What do you think?
Rate this book
How Dogs Work
How well do we really know dogs? People may enjoy thinking about them as “man’s best friend,” but what actually drives the things they do? What is going on in their fur-covered heads as they look at us with their big, expressive eyes? Raymond Coppinger and Mark Feinstein know something about these questions, and with How Dogs Work , they’re ready to share; this is their guide to understanding your dog and its behavior.
Approaching dogs as a biological species rather than just as pets, Coppinger and Feinstein accessibly synthesize decades of research and field experiments to explain the evolutionary foundations underlying dog behaviors. They examine the central importance of the shape of how their physical body (including the genes and the brain) affects behavior, how shape interacts with the environment as animals grow, and how all of this has developed over time. Shape, they tell us, is what makes a champion sled dog or a Border collie that can successfully herd sheep. Other chapters in How Dogs Work explore such mysteries as why dogs play; whether dogs have minds, and if so what kinds of things they might know; why dogs bark; how dogs feed and forage; and the influence of the early relationship between mother and pup. Going far beyond the cozy lap dog, Coppinger and Feinstein are equally fascinated by what we can learn from the adaptations of dogs, wolves, coyotes, jackals, dingoes, and even pumas in the wild, as well as the behavior of working animals like guarding and herding dogs.
We cherish dogs as family members and deeply value our lengthy companionship with them. But, isn’t it time we knew more about who Fido and Trixie really are? How Dogs Work will provide some keys to unlocking the origins of many of our dogs' most common, most puzzling, and most endearing behaviors.
Approaching dogs as a biological species rather than just as pets, Coppinger and Feinstein accessibly synthesize decades of research and field experiments to explain the evolutionary foundations underlying dog behaviors. They examine the central importance of the shape of how their physical body (including the genes and the brain) affects behavior, how shape interacts with the environment as animals grow, and how all of this has developed over time. Shape, they tell us, is what makes a champion sled dog or a Border collie that can successfully herd sheep. Other chapters in How Dogs Work explore such mysteries as why dogs play; whether dogs have minds, and if so what kinds of things they might know; why dogs bark; how dogs feed and forage; and the influence of the early relationship between mother and pup. Going far beyond the cozy lap dog, Coppinger and Feinstein are equally fascinated by what we can learn from the adaptations of dogs, wolves, coyotes, jackals, dingoes, and even pumas in the wild, as well as the behavior of working animals like guarding and herding dogs.
We cherish dogs as family members and deeply value our lengthy companionship with them. But, isn’t it time we knew more about who Fido and Trixie really are? How Dogs Work will provide some keys to unlocking the origins of many of our dogs' most common, most puzzling, and most endearing behaviors.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published October 22, 2015
75 people are currently reading
424 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
December 9, 2015
A book I would recommend for any dog trainer or dog behavior consultant although not as useful as Coppinger's book "Dogs - A Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior & Evolution." I respect the authors commitment to science but find that they too quickly and easily discount the science behind animal emotions and sentience.
February 26, 2023
A dispetto del titolo, questo libro non è semplicemente un libro sui cani. Infatti per parlare di cani, come per qualunque altra specie, occorre parlare prima di tutto del comportamento animale in generale. Usando come punto di partenza questa specie, molto interessante e particolare in quanto si è evoluta tramite la selezione artificiale fatta dall'uomo, gli autori Raymond Coppinger e Mark Feinstein parlano più in generale di etologia. E lo fanno in modo concreto e scevro di sentimentalismi.
October 18, 2022
Wow! I really enjoyed this book. This is incredibly insightful into the way our canine companions work from an ethologist’s point of view. Explaining behaviours that are genetic, behaviours that are learned, and those that seemingly have no adaptive function (like play), the whole thing was just incredibly fascinating!
Now, I feel a few people will not enjoy this book for it offers up a very cold view on dogs. The authors routinely call dogs/wild canids “machines” and how their behaviours are just series of motor patterns strung together in order to achieve what evolution/selective breeding has required of them.
Consciousness is also a question that the authors discuss. As of yet, there isn’t a definite answer to wether or not dogs display a sense of “I” like humans do, though other capabilities are talked about that gives one hope.
I personally hope that animals (including dogs) have a semblance of consciousness, so those that deal with them on a regular basis don’t use the lack of- as an excuse to inflict unnecessary pain on them. Especially in domesticated animals that are often the subject of abuse.
In conclusion, I think this book could help expand the bigger picture of how dogs work and use this information to better training practices. I will definitely be reading this one again.
Now, I feel a few people will not enjoy this book for it offers up a very cold view on dogs. The authors routinely call dogs/wild canids “machines” and how their behaviours are just series of motor patterns strung together in order to achieve what evolution/selective breeding has required of them.
Consciousness is also a question that the authors discuss. As of yet, there isn’t a definite answer to wether or not dogs display a sense of “I” like humans do, though other capabilities are talked about that gives one hope.
I personally hope that animals (including dogs) have a semblance of consciousness, so those that deal with them on a regular basis don’t use the lack of- as an excuse to inflict unnecessary pain on them. Especially in domesticated animals that are often the subject of abuse.
In conclusion, I think this book could help expand the bigger picture of how dogs work and use this information to better training practices. I will definitely be reading this one again.
May 28, 2016
I think the authors made a valiant effort to put things in layman's terms, but I still thought it was too technical. When I did understand, it was interesting. While I see why they concentrated a lot of sled dogs, and greyhounds and herding dogs, I with more would have been discussed about dachshunds :) I disagree with their assessment of dogs being basically machines. I think they're far more than that (and I know my dogs love me!).
February 4, 2016
More academic than I had expected--though I don't quite know why I thought that a book published by the U of Chicago Press would not be academic. It did a good job of explaining how animal behavior is studied by ethologists and summarizing the current state of the research. These authors don't hold with sentimental, anthropomorphic explanations of canine behavior. Well--I know my dog loves me!
June 19, 2025
Tl;dr
The book has useful information, but the authors’ approach and analysis are reductionist and myopic.
What I appreciated:
• I didn’t know anything about ethology (the study of animal behavior with emphasis on behavioral patterns in nature) and I think the authors did a good job giving a crash course that was comprehensive without getting too technical.
• I’d never heard of an ethogram (inventory of all the distinct behavioral units belonging to an animal species) so I appreciated the authors introducing the subject. If you like to geek out on information science, you’ll like this aspect of the book.
• I’ve heard dog training specialists dismiss breed traits in favor of focusing on each individual. While I don’t dispute that there’s a lot of of variability between individuals, I appreciated that the authors gave a research-backed counterpoint—e.g. you’re never going to get a livestock guardian dog like a Great Pyrenees to herd sheep like a Border Collie because they have vastly different intrinsic behaviors encoded into their jeans through hundreds of generations of selective breeding.
• This book is clearly the product of thousands of hours of research, which is nothing to sneeze at.
What I didn’t resonate with:
• These guys are behavior scientists with such such zeal about evolution by natural selection that they basically paint dogs as complex meat computers and their human owners as sentimental wishful thinkers. In the afterword they give a quick nod to the fact that science hasn’t answered the questions of dog thoughts and emotions, but it’s hard to read this as anything but lip service after they spent the whole book definitively presenting dogs as cold input-output machines.
• That’s not to say that their research is useless and their findings are bunk. Far from it!
• I just think it’s impossible to explain the entirety of these magnificently complex creatures by reducing them to observable behavior patterns. As humanity’s observation tools get more powerful and precise, we’re finding that the natural world is exponentially more complex and interrelated than we could have ever imagined. Basically, reductionism is a good tool, but it ain’t the whole toolbox.
The book has useful information, but the authors’ approach and analysis are reductionist and myopic.
What I appreciated:
• I didn’t know anything about ethology (the study of animal behavior with emphasis on behavioral patterns in nature) and I think the authors did a good job giving a crash course that was comprehensive without getting too technical.
• I’d never heard of an ethogram (inventory of all the distinct behavioral units belonging to an animal species) so I appreciated the authors introducing the subject. If you like to geek out on information science, you’ll like this aspect of the book.
• I’ve heard dog training specialists dismiss breed traits in favor of focusing on each individual. While I don’t dispute that there’s a lot of of variability between individuals, I appreciated that the authors gave a research-backed counterpoint—e.g. you’re never going to get a livestock guardian dog like a Great Pyrenees to herd sheep like a Border Collie because they have vastly different intrinsic behaviors encoded into their jeans through hundreds of generations of selective breeding.
• This book is clearly the product of thousands of hours of research, which is nothing to sneeze at.
What I didn’t resonate with:
• These guys are behavior scientists with such such zeal about evolution by natural selection that they basically paint dogs as complex meat computers and their human owners as sentimental wishful thinkers. In the afterword they give a quick nod to the fact that science hasn’t answered the questions of dog thoughts and emotions, but it’s hard to read this as anything but lip service after they spent the whole book definitively presenting dogs as cold input-output machines.
• That’s not to say that their research is useless and their findings are bunk. Far from it!
• I just think it’s impossible to explain the entirety of these magnificently complex creatures by reducing them to observable behavior patterns. As humanity’s observation tools get more powerful and precise, we’re finding that the natural world is exponentially more complex and interrelated than we could have ever imagined. Basically, reductionism is a good tool, but it ain’t the whole toolbox.
February 24, 2018
I'm interested in learning more about dog training. My library had a selection of books on pets and this caught my eye. It wasn't my main interest, but I thought the background would be helpful. Per the Jacket flap, "Coppinger and Feinstein accessibly synthesize decades of research and field experiments to explain the evolutionary foundations underlying dog behaviors." It's well written and scientifically rigorous. The authors really know dogs and have some amazing insights. An analyses of sled dog performance from a single photo is an example. It's one of several books I've read that are convincing me that I've really misunderstood how dogs work. Even with all that, it was less interesting than I expected.
December 11, 2018
Having studied dogs for more than four decades, Coppinger presents here the fairly convincing scholarly argument that the dogs humans have known, loved, and lived alongside for millennia are more or less machines responding to external phenomena with, essentially, genetically pre-programmed directives. This is interesting to contemplate, though disappointing as dog lovers truly convinced of our pets' intelligence. It also prompts the musing that though we think of ourselves as having free will, to what extent is our own behavior also subconsciously determined by outside stimuli?
I love how many of the other reviews I've read close with "but I know my dog loves me!" I look forward to a feline edition of this study so I can get inside the minds of my cats.
I love how many of the other reviews I've read close with "but I know my dog loves me!" I look forward to a feline edition of this study so I can get inside the minds of my cats.
March 23, 2019
Almost a textbook, almost a Ph.D. thesis, completely delightful. The authors start by explaining what 'ethology' is and lead us step by step through their research, answering a few questions, posing scads of them and finally looking to a future which may hold answers. They proceed with the patience of philosophers, or in this case, observational scientists who conducted a long term study of dogs, looking closely at the differences, for instance, between sheep herding dogs and sheep guarding dogs. Big difference. If one is tired of the rantings of politicians, pundits and assorted members of the lunatic fringe, one might find solace here, where data, facts and observation supersede opinion, and "I don't know" is an acceptable answer.
Recommended
Recommended
July 16, 2023
In the afterword the authors write ‘we don’t say that your loving pet is nothing but a cold and unfeeling machine’ after spending the entire book presenting evidence which suggests precisely that.
This book is an academic essay, not a dog training manual. It’s especially geared towards working dogs and not inside pet dogs.
I was hoping it would go into some detail into the reasons behind dog behaviour (✅) and how this influences the way we should interact with and train dogs (❌).
There were some interesting paragraphs but I skim read a lot of it.
This book is an academic essay, not a dog training manual. It’s especially geared towards working dogs and not inside pet dogs.
I was hoping it would go into some detail into the reasons behind dog behaviour (✅) and how this influences the way we should interact with and train dogs (❌).
There were some interesting paragraphs but I skim read a lot of it.
September 17, 2025
The authors treat dogs like the biological machines they are (I only concede this because so are humans). They study them as subjects and, as fascinating as it is, it's just too sad. I learned a few things, so it was a good book that way, but there was all this talk about "buying" and "breeding" them. I know that is necessary for some things, but the different training methods may be OK for study subjects, but I would never put my Max through that. So, I guess it's an ok book, unless you're a crazy dog person in which case, proceed with caution.
November 28, 2020
I listened to the audiobook version of this book. Unless you like a droll, monotone voice, stay FAR AWAY from this audiobook. I got almost 3 hours into the 8.5 hour reading and just had to stop.
I understand it is a dog science-based book, but that does not mean you have to get a boring science-type voice to record the book for you.
Sadly, they most likely won't re-record this book with someone who can actually bring life to the pages.
I understand it is a dog science-based book, but that does not mean you have to get a boring science-type voice to record the book for you.
Sadly, they most likely won't re-record this book with someone who can actually bring life to the pages.
February 22, 2021
This is a very interesting book about the ethology of Canids. It discusses the differences in the behavior of coyotes, wolves and dogs as well as the dissimilarities of groups of dogs such as herders and the sporting breeds. While the reader does not have to be a veterinarian or an engineer to understand the technical aspects of the book it does help a lot.
April 17, 2022
If you are looking for the answer to the title question, you will be disappointed. This book HELPS to explain how dogs work. I really enjoyed thinking about motor patterns that could be understood as intelligence for us dog owners. Highly recommended if you are interested to learn the cognitive scof dog behavior and how you can relate it every time you look at your dog now.
October 13, 2017
At first I assumed this to be some kind of training book, at least indirectly. It is not. The behaviors it goes over are less about how to teach dogs, and more about why dogs do what they do in a general, scientific sense.
This book takes a mechanical (literally) approach to dogs. What about their bodies make them act a certain way? What evolutionary changes have occurred in order for a border collie to be different than a Maremma? Why do humans anthropomorphize dogs?
We want to believe our dogs are special, emotionally and cognitively. But just because we want to believe doesn't mean it's the truth. This book does NOT attempt to argue or prove that our dogs don't love us. What it does is takes the approach of: is this really special behavior? Why, or why not? This is about learning, dissecting information we've assumed and asking whether it is a fact or a belief.
For me it's about knowing the why behind the actions. I find it absolutely fascinating, and it actually increases my awe at these beloved companion animals.
I loved it. I learned so much about dogs as a species, and vicariously about a couple other animals, too.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in dogs going beyond the 'man's best friend' mentality.
This book takes a mechanical (literally) approach to dogs. What about their bodies make them act a certain way? What evolutionary changes have occurred in order for a border collie to be different than a Maremma? Why do humans anthropomorphize dogs?
We want to believe our dogs are special, emotionally and cognitively. But just because we want to believe doesn't mean it's the truth. This book does NOT attempt to argue or prove that our dogs don't love us. What it does is takes the approach of: is this really special behavior? Why, or why not? This is about learning, dissecting information we've assumed and asking whether it is a fact or a belief.
For me it's about knowing the why behind the actions. I find it absolutely fascinating, and it actually increases my awe at these beloved companion animals.
I loved it. I learned so much about dogs as a species, and vicariously about a couple other animals, too.
I would highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in dogs going beyond the 'man's best friend' mentality.
April 25, 2023
Mantiene ideas muy interesantes, otras que se han desfasado muy rápido, como todo el cap. de la mente. Pero aún así, imprescindible para cualquier educador o amante de los perros y su etología. El capitulo del juego es simplemente maravilloso.
August 20, 2018
wanted to return
March 8, 2020
Wonderfully written book. So much information!!
February 22, 2021
This one was interesting but lost me in several sections as it was a lot more scientific based than I had expected.
August 1, 2022
Scientific dog based behavior book. It's not a training manual but more of what makes your dogs tick and why they do the things they do based on their breed. Overall it was a good listen
December 2, 2024
Very technical. Would be excellent for a vet student or someone with a biology background but not so much for the average reader. Still had some very interesting points.
June 5, 2017
This is a somewhat scholarly, academic study of how dogs work. The paradigm the author established is that dogs are machines with intrinsic, automatic responses. The book is brutally logical and based on exhaustive research. I hate this premise. Never the less, there were many valuable insights. So, while the metaphor is that animals are biological machines, the logic is well established in observed phenomenon. As an animal lover, I found this metaphor troubling, but the science is fascinating. Don't read this if you are looking for a warm fuzzy read. If you want logical possibilities derived from science, this book is full of insight.
December 6, 2016
It is definitely complicated: evolution, biology, development, environment...and more that I probably didn't "get." I have a new vocabulary word: ethology: the scientific and objective study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait (Wikipedia).
November 26, 2015
This is an excellent and very thoroughly researched book.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews