Monday, August 26, 2019

Dog Days of Summer Special Guest Post!


A few months ago a publicist contacted me about a book I had on my radar.  I knew it would be perfect for Dog Days of Summer 2019 and happily agreed to accept a copy for review.  When I explained my August activities, Beverly agreed to see if the author would be willing to provide a special post for the occasion.  So Booker T's Farm is happy to welcome the author of "What's Bred in the Bone," Jan S. Gephardt.  




How much does your dog understand?

Have you ever wondered how much your dog knows? Does she understand your facial expressions and gestures? How much of what you say does he really comprehend? And when your dog greets you at the door with a wagging tail, is it really love—or does she just see you as a meal ticket?

Recent studies suggest the answers are “often,” “more than you might think,” and “it’s probably a lot like love.” Just how much your dog understands is still being studied, but it’s already clear we have more in common with our canine companions than we might think.


So dogs and humans have had a pretty long time to get used to each other. How much have we “rubbed off on each other”? Some researchers say quite a lot! Neither humans nor dogs would be what we are today, without each other.

That’s true physically, but studies in dog cognition also tell us it’s true in terms of dogs’ brains. This first became clear when dogs showed they could easily understand gestures such as a human pointing to an object, although chimpanzees could not. Researchers also have shown that dogs pay attention to where we are looking, and recognize the difference between happy and angry human expressions.

Verbal Virtuosos

Dogs can’t speak our languages, but they can respond to our wishes, cued by words (sounds) we’vetaught them, and guided by the tone of our voice. (Scientists haven’t, as far as I know, done studies on “selective hearing” in dogs who choose not to respond). Probably the most famous canine “verbal virtuoso” was Chaser, a border collie who belonged to a psychology professor named JohnPilley.

Pilley and Chaser were able to demonstrate that she had a vocabulary of 1,022 different nouns (the names of toys), and that she could comprehend (by reacting appropriately to)sentences containing a prepositional object, a verb, and a direct object. Pilley memorably showed her talents to the world on an episode of 60 Minutes, first aired in 2014, but still available online.


But is it truly love?




And then there’s body language. How can you mistake the message of the facial expressions, the wriggling body, the wagging tail? How can you mistake the hugs?

Dog owners know: they “get” us, in a way few other animals do. After 32,000 years, even scientists are beginning to agree.

It's clear that Jan has done her research and it's even more evident in "What's Bred in the Bone."  I'm about 100 pages in and already I've fallen in love with the dogs I've encountered, especially Rex.  Be sure to check back Friday for my review and thanks so much Jan for stopping by!


19 comments:

  1. What an awesome post! Dogs definitely can feel love for their owners, or an attachment, if that is the more preferred term. When I went on vacation, my dogs were boarded. The day I came back and fetched them, they were ecstatic and remained glued to me the whole day. And they never pass up an opportunity to be hugged and petted :D I can't wait to check out this book!

    ~Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My dogs have all loved us. There's no way it can't be described. The book is really good and since it's told from the dog's POV, it's evident that the author knows her stuff.

      Delete
  2. I don't doubt that dogs love us-their affection is so pure and joyous! I wish my dad and I could get one! I look forward to your review as this book looks a bit different from the usual dog book!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wish you could too. My review will be up Friday. It's a really good book.

      Delete
  3. OMFG, Chaser had a vocab of 1,022 nouns? How on earth? That's amazing! (They're amazing generally, even if one of ours wouldn't stop barking at all yesterday. Sighs)

    ReplyDelete
  4. This is awesome! I know my dogs love me, even if there is a scientific explanation behind it. Otis goes crazy when I come home from work each day, and that's all I need😁

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree. I can't imagine walking in the door and not being met by a dog.

      Delete
  5. Great post! I am curious about this book and can't wait to see your review!

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's fascinating to think about how much dogs understand us. and the long history of domestication/ companionship has to have had impacts. Fascinating stuff. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was glad to share this article. I think it says so much :)

      Delete
  7. I swear my dog looks at me with understanding. I think I frustrate him when I don't get him. I can't wait to read your review. This book sounds so fun.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh yea, I remember those "Why don't you get it?" looks from Booker T. He was a pro at them.

      Delete
  8. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I love this post - and it makes me want to go and give my dog a big hug.
    Dogs are so smart - I love that they recognise things like 'pointing'. It makes me sad that my own dog has gone deaf in his old age, I still ramble on at him and forget he can't hear - I suppose he can see that I'm talking to him at least.
    Lynn :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The thing is even though your dog is deaf now, I believe he can still feel all of the love and tenderness you give him each day. And really, talking to them is as much for us as it is for them right?

      Delete
  10. I used to train dogs for obedience competitions and we all surmised that dogs had the cognition of around a two year old, which is pretty darn smart! 🐾

    Did you see that they think dogs' raised eyebrow expression was developed just for us? I think that's neat. 🐶

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks for sharing the best information and suggestions, I love your content, and they are very nice and very useful to us. If you are looking for the best Train a Deaf Dog to Stop Barking, then visit Gooddogswag.com. I appreciate the work you have put into this.

    ReplyDelete