Book Review: Why Does My Dog Act That Way

Eric Sharp - Detroit Free Press

Feb 21, 2008

Newspapers frequently run stories about dogs that attack and sometimes kill people. Owners of those animals invariably say something like, "We can't understand it. The dog never showed aggression before."

You'll have a much better understanding of why those attacks happen if you read "Why Does My Dog Act That Way?" It's the latest fascinating book from Stanley Coren, author of an earlier and absolutely engrossing book called "The Intelligence of Dogs."

When that earlier book arrived in the mail, my first reaction was, 'Oh, no! Not another dog whisperer who communicates with canines via mental telepathy.' (Don't laugh -- such a book landed on my desk a few years ago.)

Instead, I found a well-written and wonderfully reasoned exposition of the canine mind from a professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia, who uses dogs to help him explore many facets of the mammalian brain -- and who also happens to love dogs as well as being a dedicated trainer.

Coren makes an excellent argument that modern dog breeds are not simply tamed wolves. In some ways, they are as different from wolves as we humans are from our closest relations, chimpanzees, and most of those differences between dogs and wolves were created, or at least fostered, by man.

Coren offers a tutorial on how to create a "super dog," an animal that will exhibit the peak physical, mental and emotional capabilities of a given breed. (Much of this technique is based on formerly secret U.S. Army efforts to develop such dogs.)

Coren also includes a fascinating chapter on the sad history of fighting dogs, including his undercover work to expose a dog-fighting ring in Detroit. The barbaric "sport" of dog fighting moved to the front burner of America's consciousness last year when NFL star Michael Vick was arrested for running a dog-fighting ring.

Coren shows how breeders created fighting dogs that were far more savage than their ancestors, dogs so genetically programmed for aggression that they would ignore grave injuries to continue pressing an attack, and that this innate, uncontrollable and unpredictable trait makes breeds like pit bulls unsafe to keep as pets. And yet Coren shows that given decades of selective breeding, those tendencies can be turned around. That was demonstrated in the early 1800s, when one man consciously and successfully changed the English bulldog from a brutal aggressor that would take on a bull 20 times its size to the non-combative, ultra-mellow, highly sociable critter the breed is today.

Newspapers also carry stories about dogs that save people's lives with heroic feats. Coren includes a fascinating analysis of the breeds most likely to help a human and explains why a breed's genetic lineage as a herding, hunting or terrier dog might cause it to help in one rescue situation and not in another.

In the back of the book, there's a list that will undoubtedly start more heated arguments than the question of whether there should be an asterisk after Barry Bonds' home run record.

Based on responses from 96 experts who have raised and trained tens of thousands of dogs, it rates 133 breeds on sociability, excitability, territorial dominance, energy levels, and, here's the kicker, intelligence.

From my experience with many hunting dogs and several nonhunting breeds, I think the list is pretty much on target.

My first dog, when I was 5, was a Scottish terrier named Mac. A little ball of energy, he was full of fun and utterly dedicated to members of our family. But he also was as thick as a post and utterly fearless, and when it came to defending his turf, he liked nothing better than taking on a dog four or five times his weight. The little bugger wouldn't wait for a fight. If he got the chance, he'd make a beeline down the street to take on a 100-pound German shepherd that was minding its own business two blocks away.

When I read Coren's ranking of the Scottie's dominance/territoriality (very high) and intelligence/learning ability (very low), it struck a chord and even brought a tear to my mind's eye as I pictured that little black streak of living electricity tearing off to get his butt kicked again.

"Why Does My Dog Act That Way" is published by the Free Press, a division of Simon and Schuster (not connected with the Detroit Free Press). The 288-page paperback costs $14.

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