A Dog Is Listening: The Way Some of Our Closest Friends View Us

by Roger A. Caras

“Man and Dog have been together for just about as long as the idea or perhaps fortuitous accident of domestic animals has existed,” writes Roger A. Caras in A Dog Is Listening. This loving look at mam’s most faithful friend examines the dog inside the dog as it relates to us and its own evolution.

With personal stories about his own family of twelve dogs, Caras explores the world from a dog’s-eye view—what a canine see, hears, feels, tastes, and smells. Taking the reader into a universe beyond human perception, A Dog Is Listening also explains the senses dogs have that enable them to hear and smell things we cannot. And Caras even offers an empathic understanding of dogs’ feelings—from depression and fear to their sense of humor and emotional attachment.

In this captivating mix of biology, psychology, and anecdote, we learn how dogs catch Frisbees, why they love to be scratched, and why dog food tastes good to them. Along the way, we meet a charming cast of canines, including Olaf, a Newfoundland who is scared of thunderstorms and drools more when he feels stressed; Zack, a yellow Labrador so good-natured that he wags his tail in his sleep; Chloe Sweetpea, a three-legged mannerless puppy; and Sheba, who has the uncanny ability to monitor her owner’s epileptic seizures.

Anyone who has ever treasured the companionship of a dog will want to settle down with this book. And if you choose to read aloud, you can be sure a dog is listening.

Genres: Dogs, Nonfiction, Animals

228 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Roger A. Caras was an American wildlife photographer, writer, wildlife preservationist and television personality.

Known as the host of the annual Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, Caras was a veteran of network television programs including "Nightline," "ABC News Tonight" and "20/20" before devoting himself to work as president of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and to becoming an author.

Reviews

[Colin Butcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my greatest regrets is I never got to meet this great man.

Every book of his that I have read is packed full of useful information and as a dog handler and pet detective it really does help to know as much as possible about our canine friends.

If you really want to find out more about why your dog behaves in a certain way, what your dog is thinking or indeed anything else about dogs then put this book right at the top of your list. I read the book cover to cover in just over a week and have read it several times since. You will not be disapointed

I Loved it.

[Kyle Wendy Skultety (gimmethatbook.com) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Roger Caras because he always has something good to say about Greyhounds! This is a well written book, with sly humor and many thought provoking chapters about man's best friend. Great addition to a dog lover's library.

[Jan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Updated by now, with Alexandra Horowitz's Being a Dog and Inside of a Dog and all the research on dogs' senses and intelligence. So, many of Caras' "perhaps" questions and musings have been answered, and his style is a bit too avuncular and wordy for me. What entertained me more than his supposing (endlessly) about what dogs think were his anecdotes about his "pack" and their antics.

[Leah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second of Roger Caras' pair of books about most people's most familiar household companions, domestic felines and canines. For the title, the author picks up on the very very well-known phenomenal acuity and range of dogs' hearing. The book design is identical to that of "A Cat Is Watching," and in this book also, I love the line drawings featuring snippets of dog anatomy for each chapter heading. Chapter 12 describes and lists members of each (at the time of writing and publication, 1992) American Kennel Club-recognized groups of dogs: Terrier; Non-Sporting; Herding; Sporting; Hound; and Working. As someone who loves dogs but doesn't know them the way I almost instinctively "get" cats, I especially enjoyed and appreciated the history, anecdotes, and stories in the book. Similar to "A Cat Is Watching," this book give the reader a sense of what's it's like to live with dogs who adore you rather than with cats who demand to be worshiped. "A Dog Is Listening" fully is worth any animal lover's acquiring, reading, and re-reading.

[Abby · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a really odd little book. Caras writes like he's read way too many mid-19th century British novelists--an inappropriate tone, I think, for a dog book by a chubby American. The book has a very strange structure and I'm not sure what the point of it was: It's a jumble of quasi-scientific research, canine heroism, fanciful domestication legends, and everyday tales from his life on the farm with his pack of dogs. I liked hearing his dog stories, but that was about it.

[Mike Shultz · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like cool stories about dogs, you'll love this book--the border collie who couldn't resist running with horses and could sense them running from inside the house, the dog who caught a piece of food expelled by the Heimlich maneuver... great stuff. The author has had about 50 dogs as pets in his lifetime, and it shows. His theories on additional senses and dog evolution are interesting but ultimately not what kept me reading.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anything this man writes, I read.

[Jeannie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. I love my dogs and thought I knew pretty much a lot about dogs but this book proved me wrong. Well written and easy to read.