Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #193193 in Books
• Published on: 2001-05-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 352 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Dogs: A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behaviour, and Evolution was written by behavioural scientists Raymond and Lorna Coppinger who have raised hundreds of different dogs of various breeds, raced sled teams, and published professional and popular works on canine behaviour. This book, their manifesto, covers their views of canine evolution and treatment by humans and offers deep insight, provoking theories, and controversial ideas regarding our relationship with them. Though some of the material is most appropriate for readers with some zoological background, much of it is written for a general audience--one that cares about dogs not just for what they offer humans, but for their own sake. Arguing that much of current thinking about dogs' evolutionary history is misguided, they share their own rather complex story of wolf-like animals coevolving with permanent human settlements and only recently being subject to directed breeding and artificial selection. This is interesting enough, but they go on to take issue with the use and treatment of dogs, some of which they claim is bad for dog and human alike. Pure breeding, making companion animals of inappropriate breeds, and even some uses of disability assistance are assailed for neglecting genetic and other hardwired aspects of canine life. Surprisingly little is known for sure about dogs' lives and behaviour, so the Coppingers' contribution is a welcome, if occasionally unsettling, eye-opener. --Rob Lightner

Synopsis
Biologists, breeders and trainers, and champion sled dog racers, Raymond and Lorna Coppinger have more than four decades of experience with literally thousands of dogs. Offering a scientifically informed perspective on canines and their relations with humans, the Coppingers take a close look at eight different types of dogs - household, village, livestock guarding, herding, sled-pulling, pointing, retrieving, and hound. They argue that dogs did not evolve directly from wolves, nor were they trained by early humans; instead, dogs domesticated themselves to exploit a new ecological niche: Mesolithic village dumps. Tracing the evolution of today's breeds from these village dogs, the Coppingers show how characteristic shapes and behaviors - from pointing and baying to the sleek shapes of running dogs - arise from both genetic heritage and the environments in which pups are raised. For both dogs and humans to get the most out of each other, we need to understand and adapt to the biological needs and dispositions of our canine companions, just as they have to ours.

Customer Reviews

A fascinating look at dogs
This book is a fascinating examination of the familiar dog by a professor of biology, who is also a former sled dog racing champion and dog trainer, and his wife, who is also an expert at the raising and training of dogs. Studying where dogs came from, what they are and where they are going, the authors reach some startling conclusions. They reject that idea that Mesolithic hunters stole wolf puppies to originally domesticate dogs, instead following the flow of adaptation to suggest that the path of domestication leads through the Neolithic garbage dump!

After that, the role and attributes of modern dogs are examined. Finally, the explosion of genetic "diseases" among purebred dogs is examined, and its causes laid bare.

This is a fascinating look at dogs. Much that I have noticed about the dogs in my life has been explained to me, and a great deal of food for thought given. I highly recommend this book; it will answer many questions, including some you never thought to ask.

Best book on dogs ever
This is the best book I have read about dogs. This book revolutionised the way i thought about dogs. It got away from the cliche of how man domesticated wolves - dogs domesticated dogs by hanging round settlements. More, it outlined for me the way the dog had evolved. If you are looking for a quick book about how to deal with your dog, this isn't it. But if you are interested in dog evolution and the relationship between man and dog, it is a must.

pseudo-scientific nonsense
... I had no problem that the book is quite opinionated; what mainly bothered me was that the author (although Mr. and Mrs. Coppinger are listed as authors, the text always uses "I" and never "we") tries to camouflage his prejudices with pseudo-scientific nonsense...

I should have known that a book with the words "startling new" in its subtitle would be anything but. The main thesis of the book is that dogs started out as village dogs, and were not domesticated by humans directly from wolves. The authors are perhaps correct. But village dogs were wolves that became accustomed to feeding at the village dump. One way or the other, dogs developed from wolves, though, for some reason, the authors will only admit that dogs developed from "wolf-like" animals. That dogs have since evolved along a somewhat different path than wild wolves should not be a startling new surprise to anyone.

If you are a dog-sled driver, or enter border-collies into sheep herding contests, or train seeing-eye dogs, there is a lot of information in this book of interest. Otherwise, it is repetitive, prejudiced, and unscientific. For example, the book claims that it is mainly gravity that pulls the sleds, and not the dog's muscles! (I learned in school that gravity is a vertical force, and a sled needs a horizontal force to move horizontally.) And it claims that a dog with eyes closer together has a better depth perception. (If this were true, a dog with one eye would have the best depth perception of all.) The author complains that assistance dogs pull a wheel chair at an angle to the wheel chair, but I note that in the diagram he gives of the harness used by sled dogs, these dogs are also attached at an angle. Of course, sled dogs feel a "pleasurable ache" while assistance dogs "hurt from the outside in". Judge for yourselves if this is prejudice or not.

It was interesting to read this book just to see what conclusions pseudo-science can come up with. I am afraid, however, that it did not give me much information on how to understand and communicate with my dog. The author does not like the idea of a human snarling and showing his teeth at a dog's throat to prove the human is the "alpha dog". With this I can agree, but I did not need to read this book to know this.