Rating: 
Summary: The denigration of dogs
Review: As someone who cares for dogs but doesn't live with one full-time, I was hoping to learn from this book. Instead, I found that it confirmed most of my anecdotal observations and explained some formerly mysterious behavior. For example, why does the dog's digestive ailment instantly clear up as soon as he's given wet food instead of dry, or, better yet, chicken? Easy--he's a hypochondriac and a manipulator! They do it because they know it works! Dogs really are smart, but not for the reasons we think they are. I agree with Budiansky that we do dogs a disservice by expecting them to be too much like us. To say that a dog is "just" a dog does not denigrate them. Show me a neurotic dog, and I'll show you a neurotic owner every time. Much of the book made me laugh out loud. Mostly what I ended up learning from it was the evolutionary stuff--fascinating. (A small disclaimer: I work for the journal Science, so I probably got more out of the evolution discussion than the average reader will.)
Rating: 
Summary: I am a dog lover, Good book but NOT A TRAINING BOOK.
Review: But Budiansky really does not understand dogs very well. You don't learn about dogs from the abstract. I doubt that many people (if any) who have taken their dog regularly to the dog park and watched a thousand or so dogs growing up socializing in a healthy off leash environment will agree with many of Budiansky's conclusions. I only wish more people acted as "human" as many of the dogs I have met. Dogs are not Wolves. We have put very much of what we are into them over the years. Much of what is the best in us. I have felt that should space aliens ever really come to our planet, they will exterminate us like cockroaches, but they will keep the dogs.
Rating:
Summary: TheTruthAboutHATING Dogs
Review: I have 2 Airedales,Whiskey(Male)and Jazz(Female).I've never experienced so much love given to me by these beutifull Dogs.I wanted to know more about my BEST FRIENDS.How long are they going to live?Why does the female still pee sometimes in the living room?Why do I have to hand feed the male?Why is Whiskey afraid of lightning?Stephen Budiansky's book was no help.Were made to believe our dogs are not showing LOVE,but are Con Artist.Well, my 2 Airedales must be the greatest con artist in the World.In there eyes,I could do no wrong.When I fell last winter,the female rushed to my side to help me up while she was licking me.The male checks on me in the middle of the night to make sure I'm still alive,by licking my feet,and everyone else in the house before he goes back to sleep.How excited my 2 buddies are when I get home from work,and start drinking water,and eating dog bone treats because there so Happy to see me.If you LOVE Dogs,and want to know more about your Great Friends,this is NOT the Book to Read.
Rating:
Summary: A BRUTAL READ!!
Review: I was given this book as a gift and was really shocked to find all these positive reviews on Amazon. I have been trying to read this book for months and have decided to throw it out with about three quarters of it read. I have never not finished a book before. Brutal-diansky's writing style is terrible. I was amazed at his ability to take interesting topics, for example the aggressive behavior in dogs, and make me just not care about it. The amount of pages wasted on his so called scientific rhetoric was just absurd. Was he trying to write a science book or a fun fact finding book with anecdotal opinions? He approaches the subject of dogs in a clinical manner but after pages and pages of meandering just ends up being boringly opinionated. This would be fine if this was the intention of the book but let's be straight about it from the start. The author is not being very honest in this regard. On top of his horrific writing style and flip flopping between science and opinion the information given by him seemed like common sense. If you don't realize your dog is a dog and you are a human then for pete sake you need more than The Truth About Dogs from Stephen Brutal-diansky to read. I own two dogs and really thought I would learn more about them by reading this book. I was wrong. Very little of the information in this book was interesting and/or useful. A lot of it was just stuff you would already know if you owned a dog. I found this book a brutal read.
Rating:
Summary: Debunks Common Misconceptions about Dogs.
Review: In The Truth About Dogs, Budiansky offers an objective, insightful, and concise analysis of canis familiaris. His is a deliberate effort to understand dogs as they truly are, thus eliminating the anthropomorphic trappings most of us homo sapiens succumb to. He draws from an abundance of evolutionary and behavioral research, which he combines with relevant and oft funny examples. Budiansky starts by comparing wolves and the scavenger dogs from which modern dogs evolved. He discusses the structure of the wolf social-heirarchy and how it's been altered, but is still relevant in domestic canines. One of the most surprising and controversial assertion he makes is that humans probably didn't consciously domesticate dogs. Instead, it was a case of dogs exploiting humans. Individual dogs that were able to illicit a beneficial response from humans had a survival advantage over less-docile individuals. Humans were (and continue to be) a comparatively easy source of food (and other necessities) and thus certain dogs took advantage of this resources, thrived, and passed on these beneficial traits to their offspring. After setting the foundation, Budiansky procedes to debunk many of the myths most of us have (had) about canis familiaris. He argues, quite convincingly, that it's an anthropomorphic misconception to project human characteristics on dogs: They aren't loyal, selfless, or posses any number of human-defined attributes. Instead, canine behavior (like the behavior of all animals) is a combination of instinct and environmental conditioning. For instance, when a dog licks your face, it isn't out of love, but instead a show of submissiveness towards someone the dog perceives as a more dominant pack member. He continues to explain numerous other canine behaviors from the evolutionary-behavioral approach. It's understandable why so many other reviewers have denegrated this book. When long held falsities and misconceptions are so convincingly debunked, the natural reaction is offense and resentment: Many of my long-held delusions were shattered. However, even if you don't agree with his ideas, Budiansky has created soundly reasoned argument that is never tedious or pendantic. Inspite of what others have misunderstood (those who didn't finish the book), he writes out of love for dogs (he's lived with many in his lifetime) and a desire to cultivate a better understanding of their behavior. As two social species dogs and humans have much in common and Budiansky's work serves to enrich human-dog relations.
Rating:
Summary: The truth about this book
Review: There are a lot of lousy books about dogs, dog training, dog heroics, dog antics, etc., out there. This book is NOT one of them. Budiansky's thesis is simple: Dogs are dogs; they are not people. Dogs behave like dogs; they do not behave like people. Nonetheless, dog owners persist in thinking of their dogs as people and trying to understand dog behavior in human terms. This type of thinking is detrimental to dog and person alike--canine/human interactions are at their most rewarding when humans treat dogs as dogs. Budiansky goes on to explain dog behavior from an evolutionary perspective. That is, how does (or did) behavior X serve the survival and/or reproduction of the species? I'd rate this book a five, but I don't follow Budiansky's argument that dogs are wolves in arrested, or altered, juvenile development. He suggests that a genetic by environment interaction took place, but he doesn't lay out the mechanism for such an interaction clearly. His assertions may well be correct, but I would have liked to see more evidence on this point. Overall, however, I found the science to be concise and engaging. I recommend this book to people who wish to have a humane relationship with a dog and who want a dog to have a canine relationship with a human.
Rating:
Summary: The truth about this book
Review: There are a lot of lousy books about dogs, dog training, dog heroics, dog antics, etc., out there. This book is NOT one of them. Budiansky's thesis is simple: Dogs are dogs; they are not people. Dogs behave like dogs; they do not behave like people. Nonetheless, dog owners persist in thinking of their dogs as people and trying to understand dog behavior in human terms. This type of thinking is detrimental to dog and person alike--canine/human interactions are at their most rewarding when humans treat dogs as dogs. Budiansky goes on to explain dog behavior from an evolutionary perspective. That is, how does (or did) behavior X serve the survival and/or reproduction of the species? I'd rate this book a five, but I don't follow Budiansky's argument that dogs are wolves in arrested, or altered, juvenile development. He suggests that a genetic by environment interaction took place, but he doesn't lay out the mechanism for such an interaction clearly. His assertions may well be correct, but I would have liked to see more evidence on this point. Overall, however, I found the science to be concise and engaging. I recommend this book to people who wish to have a humane relationship with a dog and who want a dog to have a canine relationship with a human.
Rating: 
Summary: dog lovers must read this
Review: This is not a dog training manual but if you love dogs it's a must read. The Truth About Dogs provides a fascinating history of dogs; where they came from, their relationship with humans, and why they do what they do. Of particular interest is the section on purebred dogs, which turned me (a former purebred devotee) into a mutt lover.
Rating:
Summary: dog lovers must read this
Review: This is not a dog training manual but if you love dogs it?s a must read. The Truth About Dogs provides a fascinating history of dogs; where they came from, their relationship with humans, and why they do what they do. Of particular interest is the section on purebred dogs, which turned me (a former purebred devotee) into a mutt lover.
Rating:
Summary: the Rosetta Bone of canine behavior
Review: This offbeat, even controversial, book resists the urge to anthropomorphise, which is probably one reason why so many people are upset with this book. To me, his explanations make a lot of sense. He even effectively refutes Rupert Sheldrake's belief that many dogs are psychic. Another reason people seem to hate this book is Budiansky's twisted Gary Larson-ish humor, which is evidently not to everyone's taste. A third is probably the fact that he advocates hitting, but only in cases where dominance is an issue between dog and owner. I can understand readers being angry about this, because I think with most dogs a much gentler, albeit still firm, approach is all that is needed. Also, I would think that getting into a dominance battle with a very large dog will likely end with you being sent to the emergency room. Other than that, his advice on training and punishment make a lot of sense, and are NOT the thoughts of a dog hater. Still, this is probably the best overall book on canine psychology that I have read.
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