Amazon.co.uk Review
Dogs: A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behaviour, and Evolution was written by behavioural scientists Raymond and Lorna Coppinger who have raised hundreds of different dogs of various breeds, raced sled teams, and published professional and popular works on canine behaviour. This book, their manifesto, covers their views of canine evolution and treatment by humans and offers deep insight, provoking theories, and controversial ideas regarding our relationship with them. Though some of the material is most appropriate for readers with some zoological background, much of it is written for a general audience--one that cares about dogs not just for what they offer humans, but for their own sake. Arguing that much of current thinking about dogs' evolutionary history is misguided, they share their own rather complex story of wolf-like animals coevolving with permanent human settlements and only recently being subject to directed breeding and artificial selection. This is interesting enough, but they go on to take issue with the use and treatment of dogs, some of which they claim is bad for dog and human alike. Pure breeding, making companion animals of inappropriate breeds, and even some uses of disability assistance are assailed for neglecting genetic and other hardwired aspects of canine life. Surprisingly little is known for sure about dogs' lives and behaviour, so the Coppingers' contribution is a welcome, if occasionally unsettling, eye-opener.
--Rob Lightner
Review
Dr. Richard W. Wrangham
professor of anthropology, Harvard University
Forget being the alphawolf. "Dogs" teaches old dog lovers new tricks. For thousands of years after dogs stopped being wolves, and before they became pets, they were something else -- a self-domesticated species with a mind of their own. The Coppingers' convincing new theory of dog evolution will be as interesting for archaeologists as for breeders and pet owners.