Why Does My Dog Act That Way?: A Complete Guide to Your Dog's Personality

Front Cover
Simon and Schuster, 2007 M12 4 - 304 pages
We've shared our lives with dogs for thousands of years, but they still act in ways that baffle us. To help us understand them better, Dr. Stanley Coren, the undisputed expert on dog behavior, intelligence, and training, tells the story of how dogs evolved over time into the myriad forms and breeds we love today. Not simply domesticated wolves, dogs are actually much more complex than wild canines; their ability to adapt to a man-made world is far more flexible, their personalities far more diverse. Fascinating findings reveal which breeds were bred to become more dominant, affectionate, cooperative, or even dangerous. This practical, surprising book also presents -- for the first time -- the "Dog Behavior Inventory," a simple, fun test based on the personality-profiling questionnaires used in human psychological studies that you can administer to your own dog to get a detailed picture of his personality and how he compares to other members of his breed. Then, using the findings of the U.S. Army's once- classified studies of "Superdogs," you can train your pet to become a real-life equivalent of Lassie and Rin Tin Tin -- a dog who is not disturbed, angered, or frightened by anything.

Filled with the entertaining anecdotes and scientific data that Dr. Coren's avid followers have come to expect and enjoy, this uniquely complete guide to dog psychology can help you to select a new companion and to understand and communicate better with your old friend.
 

Contents

Chapter Two Creating Dogs
13
Chapter Three Not a Wolf in Sheeps Clothing
29
Chapter Seven The Dog Behavior Inventory
105
Chapter Eight Creating a Superdog
123
Chapter Nine Socialization and the Superdog
142
Chapter Eleven Creating Monsters
183
Chapter Twelve Heroic Hounds
209
Chapter Thirteen Why Do Dogs Help?
229
of Individual Breeds
255
Selected Bibliography
263
Index
273
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

About the author (2007)

Stanley Coren an international authority on sidedness, is professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia. He is the author of Born to Bark: My Adventures with an Irrepressible and Unforgettable Dog (2010), among other books.

Bibliographic information