How Dogs Love Us
A Neuroscientist and His Adopted Dog Decode the Canine Brain
Book - 2013
After his family adopted Callie, a shy, skinny terrier mix, Berns decided that there was only one way to answer that question--use an MRI machine to scan the dog's brain. His colleagues dismissed the idea. Everyone knew that dogs needed to be restrained or sedated for MRI scans. But if the military could train dogs to operate calmly in some of the most challenging environments, surely there must be a way to train dogs to sit in an MRI scanner.
With this radical conviction, Berns and his dog would embark on a remarkable journey and be the first to glimpse the inner workings of the canine brain. Painstakingly, the two worked together to overcome the many technical, legal, and behavioral hurdles. Berns's research offers surprising results on how dogs empathize with human emotions, how they love us, and why dogs and humans share one of the most remarkable friendships in the animal kingdom.
How Dogs Love Us answers the age-old question of dog lovers everywhere and offers profound new evidence that dogs should be treated as we would treat our best human friends: with love, respect, and appreciation for their social and emotional intelligence.
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Add a CommentInteresting research presented with touching personal stories.
A very easy read, one that holds interest to me as a dog person. It seems the book left off with all manner of sensible experiments yet to be tried out, even given the restricted sample of dogs trained to sit still in a Magnetic Resonance Machine. The book is written as personal narrative covering the idea for taking MRI's of awake dogs and the initial experiments.
The book gave insight regarding the bureaucratic restraints on experimentation that impose hurdles, if not blockages, to so many experiments and yet allow all manner of apparently unethical practices all the same. The red tape mandated presence of a veterinairen happened to save the first experiment, so it's not all bad to have hangers on - some might prove useful!
I would recommend watching this authors TED talk that shares the same name as this book. If the information piques your interest start around page 130. The first half of the book contains just antecdotes about old dogs and the logistics of setting up this experiment.
Fantastic book. Easy to read, fascinating content. A large portion of the book (maybe a tad too much) is dedicated to telling the story of the lead-up to the actual experiments, however, it is interesting to read about hurdles, preconceptions, funding issues and the like.
Fascinating book that debunks the idea of the dog owner establishing pack leadership as successful dog-human relationship. A must read for dog owners and dog lovers.