A Dog Is Listening: The Way Some of Our Closest Friends View Us

by Roger A. Caras

Overview

As readers of A Cat Is Watching know, Roger Caras has a special affinity with the animal kingdom. Now, in a winning mix of psychological insight, factual research, and personal, paws-on experience, Caras takes the reader into the special world of dogs.

A noted wildlife author explores the canine world and reveals what they see, hear, feel, taste, and smell, and more, in a heartwarming guide to man's best friend accompanied by amusing stories.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780671797263
Publisher:	Touchstone
Publication date:	03/10/1993
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Roger Andrew Caras is wildlife photographer, writer, wildlife preservationist and television personality. Known as the host of the annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Caras was the author of more than 70 books, a veteran of network television programs including Nightline, ABC World News Tonight and 20/20 before devoting himself to work as president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Editorial Reviews

ABC special correspondent Caras ( A Cat Is Watching ) here offers up a valentine to canis familiaris . His detailed and energetic appraisal of the dog's conventional sensory abilities discloses such curiosities as the fact that dogs have 60 degrees more peripheral vision than humans do, and explains how these abilities help the dog fulfill its evolutionary roles (peripheral vision, for example, is ``invaluable'' in hunting). Dogs, according to the author, have a demonstrable sixth sense, the capacity to ``taste air,'' and he uses anecdotal evidence to propose that man's best friend may also have sensory awareness of magnetic fields and barometric pressure, as well as a ``who-knows-what earthquake detection mode.'' The most intriguing hypothesis, that dogs may perceive infrared radiation, is supported by the report of a mutt that invariably knows when its seizure-prone mistress is about to succumb to an attack. Caras's concluding argument that dogs can indeed think defies orthodox animal behaviorists, but, like the rest of his good-natured book, will gratify dog lovers. Photos not seen by PW. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly