Our Dogs, Ourselves: The Story of a Singular Bond

Written by Alexandra Horowitz

Narrated by Alexandra Horowitz

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Inside of a Dog and The Year of the Puppy, an eye-opening, informative, “entertaining, and enlightening” (BookPage) celebration of the human-canine relationship for the curious dog owner and science-lover alike.

We keep dogs and are kept by them. We love dogs and (we assume) we are loved by them. We buy them sweaters, toys, shoes; we are concerned with their social lives, their food, and their health. The story of humans and dogs is thousands of years old but is far from understood. In Our Dogs, Ourselves, Alexandra Horowitz explores all aspects of this unique and complex relationship that “dog lovers will savor and absorb” (Shelf Awareness).

As Horowitz considers the current culture of dogdom, she reveals the odd, surprising, and contradictory ways we live with dogs. We celebrate their individuality but breed them for sameness. Despite our deep emotional relationships with dogs, legally they are property to be bought, sold, abandoned, or euthanized as we wish. Even the way we speak to our dogs is at once perplexing and delightful.

In thirteen thoughtful and charming chapters, Our Dogs, Ourselves affirms our profound affection for this most charismatic of animals—and makes us “see canine companions in new ways” (Science News).

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Sep 3, 2019
• ISBN: 9781508287599

Alexandra Horowitz

Alexandra Horowitz is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know; Being a Dog: Following the Dog into a World of Smell; Our Dogs, Ourselves: The Story of a Singular Bond; and The Year of the Puppy: How Dogs Become Themselves. She teaches at Barnard College, where she runs the Dog Cognition Lab. She lives with her family of Homo sapiens, Canis familiaris, and Felis catus in New York City.

Reviews for Our Dogs, Ourselves

[juliestielstra · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Horowitz is a respected researcher in dog cognition, and has published other good, readable books on what we know about how dogs learn, think, and maybe even feel. This one focuses more on how we humans relate to dogs, and how they relate to us - the human-dog bond. It's a bit less scientific, a bit less scholarly, with lots of stories about her own beloved dogs.

There is a depressing account of how the law has regarded dogs through history: as property, not individuals, or even sentient beings, and while this is changing a little in some places, they are still deemed equivalent to butterknives in some divorce courts. The chapter on how we converse aloud with our dogs is charming and funny, with the light it sheds on how we see them: as children? friends? lovers? peers? royalty? Other chapters are less successful, such as the data-driven description of her professional work (she's not quite as witty as she thinks she is).

Where I struggled the most is with her takedown of all purebred dogs (as the devoted guardian to a border collie/Lab mix AND a healthy, sound, wonderful purebred Italian greyhound). While I am in complete agreement about the terrible, extreme deformities humans have inflicted on dogs in the name of fashion (flat-faced dogs that cannot breathe or give birth normally, giant dogs who are dead by the age of 8 because their bodies simply cannot sustain their own weight, dogs whose ears are bloodily cut to look perky and sharp), I know breeders who scrupulously research health issues, breed for soundness, health and sanity, and then only rarely, support rescue, and provide us with true types of dogs to fit our lives and loves and admiration. I don't want those dogs to all disappear. She also casts often-justified doubt on the near-universal practice of spay/neuter - too much, too early, and with health implications that should be considered (hormone levels can influence bone strength, vulnerability to some cancers in some breeds, etc.). She is rather harsh on the shelters and vets who push for widespread spay/neuter, blaming them for self-interest in money and convenience, which does not seem fair. They want there to be fewer unwanted dogs, and this is one way to get there. Other ways: better behavior by pet OWNERS, better education, or alternative surgical techniques should also be in the mix, which she suggests and encourages. Still, her rather blanket disparagement of spay/neuter as a violation of a dog's right to live a full life as a dog seems a bit extreme.

Dog people will find this book amusing, interesting, and possibly annoying - or not. Not bad, but not her best. However, if anyone knows where I can find the 19th-century knitting patterns she mentions for Italian greyhound sweaters, I'd love to see them.

[maydacat_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Author Alexandra Horowitz has certainly done much research in the preparation of this book and has given her readers food for thought about the behavior of both dogs and their humans. How we bond and communicate with our dogs, what we mean to each other, and how we live together was quite interesting. She also delves into the history and background of dogs, and how and why we choose the dogs we do. She talks much about breeds, and the sometimes unfortunate result of making breeds: dogs who can’t breathe properly and others with hip problems, just to name a couple of problems. She talks about the pros and cons of spaying and neutering, but seems to be more against it than for it. She discusses the problems of overpopulation and the tragic way it is too often dealt with. You likely will find her facts and opinions interesting, though you probably won’t agree with everything she says. I found the chapter on the way owners talk to their dogs to be quite entertaining, while some of other chapters were just plain sad. Still, it was an interesting book, made even more so by the author’s capable narration.