Let's get this out of the way: this is not a book about how to have the perfect dog, or anything along those lines. This is science. Specifically, the over-looked science of what we know about dogs, their origins, perception, and their role in society. And I loved it.

The first third or so of the book looks at the history of wolf to dog, pointing out that all the dominance theories of dog behaviour are based on faulty understanding of wolves, especially the false belief that the study of captive wolves has a useful contribution to understanding modern dogs.

Beyond that, the text feels like a call for more use of science and education, and less celebrity and fads, to make dogs a rewarding part of our society. I'll single out pedigree breeding as one area that is just insane, but along the way there's a lot of science input to how we live with dogs.

Plenty of references and foot notes to follow up on.