German Shepherd Dog Forums - View Single Post - Book Recommendation

Dogma · 03-02-2005, 06:22 PM

My favorite:
Fundamentals of Learning and Motivation...by Frank Logan (see description in 2nd page of this thread)

My next favorite:
Dogs...by Raymond & Lorna Coppinger

Written by two biologists, this book explores the origin of the dog from a biological point of view.
Along the way you find interesting little tit-bits, like the fact that in the biological latin nominclature, the dog was lumped with the wolves only because both have 42 teeth, not because Linnaeus (the creator of the nominclature) thought they were related!

And you read in the chapter on "Behavioral Conformation" about a predator's "motor pattern", which explains why a Border Collie will eye-stalk-chase sheep, but not grab-kill-dissect-consume (he lacks the rest of the pattern to do so)

There is also a section on the unexpected results of breeding for certain traits.
Ie, breed-select for tameness in wild silver foxes, and one gets a tame fox....with a pinto coat, floppy ears, and dog-like sounds.

Not a glossy quick read, though it does have a few B&W photos.
But interesting stuff!
[img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/01_smile.gif[/img]

03-02-2005, 06:22 PM	#50 (permalink)
Dogma Elite Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Texas Posts: 1,492	Re: Book Recommendation - Please Add your Favorite! My favorite: Fundamentals of Learning and Motivation...by Frank Logan (see description in 2nd page of this thread) My next favorite: Dogs...by Raymond & Lorna Coppinger Written by two biologists, this book explores the origin of the dog from a biological point of view. Along the way you find interesting little tit-bits, like the fact that in the biological latin nominclature, the dog was lumped with the wolves only because both have 42 teeth, not because Linnaeus (the creator of the nominclature) thought they were related! And you read in the chapter on "Behavioral Conformation" about a predator's "motor pattern", which explains why a Border Collie will eye-stalk-chase sheep, but not grab-kill-dissect-consume (he lacks the rest of the pattern to do so) There is also a section on the unexpected results of breeding for certain traits. Ie, breed-select for tameness in wild silver foxes, and one gets a tame fox....with a pinto coat, floppy ears, and dog-like sounds. Not a glossy quick read, though it does have a few B&W photos. But interesting stuff! [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/01_smile.gif[/img]