A Dog's History of America: How Our Best Friend Explored, Conquered, and Settled a Continent

by Mark Derr

Wherever humans have gone in the New World, dogs have been their companions, from the time people crossed the Bering Land Bridge some twenty thousand years ago.
In this remarkable history of the interaction between humans and dogs, Mark Derr looks at the ways in which we have used canines-as sled dogs and sheepdogs, hounds and Seeing Eye dogs, guard dogs, show dogs, and bomb-sniffing dogs-as he tracks changes in American culture and society. From the Spanish conquest of the Americas to the English colonial period, from the age of revolution to slavery, from World War II to the Vietnam War, Derr weaves a remarkable tapestry of heroism, betrayal, tragedy, kindness, abuse, and unique companionship. The result is an enlightening perspective on American history through the eyes of humanity's best friend.

Genres: History, Dogs, Nonfiction, Natural History, Nature, Animals, Biology

400 pages, Paperback

First published September 15, 2004

Reviews

[Holly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a real eye opener! After reading it I did a number of searches through our university library system and elsewhere for similar works, and found that very little has been written either by historians or anthropologists on the role dogs have played in the historical movements of humans around the world. There's been very little written at all on the role dogs have played in human history. Odd, given that they may have already been domesticated as our species was moving into Neanderthal territory and competing with them. It goes to show how thoroughly we take dogs for granted.

[Jake · Rating 1 out of 5]

I happened across this book while doing some shelving at work one day, and thought it looked at least mildly interesting. I grew up with dogs (and cats, but there’s no Cat’s History of America on our shelf), and miss having them terribly. So I thought it would be interesting to learn more about dogs, where they came from, the role they played in our society, etc. I’ve also been trying to make sure that I read more than just Fantasy and Science Fiction, and this seemed like a reasonably entertaining diversion. My store has a policy where employees can borrow certain books, so I figured, "hey, it will only cost me time, right?"

Let’s just say I’m glad I didn’t pay for it.

A Dog’s History of America covers American pre-history up through the modern period, and is broken down into chapters by historical time periods. In each chapter, Derr ostensibly discusses how dogs were used, viewed, their influence on society at the time, and so on. I say "ostensibly" because the sad truth is, Derr doesn’t spend nearly enough time on the dogs themselves. The first two chapters, on pre-history and the Spanish conquest, are essentially wasted space. The pre-history chapter could have been summed up as "there’s no real evidence about dogs, but pre-historic people probably had ‘em." Instead, the reader is treated to a half-assed synopsis of land-bridge theory (which, if I understand my girlfriend the archaeologist correctly, has come under serious criticism in recent years), and a little speculation about how dogs might have been used, none of which is particularly shocking or insightful.

The chapter on the Spanish conquest was the worst of the book. Again, there isn’t a whole lot of documentation, and so most of the chapter is Derr reminding the reader that those Spaniards were evil, evil, people who did evil wrongbad things! Oh…and sometimes they sicced dogs on people, which one of the many evil wrongbad things that they did. ‘Cause they were evil, y’know. And the conquest, it was wrong. And evil. Was the evil clear?

Now, before I get lynched here…I’m not saying the Spanish conquest WASN’T evil, or that the Spanish didn’t commit horrible atrocities, sometimes using dogs. But if I’m reading a book about dogs, I expect to, well, read about dogs, not about the author’s other sundry politics and beliefs. There’s plenty of books on the Spanish conquest. If I want to know how awful it was, I’ll read one. I wanted to hear about dogs.

There are more dogs as the book goes on, but there’s nothing that really jumps out at the reader. Derr gives every story the most cursory treatment possible, but never goes far enough in depth to make the characters (human or dog) seem lively or interesting. He continuously deviates to discuss his views on human politics that are frankly, unrelated to the topic at hand. There are a few actually dog related political issues that are brought up (such as leash laws, and peoples misconceptions about the dangers certain breeds pose), but most of it just doesn’t get in depth enough.

In the end, I can’t recommend this book. Dog lovers will be disappointed by the lack of interesting stories/characters, and history buffs will be better served reading a dedicated history book. This book tries to both, and ends up doing neither particularly well.

[Gemma Alexander · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the Bering land bridge to Bush Sr's White House dog, this well researched book looks at American history through the lens of what its dogs were doing. Highly opinionated without veering into essay, Derr links our treatment of dogs to greater issues in the nation's history, such as our treatment of immigrants and minorities.

[Kaley Bertelsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

So thorough.... A lot of notations of research delved into for subject material. I learned a lot. How the use of dogs in war, for agriculture, as food and as companion parallels the society that wields them.Every chapter I wondered how if dogs were not present how history would have unfolded

[Sanfordgrant · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. The point of view may be skewed, but there is avery cool and unique look at history. Any dog lover or history buff should read this book.

[David Rudin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a survey course in American history with the recurrent theme of what was happening with dogs over the years. History buffs might enjoy it more than dog aficionadas as the dogs are really ongoing historical footnotes to the doings of human beings.
I myself found it interesting as I enjoy both subjects but I would have liked more depth on the dog side of things. In short, dogs have been with humans from the first hunter-gatherers who crossed the Bering Strait to the present day and for all their glory and stories of heroism, dogs are still often misunderstood and treated poorly too much of the time. They certainly deserve better.

[Chris Bartal · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the premise of the book was interesting, and there were lots of interesting facts, the book didn't hold my interest very well. Part of that was due to the political commentary bleeding through the writing. For example, I didn't really care about Nixon's reasons for starting the war on drugs or whether or not he was a good president. I came to read about dogs. There were other similar political asides that pulled the reader away from the, at times, thin thread of story.

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book caught my attention from the beginning because the author focused on how dogs participated in conflict throughout the settlement of North America and the Caribbean. It was a much different perspective than I was expecting and raised my estimation of the book. Very well done and forces the reader to confront the many (many) conflicts that occur in North America.

[Camille]

Methuen - Nevins Memorial Library 636.7 DER
Haverhill Public Library 636.7/DERR M

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had high hopes for this book, but it just didn't deliver. Sure, there were a few interesting anecdotes about dogs in our history but I can't really say that I learned much beyond how brutal the Spanish conquest of the New World really was.

These are the significant flaws in the book that I see:

1. Not well written
I felt the author had a very high opinion of his own writing, but I found it wordy and cumbersome enough to detract from the book's readability. Take this sentence from Page 348, for example:
"As befitted the age of semiotics, however, there was something self-consciously self-referential about the effort."

2. Not well researched
Large sections of the book contained no citations. Even when sources were cited for paragraphs or maybe even sub-chapters, but it was never clear how much material and which portions were directly derived from the sources. Honestly, most of the book felt as if it was written by someone merely pontificating on his understanding of American history with a few references to dogs thrown in.

3. Too off-topic
I didn't keep an actual tally, but I would be surprised to learn that more than 50% of the book directly pertained to dogs. I do realize that some background information was necessary to understand the environment in which dogs were living, but there was just way too much of it.

4. Too opinionated
Obviously, because I'm writing this, I'm a fan of opinions. However, when I decide to read a book about the history of dogs, I'm not reading it to find out what the author thinks about political decisions, social norms, etc. Obviously, there's nothing wrong with having an opinion on those topics, but the author's choice to include them in the book really fell outside the scope of his subject matter. I'm surprised the editor didn't remove them because they really hurt the flow of the book and stood out inappropriately.

[Tim Weakley · Rating 1 out of 5]

The first two thirds of this book could easily be called "Bad Bad Whitey: How he enslaved and tortured his way across a continent...some scenes may contain dogs". Up until this book hits WWII I would estimate only about 20% of this book concerns dogs. The rest is a non stop recitation of all the "evil deeds" that Europeans committed in the name of exploration. I'm not denying that any of this happened. I just wasn't expecting this vitriol in a book that was supposed to be about dogs!

This changes when he gets to the second world war and beyond, but even then he talks about dogs used by the army in areas outside of America. The organizational system he uses goes all over the place and there is very little chronological flow. How this was published is really beyond me.

[Jarita · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the details and information about specific dogs that I had never heard of, and I definitely walk away from this book with a deeper understanding of our canine companions. However, I was disturbed time and time again by the author's use of gruesome details to capture the grisly grittiness of bygone eras. Because of that, I would consider this to be a difficult read in certain places. Overall though, I consider it a fascinating and intriguing read about something I previously knew little about.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little bit of a boring book, but it was interesting to see how humans and dogs lives have intertwined over the centuries. Much of the book was a history lesson, but it did manage to demonstrate how the dog was used and viewed throughout different periods in America. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to see how the dog has been shaped into what it is today.

[Jinnie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid history book... if you want to know a lot about North American history with a few factoids about dogs sprinkled in. Also, very hard to get through the first few chapters about how brutally the Spanish treated both natives and dogs. 3 Stars for accurate, good research, but only 3 stars because the dog-to-other-history ratio felt like 1:4.

[Weavre]

OST NON-FICTION ADULT STK 636.7 DER

[Margaret Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

You will never look at dogs the same way after reading this book. Their contribution to man is so much more than they are credited with.

[Victoria · Rating 2 out of 5]

It took me almost ten years to read this book - it is dense. Overall interesting but the author strays too far, too often and for too long just to make a minor point.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

very good, interesting, sometimes gross

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting review of American history through the history of dogs