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Being a dog : following the dog into a world of smell / Alexandra Horowitz.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Scribner, 2016Copyright date: ©2016Edition: First Scribner hardcover editionDescription: vii, 323 pages ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781476795997
  • 1476795991
Subject(s):
Contents:
Nose of a dog -- Smeller -- Sniffing the wind -- Walking while smelling -- Plain as the nose on your face -- My dog made me smell it -- Nose to grindstone -- Nose-wise -- Stink-waves -- Civet cats and wet dogs -- Nosed out -- Smelloftheworld.
Summary: Alexandra Horowitz, author of the bestseller Inside of a Dog, explores what dogs know in even greater depth, following their lead to learn about the dog's spectacular nose and how we mere humans can improve our underused sense of smell. Here Horowitz, a leading researcher in dog cognition, continues to unpack the mystery of a dog's nose-view, in order to more fully understand our companions. She follows the dog's nose--exploring not only its abilities but the incredible ways it is being put to use. Because human noses are so inconsiderable in comparison--we have but six million olfactory receptor cells while dogs have hundreds of millions--we have difficulty conceptualizing what dogs can perceive. To a dog, there is no such thing as "fresh air." Every breath is full of information. Dogs, when trained, can identify drugs of every type, underwater cadavers, cancer, illicit cell phones in prison, bedbugs, smuggled shark's fins, dry rot, land mines, termites, invasive knapweed, underground truffles, and dairy cows in estrus. But they also know about the upcoming weather, earthquakes before they happen, how "afternoon" smells, what you had for breakfast, and whether a cat touched your leg yesterday. And of course, they know the distinctive odor of each spot of sidewalk as they travel home. In fact, what every dog knows about the world comes mostly through his nose. But the mysteries of the nose are not restricted to the dog alone. For Horowitz also delves into the abilities of expert human sniffers--from perfumers to sommeliers to animal trackers who use smell to search out their quarry. She also trains her own nose, smelling the streets of New York City and using the experts' methods to hone the human ability we all have but rarely use to its full extent. By observing everything from her own dogs to working detection dogs and human sniffers, Horowitz takes us along on her quest to make sense of scents, combining a personal journey of smelling with a tour through the cutting-edge science behind the olfactory powers of the dog. Writing with scientific rigor and her trademark wit, Horowitz changes our perspective on dogs forever. Readers will feel that they have smelled into a fourth dimension, literally broken free of human constraints and understood smell as never before; that they have, however fleetingly, been a dog.--Adapted from dust jacket.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 636.7 H816 Available 33111008474799
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

*A New York Times Bestseller * A Science Friday and Library Journal Best Science Book of the Year *

From the #1 bestselling author of Inside of a Dog and The Year of the Puppy --"an incredible journey into the olfactory world of man's best friend" ( O, The Oprah Magazine ), Alexandra Horowitz's follow-up to her New York Times bestseller explains how dogs experience the world through their most spectacular organ--the nose.

To a dog, there is no such thing as "fresh air." Every breath of air is loaded with information. In fact, what every dog--the tracking dog, of course, but also the dog lying next to you, snoring, on the couch--knows about the world comes mostly through his nose.

In Being a Dog , Alexandra Horowitz, a research scientist in the field of dog cognition and the author of the runaway bestseller Inside of a Dog , unpacks the mystery of a dog's worldview as has never been done before.

With her family dogs, Finnegan and Upton, leading the way, Horowitz sets off on a quest to make sense of scents, combining a personal journey of smelling with a tour through the cutting edge and improbable science behind the olfactory powers of the dog. From revealing the spectacular biology of the dog snout, to speaking to other cognitive researchers and smell experts across the country, to visiting detection-dog training centers and even attempting to smell-train her own nose, Horowitz covers the topic of noses--both canine and human--from surprising, novel, and always fascinating angles.

As we come to understand how complex the world around us appears to the canine nose, Horowitz changes our perspective on dogs forever. Readers will finish this book feeling that they have smelled into a fourth dimension--breaking free of human constraints and understanding smell as never before; that they have, however fleetingly, been a dog.

Alexandra Horowitz, author of the bestseller Inside of a Dog, explores what dogs know in even greater depth, following their lead to learn about the dog's spectacular nose and how we mere humans can improve our underused sense of smell. Here Horowitz, a leading researcher in dog cognition, continues to unpack the mystery of a dog's nose-view, in order to more fully understand our companions. She follows the dog's nose--exploring not only its abilities but the incredible ways it is being put to use. Because human noses are so inconsiderable in comparison--we have but six million olfactory receptor cells while dogs have hundreds of millions--we have difficulty conceptualizing what dogs can perceive. To a dog, there is no such thing as "fresh air." Every breath is full of information. Dogs, when trained, can identify drugs of every type, underwater cadavers, cancer, illicit cell phones in prison, bedbugs, smuggled shark's fins, dry rot, land mines, termites, invasive knapweed, underground truffles, and dairy cows in estrus. But they also know about the upcoming weather, earthquakes before they happen, how "afternoon" smells, what you had for breakfast, and whether a cat touched your leg yesterday. And of course, they know the distinctive odor of each spot of sidewalk as they travel home. In fact, what every dog knows about the world comes mostly through his nose. But the mysteries of the nose are not restricted to the dog alone. For Horowitz also delves into the abilities of expert human sniffers--from perfumers to sommeliers to animal trackers who use smell to search out their quarry. She also trains her own nose, smelling the streets of New York City and using the experts' methods to hone the human ability we all have but rarely use to its full extent. By observing everything from her own dogs to working detection dogs and human sniffers, Horowitz takes us along on her quest to make sense of scents, combining a personal journey of smelling with a tour through the cutting-edge science behind the olfactory powers of the dog. Writing with scientific rigor and her trademark wit, Horowitz changes our perspective on dogs forever. Readers will feel that they have smelled into a fourth dimension, literally broken free of human constraints and understood smell as never before; that they have, however fleetingly, been a dog.--Adapted from dust jacket.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nose of a dog -- Smeller -- Sniffing the wind -- Walking while smelling -- Plain as the nose on your face -- My dog made me smell it -- Nose to grindstone -- Nose-wise -- Stink-waves -- Civet cats and wet dogs -- Nosed out -- Smelloftheworld.

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