Book Review...The Truth about Dogs

Victoria · Book Review...The Truth about Dogs

I wonder how many of us have read this...this informative little book about the ancestry, social conventions, mental habits and moral fibre of canis familiaris written by Stephen Budiansky and published by Phoenix, 2002.
I found the chapter on scenting and tracking the most interesting...the phenomenal powers of the dog's ability to smell is well known by we Breton people! He discusses aggressive dogs, dogs behaviours and so on.
The book concludes with this delightful one liner...
"lets face it: if dogs truly were humans, they would be jerks..as dogs, they are wonderful"

guy

I have a copy of 'The truth about sporting dogs' by Bede Maxwell 1972. interesting reading as he is suggesting AB and EB are different breeds.

Victoria

As Pouchain was quoted to say 'there are no purebred dogs'!!!!!!!!
I reserve judgment on this argument (EB or AB)...but what I do concede on is the fact that as a natural progression different 'breed types' not only will, but must evolve simply not only on the evolution of the breed but also the types of environments representatives of the breed have for now lived in for quite literally decades. Take the 'woodland' dog into a praire or savanah situation and the type best suited for those new environs must evolve. Whether we like it or not, there would be admixtures to the breed the world over...either by accidence or contrivance... And to add to the flummox, there are AB's who look more like EB's than some EB's!!!!
Similiarly, take the changes to the breed standard from France, the owner of the breed...Australia I have had it quoted to me has not imported an EB for many years...it stands to reason that due to genetic isolation, the type will be of that of the pre standard change...there are Breton in this country who mimic perfectly the style immortalised by Danchin. That does not make them wrong, it is simply genetic isolation that maintains a type previously recognised as being correct. Word for word, these dogs have full compliance with the breed standard...they are simply of an old fashioned style or type, if you will.
It is, I am sure, a debate that will rage, if you like, for millenia!!!! And there are those of course, who simply desire the famous "Breton" prey urgency...