What the Dog Knows: Scent, Science, and the Amazing Ways Dogs Perceive the World

A firsthand exploration of the extraordinary talents and stunning, typically life-saving skills of “working canines”—pups who can sniff out medication, discover explosives, even find the useless—as informed by the experiences of a journalist and her intrepid canine companion, which The New York Occasions calls“an enchanting, deeply reported journey into the…wonderful issues canines can do with their noses.”

There are millions of working canines everywhere in the US and past with unbelievable talents—they will discover lacking folks, detect medication and bombs, pinpoint unmarked graves of Civil Struggle troopers, and even discover drowning victims greater than 2 hundred toes under the floor of a lake. These talents could seem magical or mysterious, however creator Cat Warren exhibits the science, the rigorous coaching, and the expert dealing with that underlie these creatures’ wonderful talents.

Cat Warren is a college professor and journalist who had tried every part she might consider to harness her canine Solo’s boundless vitality and enthusiasm…till a habits coach recommended she attempt coaching him to be a “working canine.” What began out as a interest quickly turned a calling, as Warren was launched to the hidden universe of canines who do that important work and the handlers who practice them.

Her canine Solo has a wonderful nostril and is aware of how one can use it, however he’s solely one in every of many astounding canines in a different subject. Warren interviews cognitive psychologists, historians, medical experts, epidemiologists, and forensic anthropologists, in addition to the breeders, trainers, and handlers who work with and depend on these clever and adaptable animals each day. Alongside the way in which, Warren discovers story after story that show the capabilities—in addition to the very actual limits—of working canines and their human companions. Clear-eyed and unsentimental, Warren explains why our partnership with working canines is woven into the material of society, and why we maintain discovering new makes use of for the fantastic noses of our four-legged associates.

Writer ‏ : ‎ Touchstone; Reprint version (March 10, 2015)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 343 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1451667329
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1451667325
Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 860L
Merchandise Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.5 x 1 x 8.38 inches