This is not a bok about training or bringing up your dog. "This is a book about dog consciousness." Elizabeth Marshall Thomas talks abot the drama in her dogs life and who interesting their approach to life is. It is a samll book with a big punch! I liked it a lot.

I didn't find this book that much of a 'breakthrough' in canine behavior---it seemed more of a study of dogs that are roam and interact at will, with very little interaction between them and the humans. In the end the dogs basically form a pack and seem very uninterested in their human family. This doesn't help me relate or understand how to interact with my dogs.

In this book the author gives an account of thirty years of living with dogs, wolves, dingos and the ways their lives are interetwined with her own. There is Misha, a husky that roams widely, and Maria his true love, their puppies, as well as Bingo and Violet the two pugs that also share the house.

Fascinating study, done over a period of 30 years, on the lives of dogs. Thomas is an anthropologist who uses her background to give a superior and touching account of her canine companions and their young through several generations. I would highly suggest this book to anyone who loves dogs! I was sorry to see it end!

I'm a cat person, and *I* even liked this book! Anyone who likes animals and senses their hidden intelligence will enjoy this book. It is entertaining as well as heartbreaking. A good read all around.

I'm a certified applied animal behaviorist. I read this book when it was first published (it was actually a gift) and was totally appalled by the manner in which this woman lived with her dog pack. Not only is there NO validity in her observations of domestic dog behavior, but this book portrays the absolute worst sort of collector who is negligent of her dogs' social and psychological requirements and does little to care for them physically in an appropriate manner. If you want to learn about domestic dog behavior, read Dr. Ian Dunbar, Dr. Nicholas Dodman, Roger Abrantes, Karen Pryor, Dr. Jon Bailey.

A fascinating book; it taught me a lot I didn't know about dogs. One blurb called it, "The best book about dogs I have read since Konrad Lorenz published Man Meets Dog four decades ago," and that is saying a lot!

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Interesting story about the interaction between a family of dogs that is let to do pretty much what they want. The owner let her dogs out and followed them through the night to see what they would do, which sounds sort of crazy - and might be! - but was really interesting to read about. If you've had dogs that stay out all night and wondered how they get along, this might give you some insight!

This author illustrates perfectly what not to do with your dog...HIGHLY irresponsible to allow your dogs to roam at will....

I was not thrilled at all with this book, and I don't really feel that there were any great insights provided by this author's experiments..

An excellent book on "the way dogs think" and react to their surroundings.

From Library Journal
Novelist/ethologist Thomas may be well known to readers for her novels Reindeer Moon (LJ 1/87) and The Animal Wife ( LJ 7/90). This work, however, takes a much different tack in that it provides a readable account of how, over a a span of years, her family dogs were transformed into a family unit not unlike a wolf pack. Thomas is a firm believer that animals think and express emotion and is not ashamed to be "anthropomorphic" in her particular analysis of dog behavior. Her intention is to find out, by observing her own animals, what it is that dogs "want." The dogs were free to make their own decisions; Thomas fed them, sheltered them, and provided medical care but otherwise didn't train them or direct their activities. The observations she makes are entertaining and amusing to anyone who has owned a dog. Her conclusion is that dogs want each other, and people are merely substitutes for other canines. Although Thomas draws on her knowledge of philosophy and the theory of animal consciousness, this book never bogs down in theory and remains very readable. A title worth considering for libraries where there is client interest.

An interesting read for dog owners =)

Entertaining book about how dogs behave, and why.

THIS IS A PAPERBACK BOOK. Interesting but odd book. The writes about her observations and analyses of dog behavior. She even follows her dog at night to see what he does when he would leave the yard.

Fascinating information that will have you understanding your dog's behavior a lot better.

ANNOTATION
The author of Reindeer Moon displays extraordinary insights into canine behavior without sentimentality or anthropomorphism, telling of the 11 dogs that lived with her over a period of 30 years, slowly but eventually transforming themselves into something much like a wolf pack.

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