"Discover why your dog is so sensitive to your emotions, gaze, and  body language. Dogs live in a world of ever-changing intricate detail of  smell. Read this captivating book and enter the sensory world of your  dog."  -- Temple Grandin, author of Animals in Translation and Animals Make Us Human

"Inside of a Dog is a most welcome authoritative, personal, and witty book about what it  is like to be a dog. This engaging volume serves as a corrective to the  many myths that circulate about just who our canine companions are. I  hope this book enjoys the wide readership it deserves."  -- Marc Bekoff,  author of The Emotional Lives of Animals and Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals (with Jessica Pierce)

What do dogs know? How do they think? The answers will surprise and  delight you as Alexandra Horowitz, a cognitive scientist, explains how  dogs perceive their daily worlds, each other, and that other quirky  animal, the human.

Inside of a Dog is a fresh look at the world  of dogs -- from the dog's point of view. As a dog owner, Horowitz is  naturally curious to learn what her dog thinks about and knows. And as a  scientist, she is intent on understanding the minds of animals who  cannot speak for themselves.

In clear, crisp prose, Horowitz  introduces the reader to dogs' perceptual and cognitive abilities and  then draws a picture of what it might be like to be a dog. What's  it like to be able to smell not just every bit of open food in the  house but also to smell sadness in humans or even the passage of time?  How does a tiny dog manage to play successfully with a Great Dane? What  is it like to hear the bodily vibrations of insects or the hum of a  fluorescent light? Why must a person on a bicycle be chased?  What's it like to use your mouth as a hand? In short, what is it like  for a dog to experience life from two feet off the ground, amidst the  smells of the sidewalk, gazing at our ankles or knees?

Inside of a Dog explains these things and much more. The answers can be surprising --  once we set aside our natural inclination to anthropomorphize dogs. Inside of a Dog also contains up-to-the-minute research -- on dogs' detection of  disease, the secrets of their tails, and their skill at reading our  attention -- that Horowitz puts into useful context. Although not a  formal training guide, Inside of a Dog has practical application for dog lovers interested in understanding why their dogs do what they do.

The  relationship between dogs and humans is arguably the most fascinating  animal-human bond because dogs evolved from wild creatures to become our  companions, an adaptation that changed their bodies, brains, and  behavior. Yet dogs always remain animals, familiar but mysterious. With a  light touch and the weight of science behind her, Alexandra Horowitz  examines the animal we think we know best but may actually understand  the least. This book is as close as you can get to knowing about dogs  without being a dog yourself.