If there was one way to sum up In Defence of Dogs it is this: Dogs are not wolves. If there was one more it would be that wolves are wildly misunderstood.
It’s not necessarily an easy read as it’s heavy on the science, but anthrozoologist and author Dr John Bradshaw has a lot of interesting things to say and a talent for communicating it. I thought that he managed to strike a perfect balance between readability and science and found it hard to put down. It’s a fascinating book and will absolutely change the way you look at the evolutionary and behavioural history of not only dogs, but wolves as well. It thoroughly debunks dominance theory in dogs (and wolves) and provides an insight into the real motivations of our canine besties.
The book provides strong evidence for the importance of the human/canine bond and how decades worth of not very rigorous research led us to believe some ridiculous things. This book should be required reading for anyone who is interested in dog training and behaviour, evolutionary science too. Actually, everyone should read it, it’s great 🙂