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The Intelligence of Dogs: A Guide To The Thoughts, Emotions, And Inner Lives Of Our Canine Companions | 
 enlarge | Author: Stanley Coren
Publisher: Bantam
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy Used: $0.01
You Save: $15.94 (100%)
New (9) Used (103) from $0.01
Rating:  30 reviews
Sales Rank: 656544
Media: Paperback
Pages: 288
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6 x 0.8
ISBN: 0553374524
Dewey Decimal Number: 636.7
UPC: 021898374523
EAN: 9780553374520
ASIN: 0553374524
Publication Date: March 1, 1995
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
How well to dogs understand language? Why can't Rover read? Can you teach on old dog new tricks? How smart is your dog? Psychologist Stanley Coren answers these questions and more in this enlightening resource for dog owners, potential dog owners, and anyone who loves a good dog story. In the best-selling tradition of The Hidden Life Of Dogs and featured in national media from USA Today and Newsweek to "Charlie Rose" and "Dateline NBC," The Intelligence Of Dogs is an absorbing read that combines heroic stories of dogs with the latest scientific and psychological information and sections on how to: Choose a family dog. Read your dog's body language. Test your dog's smarts. Understand the sophisticated language of the bark. Tailor a training program for best results. And so much more.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 30
 Sonata for dog and piano... ha! May 1, 2009
K. Yi
One of the best books I've read; educational on canine object, narrative, and most of all it's truly entertaining to read. There is much useful information on the dogs throughout this book that is original and well thought out, and I do appreciate author's such extra efforts.
I am not convinced on his method to establish ranking of dog's intelligence by breed, moreover, notion of ranking itself is a pretty silly, in my opinion. I guess this section on ranking by breed substantially increased the sale of this book, but without it, book would have been much valued. I live with a border collie, and I can see why so many dog-show judges rate them so highly, but is that really making this breed intelligent, or more desirable? This is where this book can be good for.
Read it, your time will be well spent.
 I'd give this book minus 5 stars if I could May 21, 2008
Michael Grace (Blacksburg, VA United States)
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
If you go to Dr. Coren's site you may notice he lists his credentials twice in the first three paragraphs, and if you look at his published papers they have nothing to do with dogs. If you want to know the effects of being a left-handed person he may be the guy to talk with - but dog intelligence? He certainly writes a lot of material. Makes you wonder how he has the time to properly research things. He certainly claims to be an expert on a huge number of topics!! I don't see any peer reviewed articles on dogs anywhere. So how is it possible that he has become the most quoted person on the internet on dog intelligence? It's the horribly flawed list included in this book. Every pet food site looking for material to make their site look more legitimate quotes this nonsense. A research scientist (opinions of trainers and human psychologists do not count as animal intelligence research scientists) would never produce a list on dog intelligence using the data and sample sizes this "expert" obviously used. This guy is not an animal behavioralist. Does he have the credentials to judge the breeds and what their level of intelligence is. I say no he does not. Proof of this is just the statistical sample sizes needed to come to real conclusions when making claims like he has. Does anyone believe he sampled enough individual dogs to come up with dependable results?
Dog breeds were developed to do very specific things. They have very different traits. If anyone has ever worked with a number of Australian Shepherds, for example, they'd have to just laugh at where the good doctor has placed them on his list. This is an extremely smart breed that is considered by many to be the equal of Border Collies. I live in an area where herding dogs are very common and Australian Shepherds are generally considered among the smartest of breeds. Where they should be on a list of dog intelligence is an interesting question as herding dogs are experts at certain - but not all - jobs. They do need to have high intelligence as they need to be able to take charge of a herd of large dangerous animals. Certainly nothing beats Border Collies at working sheep, but the three main breeds used around where I live are Aust. Shep.s, B. Collies and Aust. Cattle dogs. The Australian Shepherds are becoming more and more popular. So if B. Collies are #1 and Aust. Cattle dogs are #10 why are these breeds being displaced by a dog ranked #42 ? I guess the people that actually use and depend on their dogs for their safety and ability to help make the mortgage payments are just crazy or really not very bright. What really makes this list a joke, though, is the obvious lack of research work it represents. You need to use huge samples of each breed. He has not done this. I question his methods. I question his motives. What value does a list like this represent? Simple. People love lists - so they will buy them.
How unbelievably egocentric it is to actually produce this list to begin with. And without up to date knowledge about the whole "alpha myth" and social structure of our dogs and wolves. This book is an insult to serious research scientists who could spend a career studying this material before feeling confident in their data set and results. This is just absolutely the worst kind of junk-science that is written to make a buck. I rate it as a step backwards in our understanding and knowledge of the breeds we love and choose. Minus 5 stars.
Superbly researched and written June 2, 2007
milleron (Columbus, OH USA)
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
This book was not written to teach you how to train your dog. Rather, it's by far the most authoritative book available on what your dog senses and how he's likely to process and remember what he sees, hears, and smells. It gave me for the first time an understanding of why dogs react as they do and why successful training methods work. As Coren points out in one of his books, almost half of us share our homes with dogs at one time or another, but what we learn about in high-school biology is salamanders, sharks, and the platypus, creatures we never encounter personally. This book addresses that disconnect so well that I think it should be included in basic life-science curricula. Even for someone who has no intention of ever including a dog in his or her household, this book can provide an interesting new slant on understanding animals. That is to say that it has great value for its academic content as well as its practical applicability. I give Coren my highest recommendation among authors writing on the subject of canine psychology.
Very poor May 3, 2007
Jason E. Maggard
14 out of 20 found this review helpful
This is an absolutely awful book. It trades in on common misconceptions with dogs, and then goes on to make generalizations about breeds that have no business circulating. Thanks to this fine author, people can parade around their poodles and say they have the second smartest dog in the world... Never mind that they are tethered to a puppy mill inbred. Generalizing that Border Collies are smarter than Poodles are smarter that Rottweilers is just plain asinine. What was the sample size? (I believe it was like 5 dogs.)
Maybe this book was supposed to make some owners feel better or something... Beats me. Read the Wiki on "Dog Intelligence"... Coren's only barometer for "intellect" revolves around the dog's willingness to please, which he still hasn't recognized because he's too busy believing the "Alpha Dog" myth.
Save your money and buy your lil' man some bully chews.
 OK as a Guide/Resource Book February 24, 2007
Scott Rambova (New York)
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
Well, I was not that impressed. The book is a rather dull read, not terribly informative, although it gives some pertinent facts about dog barks, growls, sounds and positions as to what they mean. I learned quite a lot from this particular section. I don't know if I totally and quite agree about which particular breed of dog is the absolute most intelligent, as Coren points out, intelligence takes many forms---in dogs as well as in people. The book was all right. It has some good facts, but I was not overly impressed as I said above. He has many stories and tales about different breeds of dogs that underscore his points throughout the book. Again, it's all right, and if anyone wants to buy my copy really cheap, let me know. The book is not a keeper. That's my review of The Intelligence of Dogs!
Showing reviews 1-5 of 30
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