Inside of a Dog -- Young Readers Edition: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know

Together, all of these pieces will combine to start to give us an answer to these questions: How does a dog think? What can a dog know? What does a dog understand?

For dogs, smell tells time.

Training is usually about changing a dog so that he can behave in ways a human will approve of. But my goal in this book is to look at what dogs actually are, not at what people want dogs to be. We are trying to understand what your dog wants from and understands about you.

they have inherited something important from their wolflike ancestors—an interest in being around others and in paying attention to what those others are doing.

They are nearly as good as we are at noticing changes in pitch.

The first thing to do is to stop thinking of your dog as if he is a human being.

Their ears are terrifically long, but this isn’t to make them hear better. Instead, a slight swing of the head sets these ears in motion, fanning up more scented air for the nose to catch. Their constant stream of drool is also a perfect way for the dog to gather up smells in the air and bring them to the vomeronasal organ.

Adult dogs and wolves lick muzzles simply to welcome another dog back home, and to get a report, by smelling, of where the newcomer has been or what he has done.

First, we will look at how dogs came from wolves, and the changes that happened to them along the way. Then, we must understand how a dog’s senses work. We need to appreciate what a dog smells, sees, and hears, and imagine the view from two feet off the ground. Finally, we’ll take a look at how the brain of a dog works.