For the love of dog

Week Two
What's a Dog For? by John Homans

My book for week two took me a little longer than expected to read. First, it's the playoffs, so my weekends were spent watching football - very time consuming. Second, this book made me feel a bit like being back in college taking a Cognitive Psych course; it's pretty dense with information, and while extremely interesting, shouldn't be taken in large doses. However, this book is fascinating, heartbreaking, and heartwarming; I learned more than I expected, and finished the book feeling satisfied -- and especially loving towards my own three dogs.

John Homans does an amazing job researching the history of the dog in his first published book. He explores everything from the evolution from wolf to dog, to the controversial theories about dogs' cognitive abilities, to the development of pure breeds (the good, and more often the horrifyingly bad), and to how we as society today treat our dogs and their rights.

Homans is an academic (you may or may not know him as the editor of New York Magazine). He is a diligent researcher and does an excellent job remaining a neutral purveyor of information, especially considering how passionate we can get about our dogs. Despite the sometimes pompous undertones throughout the text, Homans is witty and intelligent - he manages to mix in-depth research with comedy and emotion. He is a man that loves his dog, but who questions what really is best for these domesticated animals. Have we moved them too far from their nature? And are we over projecting their human like qualities? Whatever the answer to these questions, there is a strong confirmation of the progress the dog has made. No longer are puppy mills the standard, or are shelters euthanizing more than 80% of dogs, no longer are dogs used for horrific vivisection in the name of science, or tortured to find what kind of pain response they possess. We've come a long way over the years, but that's not to say we don't have more progress to make; puppy mills are still fairly common, dogs are still used for scientific experiments (some which have legitimate goals, some to see what happens when you spray bleach in your eyes), and in many parts of the country, dogs are still seen as disposable pieces of property, to be shot or drowned at will. But Homans manages to show not only how much progress has been made, but how quickly; it's amazing to think where the dog will be in another twenty years.

When I sit and look at my three rescue dogs, it's easy to forget the rich history that's brought them into my home. Thousands of years of evolution, sped along by selective breeding, and quite a bit of luck has resulted in the three snoring dogs currently hogging my couch. What's a Dog For is not a sentimental book, but it certainly has the ability to touch a sentimentalist like myself in just the right way. Highly recommended, though I do warn you the first half is awfully scientific, and sometimes a tad dull.

Next week, back to fiction...
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn