Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.
Decoding Dogs: Inside the Canine Mind  By  cover art

Decoding Dogs: Inside the Canine Mind

By: Ellen Furlong, The Great Courses
Narrated by: Ellen Furlong
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.00

Buy for $20.00

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Our favorite moments from Decoding Dogs: Inside the Canine Mind

The ecological niche of the dog
-0.00
The differences between dog barks
-0.00
  • Decoding Dogs: Inside the Canine Mind
  • How smart are dogs?
  • Decoding Dogs: Inside the Canine Mind
  • The ecological niche of the dog
  • Decoding Dogs: Inside the Canine Mind
  • The differences between dog barks

About the Creator and Performer

Ellen Furlong is the director of the Comparative Cognition Lab and an Associate Professor in Psychology at Illinois Wesleyan University. She received her BA in Mathematics from Transylvania University and her PhD in Psychology from The Ohio State University. Before joining the faculty at Illinois Wesleyan in 2013, she served as a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University under the supervision of Dr. Laurie Santos.

What listeners say about Decoding Dogs: Inside the Canine Mind

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    313
  • 4 Stars
    137
  • 3 Stars
    73
  • 2 Stars
    20
  • 1 Stars
    7
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    297
  • 4 Stars
    110
  • 3 Stars
    39
  • 2 Stars
    19
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    266
  • 4 Stars
    105
  • 3 Stars
    71
  • 2 Stars
    14
  • 1 Stars
    9

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Meh

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

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!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Interesting class

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent!

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

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

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.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!