Decoding Dogs: Inside the Canine Mind

By: Ellen Furlong, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Ellen Furlong

They might be our best friends, but we often have no idea what they are thinking. Peer inside the fascinating world of the mind of the dog with associate professor of psychology Ellen Furlong of Illinois Wesleyan University.

Ever wonder how the same nose that always manages to find the worst-smelling place in the park to roll around can also be trained to sniff out cancer, bombs, and even endangered plants and animals? As you embark on a penetrating look at the canine brain, you’ll break down the unique ways dogs think and feel and investigate how they see the world around them - as well as how they smell it!

Professor Furlong will unpack the evolution and domestication of dogs and explain why talking about how “smart” dogs are misses the point. She’ll dig into the special relationship dogs have with humans, both illuminating where it stemmed from and examining what dogs actually think of us.

These insights will help you gain a much deeper understanding of and appreciation for your canine companion, and, by examining how dogs acted in the past, you might better grasp your modern dog’s perplexing, quirky behaviors. A better comprehension of your dog’s cognition, perception, and social relationships will help you build a stronger bond as well as improve your ability to work with your pup.

If you’ve ever shaken your head at your puzzling pup while wondering “Why in the world does he do that?” this is your chance to get answers as you go inside the mind of your furry best friend.

©2020 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2020 Audible Originals, LLC.

Interesting but not so informative as promised

The course offers interesting tidbits about experiments that have helped humans learn about dogs’ evolution, but did not offer as much insights about dogs that were new to me.

Fascinating. Definitely worth the listen.

I love the Great Courses and this one did not disappoint. The content is interesting and the speaker is pleasant to listen to. My only complaint is that, at times, she has a tendency to overexplain a concept. Still, absolutely worth the listen from beginning to end!

Interesting class

I enjoyed the various experiments she conducted with dogs. She is a good teacher and enjoys her work.

Ellen and this a-book is amazing!

Having grown up with pets, and having a couple of extra but not supercilious shadows until only recently when we ended up having to put our little elder lady down much like Ellen’s example in the audiobook, I’ve always wanted to know more about my best buddies. Ellen is knowledgeable and makes this a fun listen. Her passion, knowledge, enthusiasm on the subject and humor comes out extremely well. I have recommended this to my family, including my sister, who is a practicing small animal Veterinarian. I’m curious to see what she thinks of it and I will edit my comments then. But in the meantime, feast your ears learning about our best friends! Enjoy! Woof woof!

Meh

Interesting, but not much more. I like dogs, so I enjoyed it. She is serious about her work.

Fascinating and worth a listen

I would have given it 5 stars but I was disappointed in the caricature of Cesar Milan’s view of dog psychology. The author suggests that Cesar encourages aggressive dominance over dogs because he views them as wolf-like.
The Dog Whisperer’s approach is one of calm assertive energy not the macho dominance the lecturer describes.

Well organized but nothing new

I don’t know my dogs any better after listening to this book. Parts of the book discuss scientific studies about common knowledge, and that was hard to listen to. If you care about your dogs or cat, you’d understand them. We expect dogs to understand humans, but most people don’t bother to understand their pets

informational

This is a good look onto the dog mind and some reasons that they do what they do. The best part I found was the lecture on how dogs view humans, pack member or best friend. This has changed my perspective.
Additionally, the author is also the narrator and she does excellent job, with a great speaking voice that has great inflections and tone.

Excellent!

This is a reaaly enjoyable and interesting book. All the more if you love dogs.

Meh

It was OK, but not as interesting as I thought it would be. The presenter is a hard core scientist. Once you choke down all the evolutionary theory it was slightly more interesting.