Product Description

In this beautiful account, based on thirty years of living with and observing dogs, wolves and dingoes novelist and anthropologist Elizabeth Marshall Thomas brings us a completely new understanding of 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; Bingo, a brave asthmatic pug; and many more fascinating individuals in this unforgettable chronicle, which "brims with insight and respect" (Emily Mitchell, Time International).

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #264905 in Books
• Published on: 1996-07-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Thomas's multifaceted discussion of canine life was a 28-week PW bestseller.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Novelist/ethologist Thomas may be well known to readers for her novels Reindeer Moon (LJ 1/87) and The Animal Wife ( LJ 7/90). This work, however, takes a much different tack in that it provides a readable account of how, over a a span of years, her family dogs were transformed into a family unit not unlike a wolf pack. Thomas is a firm believer that animals think and express emotion and is not ashamed to be "anthropomorphic" in her particular analysis of dog behavior. Her intention is to find out, by observing her own animals, what it is that dogs "want." The dogs were free to make their own decisions; Thomas fed them, sheltered them, and provided medical care but otherwise didn't train them or direct their activities. The observations she makes are entertaining and amusing to anyone who has owned a dog. Her conclusion is that dogs want each other, and people are merely substitutes for other canines. Although Thomas draws on her knowledge of philosophy and the theory of animal consciousness, this book never bogs down in theory and remains very readable. A title worth considering for libraries where there is client interest.
- Edell Marie Schaefer, Brookfield P.L., Wis.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
An astonishing work of ethology that asks--and answers clearly--a question about dogs that's so simple that, apparently, no one has ever tackled it before: ``What do dogs want?'' Thomas--a trained scientist and novelist who brings her storytelling skills (The Animal Wife, 1990, etc.) fully to bear in this beautifully written study--explains that, years ago, she realized that ``despite a vast array of publications on dogs, virtually nobody...had ever bothered to ask what dogs do when left to themselves.'' And so she set out to ask just that, first by unobtrusively bicycling along with a two-year-old husky, Misha, as the dog went about its daily roamings in the Cambridge, Massachusetts, area. Thomas's findings about Misha and ten other dogs (including a dingo) that followed him into her life-- supplemented by her fieldwork with wolves--cause this report to be about ``dog consciousness'' as, through an elegant recap of her observations, the author convinces us that dogs can, among other skills, create customs; adopt human mannerisms; choose between alternatives; play games; and exhibit a moral sense (this made clear through the amazing incident in which a tiny pug stops a much larger dog from terrorizing some pet parakeets and mice). Just as impressively, Thomas depicts--without anthropomorphizing--a dog world bound by rules like hierarchism but one nonetheless in which each canine is a complex individual. Particularly fascinating is her account of the ``romantic love'' between Misha and his mate, Maria, in which the female remains monogamous even while in heat, as well Thomas's story of how her dogs, left wholly to their own devices, secretly dig a wolflike den behind a woodpile. What, then, do dogs want? ``They want to belong, and they want each other.'' Popular science of the highest order: revelatory, impeccably observed, and a joy to read. A four-woof salute to Thomas and a vigorous tail-wag to boot. (Drawings--not seen) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Very, Very Bad, Disappointing, and Disgusting
I have to say this is the first book review I've writen, I just haven't been compelled to write any reviews. After reading this book I changed my mind. I was so utterly DISGUSTED by this author's total irresponsible treatment of her dogs. I have read many books about dog behavior and I thought I would get a little more insight from this book. How wrong was I? I finished the book out of sheer determination. I read all the reviews written for this book and all of the negative ones are true. She let her dogs run wild through busy streets, she did not spay or neuter any of her dogs, had many unwanted puppies (which she allowed her dogs to kill), and the list goes on. This was not a scientific experiment it was neglect and abuse. If you would like an insightful/refreshing book about dog behavior that does not involve irresponsible ownership/guardianship buy Patricia McConnell's "The Other End of the Leash."

Unbelievable nonsense
I was flabbergasted when I read this book. Bluntly put, the author is an idiot, and should not own dogs at all. The first part of her book describes how she is taking care of a friend's dog, and lets it wander all over town. Instead of making sure he can't escape from the yard, she makes a habit of following him... that is, unless he CROSSES THE HIGHWAY, in which case she turns back. Personally, I'd want anyone watching my pet to have at least a small amount of responsibility and common sense. She describes problems she has with the police and her neighbors because of her 5 (sometimes more) dogs; she describes how she lets her un-spayed/neutered dogs breed out-of-control. The travesty just goes on and on. The part that made me laugh is that, at the end, she seems to be impressed that the dogs don't seem to pay any attention to her anymore; she seems to have missed the point of having pets. Her conclusion that dogs primarially want the company of other dogs should include the caveat "in the absence of any human attention."

The author does not appear to be an expert on dogs, dog behavior, dog training, or dog care. She does, however, have some good tips on being a public nuisance. I'm amazed that anyone would write such an account of irresponsible behavior.

Worse example of how to live with and raise dogs.
Pity her poor dogs. What example is she setting? The reason for Ms. Thomas' 'dogological studies' is flawed. She wishes to study how dogs conduct themselves if left undisturbed in normal circumstances. Yet she dismisses the studies of feral, abandoned, or homeless dogs, stating that these free-ranging dogs lived under terrible stress in a hostile dangerous environment and thus were not living normal lives. Yet according to Ms. Thomas dogs roaming suburban Boston with traffic, dogcatchers, dognappers, etc. live a 'normal' life in a non-hostile environment. Ms Thomas' negligence and irresponsibility is almost unbelievable if I hadn't read her book myself. For the sake of her 'dogological' studies she: 1. Let someone else's dog roam Boston while under her care violating laws unconcerned about complaints of neighbors. 2. Let conditions exist where her dogs attacked another dog under her care. 3. Bemoans the fact that there are no legal or moral responsibility attached to motorists hitting dogs, yet "flouts", her words, the leash law. She mentioned that her free ranging dogs had made her known in police stations throughout the Greater Boston area. 4. Routinely let were dogs run loose for days and they returned with evidence that they had chased and killed deer. Let four-month-old puppy roam. 5. Did not spay and neuter her dogs and they produced at least four litters one of which was killed by dogs she owns. 6. Let an old infirm dog roam during a New Hampshire winter.