marshall Thomas revealed to readers the nature of pack dynamics, leading to a completely new understanding of dogs and their desires.
In this fascinating account, based on thirty years of living with and observing dogs, we meet Misha, a friend's husky, whom Thomas followed on his daily rounds of more than 130 square miles, and who ultimately provided the simple and surprising answer to the question What do dogs want most? Not food, not sex, but other dogs. We also meet Maria, who adored Misha, bore his puppies, and clearly mourned when he moved away; the brave pug Bingo and his little wife, Violet; the dingo Viva; and the remaining dogs and pups that constitute the pack.
"Instead of training and obedience, [Thomas] offers as an alternative a world of 'trust and mutual obligation'" (Los Angeles Times Book Review). When it was first published in hardcover, The Hidden Life of Dogs spent over a year on the New York Times Bestseller list. This Mariner paperback edition will include a new afterword by the author.
The author of Reindeer Moon displays extraordinary insights into canine behavior without sentimentality or anthropomorphism, telling of the 11 dogs that lived with her over a period of 30 years, slowly but eventually transforming themselves into something much like a wolf pack. Drawings.
| Price | Condition | Delivery | Seller | Action |
| $99.99 | Digital |
| WonderClub |
Rob Wood
reviewed The Hidden Life of Dogs on July 28, 2007
The Hidden Life of Dogs
Somewhere in this book I recall the author calling herself a dog anthropologist. This egotistical idiocy completely blew my circuits. Call yourself a dog lover or a dog observer or a dog whatever that makes sense, but do not lump together the study of humankind with watching dogs copulate and take walks and form packs. I am not saying that the study of humans is necessarily more important than the study of animals but they are very different, in that we can relate to the humans we study because we ARE humans, and we have no personal context with animals.
I love dogs, I completely obsess about and go ga-ga over dogs, I would form my own dog colony if I could, I have three dogs that are my babies and I want a hundred more and I would like to breed dogs and open a dog rescue and my life is all about DOGSDOGSDOGS. Therefore, I just knew I would love this book.
Unfortunately, it was more about how wonderful and humble the author was than about the dogs themselves. I honestly found myself completely uninterested in the dogs because I hated the writer.
At several points, she painted the dogs' behaviors so negatively that I didn't even like the dogs, and I felt like she was too unobtrusive in her observations. (And yes, I get that this is why she called herself an anthropologist, but zoologists out in the wild observe unobtrusively and do not compare themselves with anthropologists.) Your living room is not the wild and your pets are not wild animals; if one is sexually harassing another, separate them; if one is being isolated, make sure that you give it all the attention it needs. Pet dogs and wild dogs may have the same instincts, but they behave differently and react differently because they are in completely different environments. It is cruel to watch some behaviors and not intervene.
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Add The Hidden Life of Dogs, Long before the Dog Whisperer, anthropologist Elizabeth Marshall Thomas revealed to readers the nature of pack dynamics, leading to a completely new understanding of dogs and their desires. In this fascinating account, based on thirty years of living, The Hidden Life of Dogs to your collection on WonderClub |
