Home :: Books :: Health, Mind & Body  

Arts & Photography
Audio CDs
Audiocassettes
Biographies & Memoirs
Business & Investing
Children's Books
Christianity
Comics & Graphic Novels
Computers & Internet
Cooking, Food & Wine
Entertainment
Gay & Lesbian
Health, Mind & Body

History
Home & Garden
Horror
Literature & Fiction
Mystery & Thrillers
Nonfiction
Outdoors & Nature
Parenting & Families
Professional & Technical
Reference
Religion & Spirituality
Romance
Science
Science Fiction & Fantasy
Sports
Teens
Travel
Women's Fiction
The Hidden Life of Dogs Abridged

The Hidden Life of Dogs Abridged

List Price: $17.00
Your Price: $11.56
Product Info Reviews

<< 1 2 3 4 5 .. 7 >>

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Nothing Here to Entice
Review: Having read the reviews, I was prepared to endure the irresponsible behavior of the author in hopes of learning a little something different about dogs. But this book didn't even live up to that small hope. For me, nothing in here was worth reading about litter after litter of pups from unneutered animals, a disturbing number of whom were killed or died young from health disorders. Only somebody with no dog experience or who neglects their dogs as badly as did this author would find anything new here.

I thought it would give insights into what dogs choose to do on their own. But the "following a loose dog" part took only 2 chapters and the only "findings" were that an unneutered, dominant male goes around strutting his stuff to other dogs, and that marking behavior is about dominance, not turf (this is new? Ten well-adjusted dogs in a field will teach you this).

Motivated by her PETA-like belief that dogs are "slaves" (I don't know about you all, by mine are most definitely treated more like children than slaves!), the author then allows numerous dogs in her life to struggle through life by giving them no structure or human guidance. What is the startling scientific revelation of this neglect? Gee, the dogs lose their "dogginess" and revert to packlike behavior such as roaming and denning and communicating non-vocally, losing any real affinity for humans.

The author at one point notes that dogs have "always" been domestic (tho the authors of "Dogs" will give some argument), but then ignores that point. Dogs are who and how they are due to their generations-long relationship with us. If you take away that relationship, do you still have a dog? Or just an extremely lost and confused canid?

For something better from Ms. Thomas, read The Social Lives of Dogs. The author seems to have accepted the joy of living with dogs (and the importance of spaying) and makes some fine observations of more content canines.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Sad Failure to Communicate
Review: What a sad and pathetic example of someone who fails to establish a basic relationship with her animals, leaving them to fend for themselves. The poor dogs give up on the hope of human companionship and revert to survival behavior. A pity that this woman has no understanding of how to create a meaningful partnership with her animals, in which humans and canines love and respect each other and enjoy spending time together. The human equivalent to her "experiment" would be leaving your child alone in the woods for a year to see what happens. If you love animals, don't bother with this book. Instead, get a book about agility, obedience, flyball, or another activity you can share and enjoy with your dog.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Careless Dog Owner Profits from Danger to Her Own Dogs
Review: I was saddened to read this book. On the one hand, Ms. Marshall helps us learn about the "hidden life of dogs" but she does so in an incredibly irresponsible fashion. She basically lets her dog run loose, nightly crossing busy highways and running through suburban neighborhoods, while she observes him. I found this to be an appalling way of learning about dog behavior, as she risks her own dog's life and the peace of mind of her neighbors to gather fodder for her book. For this reason only, I can't recommend this book because it indirectly advocates the kind of careless dog ownership that endangers the companion animals we should, instead, cherish and protect.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Sweet Tale of Dogs Unfettered
Review: Sweet tale of dogs unfettered
I read this book many years ago and have since given it to nearly every dog lover I run across.

Granted the author over-indulges her dogs, letting them run amok in Massachusetts while she spies on them from the seat of her bicycle. Still, how would we know what our dogs "really want" if Ms. Marshall Thomas did not leave her animals to their own devices while attempting to answer that very question? Had to be done, just glad it wasn't my neighborhood!

I think every person who encounters dogs should read this. It's a lovely book with good insight and fun stories. Beware though, the answer to what dogs really want is: other dogs. If your's is solitary you may find yourself at the Humane Society after a companion for your companion.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: How to Make a Buck from Cruelty
Review: This poetic little book celebrating cruelty to dogs has undoubtedly been quite profitable, but I wonder how many dogs' lives it has cost. Readers who don't know any better will be encouraged to let their dogs roam loose and to breed them without any thought of finding genuinely good homes for the puppies. The next time you see a smashed dog by the roadside, or a litter of pups dumped at the pound, think of this book, which has done all it can to make these things happen. The author also commits an additional act of incomprehensible cruelty: After her top female dog kills all of the puppies of another dog, the author deliberately breeds the victimized dog again, and lets her sweat out her pregnancy in an agony of fear. The author's training as an impartial anthropologist observer seems to have caused her to lose sight of her moral responsibilities. These are not wolves to be impartially observed without interference, but her own dogs or friends' dogs, whose well-being and happiness are her deepest moral responsibility. Little wonder that her dogs wanted almost nothing to do with her toward the end of the book. They must have understood how profoundly she had betrayed them.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: All dog lovers should read this!
Review: I read this book a couple of years ago and have never stopped thinking about it. Unfortunately, I loaned it out and forgot who has it. I am buying it again, it is that good! I won't be loaning this one!
A great book with touching and amazing accounts of how dog's truly behave when we are not around.
Wonderful book!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: I liked this book
Review: This book was an interesting read. A little anthropomorphic for those who don't like that, but I really enjoyed it. Easy read. Very well-written!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: fantastic garbage
Review: This book is junk. Don't buy it if you have even half an ounce of brain cells in your noggin. The remaining cells will revolt against the sicky-sweet, arbitrary, non-objective drivel forced upon them. This is NOT an insight into dog behavior. It's an insight into braindead writing and irresponsible dog ownership.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Looking at Dogs With the Heart
Review: This is a wonderfully touching book in which the author closely observes the lives of her dogs over the years while interfering with their activities as little as possible. It is a book with a lot of heart and some interesting insights into the ways of a dog's life, what dogs want, and so forth. Thomas' approach to her dogs is that they are not slaves to be trained to her beck and call, but animals to whom she provides food, shelter, love, and a lot of freedom. This last aspect seems to be what offends some people, and some of what Thomas does certainly seems inappropriate for a city environment. But, this is not a book on dog training, animal subordination to humans, nor is it a dry scientific study. It is a book by someone with heart about the creatures with whom she shares years of her life. It is short, sweet, and will touch your heart if you let it.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Hidden Life of Dogs
Review: If you are a lover of anything canine, you will laugh and cry as you read this book. Elizabeth Thomas has a great deal to say about the lives our friends lead when we are not with them. I have never been so engrossed in a book about animals. You will enjoy every page if you enjoy stories about dogs. Elizabeth followed her dogs around for a year, observing their comings and goings, their behavior, and their own grief when their friends died. I was so amazed, and now I know what my own dog is trying to tell me when he greets me. You must read this book!


<< 1 2 3 4 5 .. 7 >>

© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates