The Year of the Puppy: How Dogs Become Themselves

by Alexandra Horowitz

“What Mr. Rogers was to children, Alexandra Horowitz is to a wise and patient observer who seeks to intimately know a creature... Her chapters, packed with close observations about canine cognition and behavior, are mini-mood lifters." —NPR, Maureen Corrigan on Fresh Air

What is it like to be a puppy? Author of the classic Inside of a Dog , Alexandra Horowitz tries to find out, spending a year scrutinizing her puppy’s daily existence and poring over the science of early dog development

Few of us meet our dogs at Day One. The dog who will, eventually, become an integral part of our family, our constant companion and best friend, is born without us into a family of her own. A puppy's critical early development into the dog we come to know is usually missed entirely. Dog researcher Alexandra Horowitz aimed to change that with her family's new pup, Quiddity (Quid). In this scientific memoir, she charts Quid's growth from wee grub to boisterous sprite, from her birth to her first birthday.

Horowitz follows Quid's first weeks with her mother and ten roly-poly littermates, and then each week after the puppy joins her household of three humans, two large dogs, and a wary cat. She documents the social and cognitive milestones that so many of us miss in our puppies' lives, when caught up in the housetraining and behavioral training that easily overwhelms the first months of a dog's life with a new family. In focusing on training a dog to behave, we mostly miss the radical development of a puppy into themselves —through the equivalent of infancy, childhood, young adolescence, and teenager-hood.

By slowing down to observe Quid from week to week, The Year of the Puppy makes new sense of a dog's behavior in a way that is missed when the focus is only on training. Horowitz keeps a lens on the puppy's point of view—how they (begin to) see and smell the world, make meaning of it, and become an individual personality. She's there when the puppies first open their eyes, first start to recognize one another and learn about cats, sheep, and people; she sees them from their first play bows to puberty. Horowitz also draws from the ample research in the fields of dog and human development to draw analogies between a dog's first year and the growing child—and to note where they diverge. The Year of the Puppy is indispensable for anyone navigating their way through the frustrating, amusing, and ultimately delightful first year of a puppy’s life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Dogs, Animals, Science, Audiobook, Memoir, Nature

320 pages, Hardcover

Published September 20, 2022

About the author

Alexandra Horowitz is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Barnard College in New York, where she teaches courses on psychology and animal behavior. She is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller “Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know.” Her studies on dogs have explored their ‘guilty look,’ sense of fairness, play signaling, and olfactory abilities, among other topics. She received her M.S. and Ph.D. in Cognitive Science from the University of California, San Diego, and a B.A. in Philosophy from the University of Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Jennifer Schultz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read my fair share of nonfiction about dogs, dog behavior, etc. But Alexandra Horowitz's THE YEAR OF THE PUPPY has to be the most delightful, engrossing, and compelling one I've read (I did enjoy her Inside of a Dog years ago!).

From the moment puppy Quid is born to the completion of his first year, Horowitz tracks his development, both physical and emotional. From the intense physicality of the newborn puppy pile (no social distancing here!) to learning about humans, other dogs, and even a cat (!), Quid's first year is filled with momentous occasions. As the bulk of this was written during the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, the pandemic also plays a part in Quid's socialization.

This is fascinating and an utter joy to read.

(You might want to avoid reading the parts about mating/conception while eating, though!).

Many thanks to Viking and NetGalley for a digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

An absolutely delightful book. Informative and entertaining. Some great insights about puppy life and the life of dogs in general.

[Degenerate Chemist · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this at my local library and picked it up because it had been written by Alexandra Horowitz.

Bascially what it says on the box- Horowitz describes the year she adopted a puppy for the first time. This book is fine. It doesn't do anything all that special. It is a decent read if you have never adopted or fostered a puppy and don't know what to expect.

[Ardys · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audio book. Love Alexandra Horowitz’s books about dogs. This one is getting me ready for a puppy to join our family.

[Marcia Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this illuminating new memoir/science report, renowned canine researcher Alexandra Horowitz shares the trials and tribulations, joys and surprises of raising a puppy. Her pup, Quid, was one of a large litter, whose birth she attended. Horowitz observed the litter as they developed, and about two months in, she chose one of the wee pups to become her newest "subject". She brought her "baby" home to her family--husband, son, two dogs, a cat, a large house, and nearby forest--spent the entire year discovering, recording, and analyzing the milestones a puppy must experience to become an adult (or at least adolescent) dog.

I chose this book at a crucial time in my own life--the adoption of my new puppy. As any dog owner can attest, raising a puppy is a full-time job, replete with delight, frustration, messes, conundrums, laughter, sleepless nights, vet visits, and lots of little bite marks from those razor-sharp puppy teeth. Just as I was feeling overwhelmed and wondering whether I'd made a serious error, I dove into this book.

BRAVISSIMI, Dr. Horowitz, for helping me see the broader picture of puppy development, and enabling me to meet my pup where SHE is, not where I wish she might be. Any dog owner will recognize most of the habits young Quid performs--for better or worse. But Horowitz explains WHY and HOW pups must discover the world in their own ways before they can bend to the wishes of their humans.

This book is so freshy and honestly written that even cat lovers (there's a cat in the family) can understand, appreciate, and marvel at how much Horowitz reveals about dog development, behavior, and the eventual creation of the canine/human bond. I highly recommend it. WOOF!

[Sandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was given this book after acquiring a puppy. The author describes a puppy's changes through the course of a year. I enjoyed her writing. The author gave me insight into how much some people are tuned in to canine actions. My favorite pages are the list of fifty things to notice about your puppy. Here are a few of them: the ratio of black whiskers to white whiskers, where she likes to be tickled, where she doesn't like to be tickled, which paw she uses first to descend the stairs, whom she looks to when she needs something, how she tells you she needs something, the ways of her ears. Most of these are details that I have never noticed about my dogs. This book and puppy training classes have opened up to me a whole new world.

[Courtney Kruzan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read about how puppies develop their personalities with some other puppy tidbits sprinkled in. The author documents her experiences with her own adopted puppy from birth to 1 year old. The author also loosely follows a litter of puppies being trained to be working dogs. I do wish we would have gotten a one year update about those puppies.

It was an easy read and I learned some valuable things.

[Bianca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not surprisingly, Horowitz has done a lovely job here. This is not your conventional sentimental puppy memoir, and worth reading for that reason alone. Horowitz is candid about the realities of living with a puppy, and as always does a fine job of incorporating and explaining the relevant canine science.

[Kim Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having just introduced a new puppy into our household I was anxious to read this book. I had read one of her other books, Being a Dog; Following the Dog Into a World of Smell and found it captivating. This book was equally compelling and useful as well as she follows her puppy from birth up to a year old. Horowitz combines her scientific knowledge in the field of dog cognition with her obvious love of the species.

[Valentina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredibly lovely and educational book about dogs, through the lens of the author's relationship with her puppy over its first year. I wish I'd read it before getting my own dog, but it was a wonderful experience to read around his half-birthday. Adorable, heartbreaking, funny - excellent writing on top of great content.

[Pattie Babbitt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously a 5 star book, but I do have 1 complaint...this book was entirely lacking in enough pictures. If you are going to describe your puppy one week at a time, I would like pictoral proof to the puppiness I am reading about. Please feel free to respond to this review with pictures labeled by week!

[Sparrow Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining, and informative.

[Natalie Park · Rating 4 out of 5]

So interesting!

[Benjamin Rubenstein · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a lovely ode from a woman to her new family dog full of endearing observations about the animal that I think most people would never either stop to take in or be able to put into words. The most interesting parts of the book (to me as a parent of a newborn) were the comparisons between puppies and babies. Ultimately, though, I never felt I learned enough about the author (after all, this is some version of a memoir) and just didn't care that much about the pup.

[Tanja Giljevic · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! It should be a standard purchase when anyone thinks about getting a puppy or a shelter rescue dog.

[Chanel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really thought this would be more than what it was, but I enjoyed parts of it.

[Sydney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a good read for anyone who is thinking about getting a puppy. I learned a lot about dogs. After reading this book, it made me notice different things about my own dog that I’ve never noticed before. The ending made me tear up.

[Peg Berry · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and helpful, a really good read and except for the odd and inexplicable (though interesting) digression into artificial gray wolf insemination (what exactly does this have to do with puppies?) I will use a lot of the information in my puppy interactions.

[Elise Kind · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alexandra Horowitz is the well known researcher and observer of dogs. In her latest book The Year of the Puppy she traces a dog's learning from birth until the dog is a year old. What are these creatures like? How do they become themselves? How does each dog in a litter develop and have their own personality? How do these little blobs grow and begin to interact with their surroundings.

Along with her own observations, Horowitz also looks at the plentiful research on dogs. There is an excellent bibliography and notes section that would be very helpful to the researcher.

If you own a dog and or breed dogs this book will be a great help in understanding these wonderful creatures.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lot's of adorableness, not a lot of science. This book made me smile on every chapter. The only negative: the author likes long complicated sentences, which sometimes don't make easy sense. The Postscript took my by surprise and made me cry. Recommend for chill evening reading, if you're considering adopting a new pet or if you miss one.

[Therese Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

……

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Probably an excellent idea to hand this anybody who is thinking of getting a puppy before they make the commitment.

I was literally exhausted after reading this.

I may understand puppies and dogs better. But even more, I understand that getting another puppy in this lifetime would be a bad choice. I’m just managing to keep up with the grandkids. And they develop so much more slowly!


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[Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent overview of a puppy’s first year of life, how we humans interact with them, and what they may be thinking (and the ‘why’ behind it).

I actually recommended this to the leader of my organization at work since I knew he and his family have a 4-month-old puppy.

[Sarah McQuaid · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was too fluffy for the dog enthusiast in me and too dull for the storybook reader in me. I like my stories and studies separate, I think.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fine, but not as interesting as I'd expected. For a book subtitled "How Dogs Become Themselves," there's very little about dogs & more about her dog (& her, & her son, & her other animals, & the pandemic, etc., etc.) That's fine -- the book wasn't bad, but I expected more of a "scholarly," non-fiction book, whereas this was more memoir (a genre I generally don't care much for). I found the first 25% or so to be more interesting than the latter portion, but when the author started recounting her time with Quid after she came home, I found myself losing interest. I really did appreciate the author's candor in discussing life with a puppy, though -- as someone who brought home a terrier puppy several years ago & had a less than...fun...experience at the time, I found it validating that someone who's studied dogs for years also struggled with that phase of dog-life. This wasn't what I was looking for but may be of interest to readers who are going through/planning/just coming out of their own puppy phase.

[Phoebe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Horowitz writes engagingly of her puppy's first year, but the book is more than a memoir. As someone who studies dog behaviors for a living, she writes that she has little personal experience of puppy parenting. Fascinating chapters reveal what most of us never see or know, the birth and beginnings of that puppy that one selects and takes home. In Quid's case, she is one of a litter of 11 puppies. Possibly the most illuminating section of the book, nevertheless readers will appreciate Horowitz's professional insights and the inclusion of her own observations from her own household. Her willingness to appreciate dogs as dogs, as individuals with complex personalities and her statement of the idea that nothing will be as you expect it to be, ever, and that is part of the joy of dog companionship, is almost a relief, a wonderful thing after all of the books and advice on raising the "perfect" dog. The only aspect of the book I found puzzling was her use of first initials for her family members, when later in the afterword she names them. A weird distraction from an otherwise elegant book. Adult.

[Julie Stielstra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much more congenial than her previous Our Dogs, Ourselves: How we live with dogs now. A product of pandemic times, this one focuses tightly on a rescued litter of eleven, week by week, till one of them is selected to join Horowitz's household, and then the spotlight is on her, the winsome Quiddity. Along the way, Horowitz observes, records, and explains the pup's development from birth to the one-year mark - sensory, physical, emotional and social. Scientific studies are lightly peppered throughout, and there is ongoing comparison between what a puppy can do at what stages and what a human baby can do. She also compares the upbringing and teaching (she pleasantly prefers the term "teaching" to "training") of this litter of mixed-breed pups who will become family companions to that of a Labrador litter carefully bred to become search and rescue dogs. It's lovely to see that both goals are approached with a whole lot of treats, toys, high-pitched happy voices, games and wagging tails.

After her harsh criticism of the spay/neuter movement in her previous book, Horowitz now addresses this issue in a far more measured way - she neuters her dogs, while timing the procedure to allow for full physiological benefits of natural hormone levels. The best thing about this book is its closely-observed understanding of a dog's natural development, desires, and talents, and how we humans can best accommodate or allow for those things to keep our dogs healthy, happy, comfortable, and cheerful members of the human society we make them live in.

There may be a limit to how long one can listen to / read someone who goes on for pages about every single movement, facial expression, tail wag, vocalization, possible thought process, etc. of their dog, even with a serious intention of analysis and education. Even I found myself skimming sometimes. Still, this is an enjoyable, illuminating, friendly exploration of puppies, and is recommended for anyone who finds themselves in that "uh-oh, what I have done?!" place with one! And now, if someone out there has written a book with this level of detail and corroborating evidence about cats, I for one really want to read it.

[Donna DuLong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Educational, informative, sometimes numerous and sometimes emotional - worth the read for any dog lover.

[Nancy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by the author, Alexandra Horowitz. It is listed here as the Hardcover version here because Goodreads did not offer the audio version as an option in its listing. I have listened to several books on dog cognition by Horowitz, who teaches courses at Barnard College in New York on psychology and animal behavior. Years ago I read her "Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know" early in my puppy fostering days for the MWD Breeding Program at DoD in San Antonio, TX. It was revelatory and provided great depth of understanding for us in raising 13 puppies and in living with the six Belgian Malinois and one large "normal" dog we adopted and live with presently.

Horowitz is especially perceptive with canines, observing them as a scientist as well as a devoted dog owner/guardian. She is able to be objective as well as respectful in her descriptions of another species. She explains their "mind-set" as it is possible for humans to understand a totally different animal. To her, dogs are not people in furry coats; they are unique from us in their senses, brains, and behaviors. Her books are uniquely helpful in giving us a window into reality as comprehended by these wonderful beings.

I found this book especially enlightening and am grateful for the glimpse it has given me into the world of our dogs. With such understanding can come useful tools for our daily interactions with these very special and beloved creatures.

If you live with dogs, or are considering adding one or more to your life, I strongly recommend exploring the books of Alexandra Horowitz, especially the two I have referred to in this review.

[Dezirah Remington · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this kind of nonfiction and wonder why I decided not to pursue biology in college, besides the fact that I was a little too distracted by the social side of college to be successful in challenging coursework. I loved genetics and the behavior side of research, oh well, maybe in a different life.

With two puppies in the house, Sam and Ferg are now 13 weeks old, I am exhausted. Puppies have not been a large part of my life, most of the dogs I’ve had were adults when we met with their personalities and behaviors set. To have to babies growing and changing, wanting to be good, but also to entertain their very short attention spans, is to put it simply overwhelming. I’ve read a few training books and always came away unimpressed. I am more of a why than a how person, if I know the why I can figure out the how.

The Year of the Puppy is a good fit for me, as it is all the why. Written by a dog behaviorist who follows a puppy from her birth to the researcher adopting her, to her 1 year birthday we see the growth and changes of Quid. Horowitz weaves in her personal feelings, experiences and supporting research throughout the book. She also follows a litter of working dog pups. Comparing the expectations and abilities of puppies to what we as their human owners expect from them and what they are capable of.

Horowitz is a solid narrative writer, making the read enjoyable. You get to know not only Quid, but her son, husband and the other dogs and cats that enter Quid’s life. This is the book I was looking for.

[James Baumann · Rating 4 out of 5]

More memoir than scientific (certainly as compared to her previous books) but still an educational, insightful, and enjoyable read.

Reading how a dog behaviorist observes the development of her own puppy - after normally adopting older dogs - in the middle of a pandemic when so many other people are adopting pets seems almost too perfect a concept for a book. But this one still delivers.

The book bounces back and forth from times where Horowitz takes off her science hat and simply observes the changes in her pup (and her family) and those where she puts it back on and offers insights into why the pup is doing what it does. Why must puppies approach everything with their mouths? How much do they recognize and know the people around them? What developments are happening week by week and month by month?

One word of warning: this is not a "how to train your puppy" book. And she makes that point many times. Instead, it's more "how to embrace and enjoy and understand your puppy."As as someone who lost their dog back in 2021 and had adopted a new dog just a few weeks before I started reading this, it was exactly what I wanted and needed.

Plus, for an added bonus, I managed to get through it and return it to the library before my pup had a chance to mouth it to pieces.