Stanley Coren > Quotes

“The greatest fear dogs know is the fear that you will not come back when you go out the door without them.”
― Stanley Coren

“...from the Plains Sioux Indians. The Great Spirit the creator, decided to separate the world of animals and the world of men, so He gathered all living things on the Great Plains, and He drew a line down in the dirt. That line began to expand and form into a great deep crevasse, and at the last moment before it became unbreachable Dog leapt over and stood by Man.
[from the book The NPR Interviews 1995, edited by Robert Siegel.]”
― Stanley Coren

“From the dog’s viewpoint, however, they are directly asserting dominance with that stare. When you respond by giving him what he wants, the dog interprets this as a submissive gesture on your part, and also reads this as your acceptance that the dog has a higher status in the pack than you do.”
― Stanley Coren, How To Speak Dog: Mastering the Art of Dog-Human Communication

“However things took an unexpected turn when, out of the blue, the host of the radio show asked me who I would consider to be the best dog fiction writer ever. I don't think I have ever been asked that question before, nor can I remember thinking about it seriously, however I knew what my answer would be immediately—Albert Payson Terhune. – Stanley Coren, ‘The Best Dog Fiction Writer Ever? – Psychology Today online article.”
― Stanley Coren

“The reason the dog is looking at you is that you have now caught his attention by using his name, and he is waiting for information about what you desire of him. After a few seconds of this exchange of gazes, you might well repeat the command in an annoyed tone. “I said sit, you stupid dog.” The dog now sits, but it was the human that was being stupid.”
― Stanley Coren, How To Speak Dog: Mastering the Art of Dog-Human Communication

“We do not perceive what is "out ther," rather we perceive what is "in here." Our senses can only inform us of their own status. They can inform us of the elesctrical status of neurons or the physical or the chemical status of the receptors. The outside world is never taken into our consciousness. The outside world is rather our own creation, psychologically synthesized from the mass of sensations that envelope us. In many respects, the ultimate question that perception must ask was stated by John Stuart Mill in 1865. He asked, "What is it we mean, or what is it which leads us to say, that the objects we perceive are external to us, and not a part of our own thoughts?" That remains, perhaps, the ultimate, unresolved perceptual puzzle.”
― Stanley Coren

“We do not perceive what is "out there," rather we perceive what is "in here." Our senses can only inform us of their own status. They can inform us of the electrical status of neurons or the physical or the chemical status of the receptors. The outside world is never taken into our consciousness. The outside world is rather our own creation, psychologically synthesized from the mass of sensations that envelope us. In many respects, the ultimate question that perception must ask was stated by John Stuart Mill in 1865. He asked, "What is it we mean, or what is it which leads us to say, that the objects we perceive are external to us, and not a part of our own thoughts?" That remains, perhaps, the ultimate, unresolved perceptual puzzle.”
― Stanley Coren, Sensation and Perception