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Loading... The Intelligence of Dogs: A Guide to the Thoughts, Emotions, and Inner Lives of Our Canine Companions (original 1994; edition 2005)by Stanley CorenThis book was quite helpful in understanding a little bit more about my wild and crazy English Springer Spaniel. Supposedly his breed's intelligence is in the second rank (still quite bright but not quite as smart as a poodle, for instance). The book mixes scientific inquiry with anecdotes of the author's dogs and others. Fascinating and useful reading for anyone who shares his or her life with a dog. I probably should have read this book 13 years ago when we first acquired my border collie, Gypsy. As Coren repeatedly mentions border collies are one of the most intelligent dogs. But that very intelligence can drive you crazy because they will amuse themselves (and not always in a way you would like) if you don't provide enough stimulation for them. I really could have used some of his wisdom at the time we were first getting to know each other. So, I hope the person who gets this book has a young dog so they can make full use of this book. Having said that I found lots of really interesting information about dogs in the book so anyone who is interested in dogs will probably enjoy it. I also really liked the last chapter which talks about older dogs and how to keep their intelligence at a higher level. The story which ends that chapter is one that will stay with me for a long time. I enjoyed this book in the beginning but the second half was a struggle. Those parts on historical attitudes towards dog's intelligence, and dog evolution were interesting. Then there were parts arguing for the intelligence and consciousness of dogs which seemed rather obvious to me. He then turns to intelligence but here the focus turns almost exclusively to intelligence as illustrated in obedience/training. His prejudice is that a dog is only tolerable as a companion or valuable as a dog as of function of its obedience. He does present an intelligence test and a personality test. A couple of the anecdotes were great, almost worth reading the whole book. |
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