How Dogs Love Us

a neuroscientist and his dog decode the canine brain
Gregory Berns

'Humorous and moving'

New Idea

"How Dogs Love Us makes a thought-provoking and often humorous case for something canine lovers have suspected for years: dogs are not simply 'Pavlovian learning machines' but, rather, sentient beings with a high level of empathy and an affinity for social learning. In answering his original question, he sparks many more about how we value and care for our canine companions."

Kirsten Galles, Shelf Awareness

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'How Dogs Love Us is a fascinating account of a scientist's tenacious pursuit of the unknown. Gregory Berns's account of his lab's Dog Project provides readers with new insights into the minds of our most loyal companions while also reminding us that scientific research should be approached with passion, love, and a bold disregard for the possibility of failure.'

Dan Ariely, author of The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty

'An exciting journey to the center of a dog's emotional mind. Berns offers hilarious descriptions of training his dog to lie still while being fed hot dogs in the MRI brain-scan machine.'

Temple Grandin, author of Animals Make Us Human

'With infectious passion for dogs, science, life, and love, Gregory Berns takes us on a rollicking yet scientifically serious study of the mental life of dogs — what dogs understand and how they think. Berns's tale is a dramatic but very funny look at how real, grubby science can accomplish great things. This is dognitive science at its insightful, passionate, and playful best.'

Patricia Churchland, author of Touching a Nerve

'How Dogs Love Us is the beautifully written story of an iconoclastic neuroscientist challenging the status quo and seeking to truly understand the dogs with whom we share our lives.'

Jennifer Arnold, author of Through a Dog's Eyes

'Amazingly entertaining and super smart. In How Dogs Love Us, Gregory Berns gives us our first real look inside the brain of a dog, while simultaneously setting new standards in ethical science. A truly great read!'

Steven Kotler, author of A Small Furry Prayer

'Gregory Berns's book, packed with solid scientific research and warm personal stories, will set the agenda for future research on the minds and emotional lives of animals.'

Marc Bekoff, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals

'Fast, fun, and funny, Gregory Berns demonstrates scientifically that dogs are people, too.'

Laurence Gonzales, author of Surviving Survival

'Gregory Berns's amusing story about his dogs, his daughters, and a giant magnet communicates as no other what fun science can be.'

Frans de Waal, author of The Bonobo and the Atheist

'This book lets you see inside the mind of a dog as never before. How Dogs Love Us will revolutionise how we understand animals — especially our dogs. This is a must-read for animal lovers and neuroscientists alike.'

Brian Hare, author of The Genius of Dogs

'If you've ever looked at your dog and wondered what's going on inside his head, you'll get a kick out of this book ...a fascinating, heart-warming insight into man's best friend.'

Adelaide Advertiser

Neuroscientist Gregory Berns had spent decades using MRI imaging technology to study how the human brain works, but a different question still nagged at him: What is my dog thinking?

After his family brought home Callie, a shy, skinny terrier mix, Berns decided that there was only one way to answer that question — use an MRI machine to scan the dog’s brain. His colleagues dismissed the idea: everyone knew that dogs needed to be restrained or sedated for MRI scans.

As well as having to surmount behavioural and technical hurdles, Berns would have to overcome bureaucrats who didn’t want pets on campus — and who wondered if it would be simpler just to use beagles bred for research. However, Berns wanted to know more than what a laboratory dog thinks. How Dogs Love Us humanises neuroscience and answers the age-old question of dog-lovers everywhere. It offers profound new evidence that dogs should be treated as we would treat our best human friends: with love, respect, and appreciation for their social and emotional intelligence.

'Humorous and moving'

New Idea

Kirsten Galles, Shelf Awareness

View all reviews

Dan Ariely, author of The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty

'An exciting journey to the center of a dog's emotional mind. Berns offers hilarious descriptions of training his dog to lie still while being fed hot dogs in the MRI brain-scan machine.'

Temple Grandin, author of Animals Make Us Human

Patricia Churchland, author of Touching a Nerve

'How Dogs Love Us is the beautifully written story of an iconoclastic neuroscientist challenging the status quo and seeking to truly understand the dogs with whom we share our lives.'

Jennifer Arnold, author of Through a Dog's Eyes

Steven Kotler, author of A Small Furry Prayer

'Gregory Berns's book, packed with solid scientific research and warm personal stories, will set the agenda for future research on the minds and emotional lives of animals.'

Marc Bekoff, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals

'Fast, fun, and funny, Gregory Berns demonstrates scientifically that dogs are people, too.'

Laurence Gonzales, author of Surviving Survival

'Gregory Berns's amusing story about his dogs, his daughters, and a giant magnet communicates as no other what fun science can be.'

Frans de Waal, author of The Bonobo and the Atheist

Brian Hare, author of The Genius of Dogs

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Details

Format:Paperback

Size: 210mm × 135mm

Extent:272pp

ISBN (13):9781922070807

RRP:$29.99

Pub date:25 Nov 2013

Rights Held: UK & Commonwealth

High-res cover:Download Image

AWARDS

CATEGORIES / tags

Popular science SCIENCE / General Animal behaviour Dogs as pets Animals & society SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Neuroscience SCIENCE / Life Sciences / Zoology / Mammals PETS / Dogs / General

AUTHOR

Gregory Berns

Gregory Berns, MD, PhD, is the distinguished professor of neuroeconomics at Emory University. Dr Berns’s research is frequently the subject of popular media coverage, including articles in The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.