Customer Reviews

The Hidden Life Of Dogs

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

Absolutely nothing new here. Really, what could you learn from someone who thinks it is fascinating to watch her supposedly beloved dog cross the Alewife Parkway in Cambridge -- repeatedly! As she revels in allowing her "dogs to be dogs" all I could think about was: imagine being her neighbor! (which she does, in fact, imply is pure hell). Maybe if she had learned something interesting from her supposed research you could argue it was worthwhile, although I personally have trouble with the idea of potentially sacrificing great dogs to senseless research. Everything she finds enlightening has already been (better) researched and basically comes straight out of wolf research. Send in the humane society (the dog catcher has already called -- several times)!

This poetic little book celebrating cruelty to dogs has undoubtedly been quite profitable, but I wonder how many dogs' lives it has cost. Readers who don't know any better will be encouraged to let their dogs roam loose and to breed them without any thought of finding genuinely good homes for the puppies. The next time you see a smashed dog by the roadside, or a litter of pups dumped at the pound, think of this book, which has done all it can to make these things happen. The author also commits an additional act of incomprehensible cruelty: After her top female dog kills all of the puppies of another dog, the author deliberately breeds the victimized dog again, and lets her sweat out her pregnancy in an agony of fear. The author's training as an impartial anthropologist observer seems to have caused her to lose sight of her moral responsibilities. These are not wolves to be impartially observed without interference, but her own dogs or friends' dogs, whose well-being and happiness are her deepest moral responsibility. Little wonder that her dogs wanted almost nothing to do with her toward the end of the book. They must have understood how profoundly she had betrayed them.

This little book is a riff of anthropomorphic nonsense about a group of dogs that have had the misfortune to pass through Ms. Thomas' hands over the years. This is a woman who acquires dogs "one for each member of the family," as though she were purchasing toothbrushes. She has no compunction about letting a dog left in her care wander at will over a large urban area, including crossing busy highways, "just to see where he went!" She does not believe in training dogs, but rather "lets them train themselves," and she apparently has not heard of spaying or neutering as the responsibility of a pet owner. I finished the book, but felt like throwing it against the wall more than once.

I read this book over the weekend, and it bugs me more every day. Humans have spent 14,000 years domesticating dogs; we are responsible for their health, well-being, and behavior. Marshall Thomas has neglected her duty to her dogs by allowing them to roam freely into danger, breed indiscriminantly (with disasterous results), and generally placed them and others (human and canine) at risk by allowing animal instinct to take over in an unnatural situation (11 dogs in a city house). What she has learned in the process of "observing" the behavior of her dogs is NOT worth the suffering and problems that have been caused to them and others. This book is ANNOY the heck out of anyone who really cares about their dogs.

What a sad and pathetic example of someone who fails to establish a basic relationship with her animals, leaving them to fend for themselves. The poor dogs give up on the hope of human companionship and revert to survival behavior. A pity that this woman has no understanding of how to create a meaningful partnership with her animals, in which humans and canines love and respect each other and enjoy spending time together. The human equivalent to her "experiment" would be leaving your child alone in the woods for a year to see what happens. If you love animals, don't bother with this book. Instead, get a book about agility, obedience, flyball, or another activity you can share and enjoy with your dog.

I agree with every negative comment that has been made about this book. Does anyone know if there is a website somewhere debunking her phony science and attacking her irresponsiblity? She makes me so angry!

This is a fascinating examination of the behaviour of the author's own and very special pack, which is mainly comprised of huskies, the domesticated dog closest to the root ancestors of all our canine pals - the wolf. But the owner of a Dachshund or even a Labrador (now America's number one pick) will find less of relevance to understanding their companion. We follow Thomas as she ingeniously follows her huskies on hundred mile jaunts in and around the "wilds" of Cambridge. Massachusetts. We listen with great interest but a sense, mainly, of the strange, not the familiar, as her huskies are allowed to recapitulate the lifeways of their feral relatives right in the suburban back yards and city streets. As other reviewers have commented, one is constantly distracted by the thought of how irresponsible the "experiment" is of giving such latitude to any pet, let alone a breed so notoriously unpredictable and aggressive. Do we really want quasi-wolves roaming at will? In the end, despite the high quality of the writing, I personally gathered very much less than I'd expected (from the title and liner notes) towards any new insights about my "Fido".

I read this book a couple of years ago and have never stopped thinking about it. Unfortunately, I loaned it out and forgot who has it. I am buying it again, it is that good! I won't be loaning this one!
A great book with touching and amazing accounts of how dog's truly behave when we are not around.
Wonderful book!

This book was an interesting read. A little anthropomorphic for those who don't like that, but I really enjoyed it. Easy read. Very well-written!

This book is junk. Don't buy it if you have even half an ounce of brain cells in your noggin. The remaining cells will revolt against the sicky-sweet, arbitrary, non-objective drivel forced upon them. This is NOT an insight into dog behavior. It's an insight into braindead writing and irresponsible dog ownership.