Why We Love the Dogs We Do: Finding the Dog That Matches Your Personality by Stanley Coren

From the Publisher

The author of "The Intelligence of Dogs" offers insight into how the mix of personalities between people and their dogs creates harmonious--or horrendous--relationships. of photos.

Publishers Weekly

Charles Darwin so loved his little West Highland white terrier, Coren reports, that he often wrote of his dog adventures around the house. Yet, the same man so loathed a big hound he had been given (he called it "graceless, noisy and drooling") that he ultimately had the dog shot. Dog expert Coren (What Do Dogs Know?) offers a scheme that describes why different types of people favor certain species of dogs. Entertaining the reader with historical anecdotes and odd facts, the author describes case after case of dogs who fit -- or, disastrously, don't fit -- an owner's temperament and lifestyle. Coren includes a conversation he had with Picasso about the many dogs the painter lived with, and reveals that Richard Nixon, who was greatly distrusted by the American public, liked dogs. Actor Jimmy Stewart was apparently as nice a man as the characters he played, and he, too, loved (and spoiled) dogs. Coren categorizes according to their basic temperaments some of the more than 400 breeds of dogs recognized by international kennel clubs. Golden retrievers and Labradors are warm and friendly, he explains, while dalmatians are independent and strong-willed. Coren supplies a personality inventory, "the interpersonal adjective scale," to enable readers to rate how well they are described by various adjectives that run the gamut from dominant to submissive, gregarious to cold, thus helping them to pick the appropriate dog for their personality. This is an engaging, edifying work, but the author's academic background does manifest in his prose from time to time. Photos not seen by PW. (June)

Library Journal

As we all have unique and distinct personalities, so do the dogs we choose as pets and companions. Coren, a psychology professor, renowned dog trainer, and author of The Intelligence of Dogs (LJ 3/15/94), provides an interesting study of dog breeds, their personality characteristics, and how these breeds match up with different types of people. Abandoning the traditional Kennel Club breed listing, Coren has used statistical analysis to reclassify the most popular dog breeds by personality types. He then offers a simplified personality test for humans, evaluating people in four areas. Merging the personality test with the dog-breed analysis results in a listing of the most compatible dog breeds for various types of people. Coren is a little excessive in providing historical background, but he is fun to read even when not especially relevant. Of interest to "dog people" everywhere, this book is recommended for most pet collections. Deborah Emerson, Monroe Community Coll., Rochester, NY

Kirkus Reviews

Coren, author of the bestselling The Intelligence of Dogs, wants you to get the right dog and to cut back on the alarming human-dog divorce rate, and here he delivers the kind of goods a professional matchmaker would be proud of. This is a book of pure good intention: Deploying his background in psychology and dog intelligence, Coren endeavors to hitch people and canines in a lasting, mutually beneficial relationship. Considering that four out of ten dogs don't last one year with their adoptive families, it is a worthy project. He emphasizes the importance of emotional attraction and companionship over image, and devises a new classification of dogs that, in contrast to the classic kennel-club standards, groups them by behavioral characteristics and temperament (this is accomplished with the input of veterinarians, trainers, dog-show judges, and canine psychologists): friendly, protective, independent, self-assured, consistent, steady, and clever. He then provides a personality test for readers to measure their own extroversion, trust, dominance, warmth, and such. In subsequent chapters, he outlines what dogs fit what categories, including psychological detailings and copious anecdotes (a kind of "dog styles of the rich and famous"): why Steinbeck had a poodle, Eugene O'Neill a Dalmatian, Emily Bronte a boxer, Picasso an Afghan hound, what dogs presidents have chosen, and those selected by queens. Then he delves into the mechanics of his personality profiles, how readers can use them to find an appropriate dog, or maybe even to learn that they are, like Goethe and Napoleon, not meant to have a dog at all. The final chapter, a listing of the dogs of celebrities, isgratuitous, as readers will likely have little clue as to the glitteratiþs real personalities. Coren, a humble dog lover and a longtime student of the beast, has the best interests of both dogs and humans at heart. His is a scheme worth a gamble. (8 pages b&w photos, not seen) (Author tour)

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