Dogs: A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior & Evolution - Hardcover

Coppinger, Raymond; Coppinger, Lorna

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684855305 ISBN 13: 9780684855301

Publisher: Scribner, 2001

Synopsis

Marking the first time that dogs have been explained in such detail by eminent researchers, Dogs is a work of wide appeal, as absorbing as it is enlightening.

Drawing on insight gleaned from forty-five years of raising, training, and studying the behaviors of dogs worldwide, Lorna and Raymond Coppinger explore the fascinating processes by which dog breeds have evolved into their unique shapes and behaviors. Concentrating on five types of dogs—modern household dogs, village dogs, livestock-guarding dogs, sled dogs, and herding dogs—the Coppingers, internationally recognized canine ethologists and consummate dog lovers, examine our canine companions from a unique biological viewpoint. Dogs clearly points the way for dog lovers, dog therapists, veterinarians, and all others who deal with dogs to understand their animals from a fresh perspective.

How did the domestic dog become a distinct species from the wolf? Why do different breeds behave differently? Most important, how can we improve the relationship between humans and dogs?

The authors show how dogs' different abilities depend upon the confluence of their nature and nurture—that both genetics and the environment play equally key roles. They also reveal that many people inadvertently harm their canine companions because they fail to understand dogs' biological needs and dispositions.

Dogs is a highly readable biological approach by noted researchers that provides a wealth of new information about the interaction of nature and nurture, and demonstrates how unique dog behavior is in the animal world.

About this title

About the Author

Raymond Coppinger is professor of biology at Hampshire College and the author of Fishing Dogs. A former sled dog racing champion, he now lectures widely about dogs.

Reviews

Too often books about pet species are larded with anthropomorphic sentimentality. Not so the current offering by Raymond (Fishing Dogs) and Lorna Coppinger (The World of Sled Dogs). This is a literate scientific treatise that has much to offer dog owners and readers with a general interest in animals. With 35 years of experience breeding different types of dogs, and a strong background in biology, this couple offers new insights into dog behavior and evolution. Contrary to the current evolutionary theory that dogs are the same species as wolves, the authors postulate a common (archaic) ancestor for domestic dogs and wolves. Building on the work of earlier ethologists, they assert that modern dogs and modern wolves are as distinct from each other as modern humans are from modern apes. Accordingly, they contend that the idea of using wolf pack protocols to alter the behavior of dogs as prescribed by some popular manuals is absurd. Additionally, the authors note that because of selective breeding for patterns of behavior, some dog breeds are unsuitable as pets (e.g., sled dogs such as huskies, hunting breeds such as bloodhounds). In the managed evolution of dogs, which has produced a remarkable range of working and hunting breeds, the writers perceive both environmental and genetic factors. Through these new perceptions regarding the mechanics and tenacity of inbred and enhanced behavioral traits, humans can better understand the primal biological motivations of their canine companions. Chock full of both scientific studies and personal experiences, this fast-paced, absorbing book deserves a wide audience. Photos and charts. (May)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"Very few dog books are written by biologists," states the introduction to this absorbing work about our oldest domestic animal. The authors combine two approaches to the study of the dog--they both have advanced degrees in ethology (animal behavior) and both have raised and trained hundreds of dogs from numerous breeds. This unique background allows examination of the dual roles that evolution (in the form of selective breeding) and training has in the creation of all of the different breeds and forms of the dog found around the world today. The main thrust of the book is to look at what breeds of dogs can do and the genetics behind these different abilities and behaviors. The authors examine different kinds of dogs based on their evolving ecological association with people: dogs evolving from wolves and becoming commensal with humans; dogs working for people in a mutually beneficial relationship; dogs becoming household pets; and, finally, dogs becoming controversial both in a scientific sense and in everyday life. This important book belongs in all libraries. Nancy Bent
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

A dog is not a wolf, and humankind may not be dog's best friend or so argues this serious work by two world-renowned ethologists and champion dog-sled competitors. Taking a biological approach to the study of canine behavior and intelligence, the authors promulgate a theory of how the dog evolved. They explain in depth how the interplay of nature and nurture and critical periods of development produced an animal that has more shapes and sizes and uses than any other. The Coppingers debunk the notion that there are genes for speed or herding, and they discuss the genes governing form predisposed to a particular function. They also explore the types of symbiotic relationships commensalism, mutualism, amensalism, and parasitism and demonstrate how the relationship between humans and dogs has progressed from one benefiting only the dog to one in which the dog is "enslaved." They define what constitutes a breed and criticize today's purebred breeding programs. Unique, insightful, well written, informative and even controversial, this book belongs in every college library with programs in genetics and animal behavior and in large public libraries serving informed lay readers. Florence Scarinci, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, NY
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Scribner
• Publication date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0684855305
• ISBN 13: 9780684855301
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352