The Hidden Life of Dogs

By: Elizabeth Marshall Thomas

Narrated by: Swoosie Kurtz

How do dogs think? Do they fantasize? Do they dream? What do their barks, whines, and growls tell other dogs? How do they communicate in groups, and why do they form hierarchies? What do dogs want? Anthropologist Elizabeth Marshall Thomas attempts to answer these and other questions about a species that has been with mankind for over 20,000 years and still remains a mystery. Based on 30 years and hundreds of thousands of hours of research, this volume describes behavior every dog owner has seen thousands of times but will now understand for only the first time.©1993 Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, All Rights Reserved; ©1993 Time Warner AudioBooks, A Time Warner Company

Critic reviews

"The best book about dogs I have read since Konrad Lorenz published Man Meets Dog four decades ago." (George Schaller)

great observations

this book is filled with wonderful detailed observations of multiple dogs living together in the author's house. The dogs are allowed to roam the neighbor and with at least one dog the author follows the dog and observes his behavior in detail. Several of her females give birth. The interactions of the dogs with each other are described in greater detail than I've seen elsewhere. I don't agree with another reviewer that her conclusions are wrong and dangerous. On the contrary. Her conclusions are based on her observations.

Perfect bedtime tale

I absolutely loved reading this book. And listening to it. Beautifully, carefully written, executed like a science but with all the devotion writing of a new mother. Wonderful!

Life of dogs

Fascinating! Since more than half of the dogs in her study sample had roots in the wild – wolves, coyotes, dingoes - I felt it was a study in how dogs and semi-wild dogs behaved. I’m not sure if she studied eight Labrador Retrievers, if she would have the same results.

Unbelievably rewarding.

Well after selecting this audible book. I was left with my mouth open. This book is a must have for all dog owners and lovers. Really starts making you understand the physchology of these companions.

The Hidden Life of Dogs

This book made me cry; more titles by this author please.

Fascinating

I found this book completely compelling and Swoozie Kurtz did a great job narrating it. Although there was much I didn't agree with in the author's approach to raising dogs, the book was very informative and entertaining. I certainly saw my dogs in a whole new light!

Ridiculous

This is a story which asks the reader to suspend logic. I didn’t even want to finish it. The reader does a very good job.

TomHutch is right--a very bad book

Treacley, self-indulgent, self-consciously cute and embarrassingly ignorant, this novel disguised as nonfiction is a disservice to dog lovers. You know you are in weird territory when the author refers to her dog's canine mate as 'husband.' A better choice by far is 'Cesar's Way.'

Disappointing and dangerously incorrect

Like several other readers, I was disappointed and concerned about the incorrect information about dogs conveyed in this book. Although the author contends that she made a careful and thorough study of dogs by doing 100000 hours of observation of her own pack of dogs, the book is primarily the author's own anthropomorphizing of her dog's behavior, with her making dramatic interpretations of what the dogs "must" be feeling. At best, it is treacle. At worst, it is dangerous. In several places she reports behavior by the dogs, only to add an interpretation which is astounding. She misinterprets dominance behavior as simply "greeting", assumes her dogs are getting along with another dog only to have to later rescue the third dog from being killed by her dogs, and so on. The danger in this book is that readers will believe her interpretations to the detriment of their relationship with their own dog, or, more concerning, believe her interpretations of dog behavior are real, not merely her opinions, and therefore fail to protect or properly control their own dogs, and suffer the consequences. Examples would include her failure to recognize the signs of and proactively deal with the above mentioned aggression by her dogs towards another dog, a heartwrenching story she blithely tells about having 2 dogs with litters at the same time and having one mother dog kill the puppies of the other (which she interprets as merely the way of the wild accepted by both mother dogs); and so on. Readers looking for information on how to work with and relate to their dogs should, in my opinion, look elsewhere. Or at least read several other books, make your own assessments and take this book for what it really is -- the author's own thoughts about what her dog's behavior means and nothing more.

Bad from the beginning

As a dog trainer I was really excited about this book. I thought it would carry some insight into multiple dog households with maybe a bit of science behind it. What I found was nothing of the sort. The author clearly does not understand dog behavior in the least and caused most of the heartbreak she writes of herself. The book is well written, but the story she tells is just too heartbreaking for me (especially when most of her troubles could have easily been avoided).