# The Genius of Dog by Brian Hare



## Rangers_mom (May 16, 2013)

Anyone read this book? I heard him on a radio talk show last week and he said a couple interesting things.

1. Studies show that you can over train a dog. If you train too much the results will not be as good as if you train less often and in shorter sessions.

2. Dogs (not wolves) that are feral will follow the dog with the most friends not the aggressive dog.

Brian Hare is a researcher from Duke University, some sort of sociologist dealing with animals, can't remember his title. 

What do you guys think?


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## DWP (Mar 31, 2011)

*Interesting*

Sonds interesting. I will have to do some research.


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## Rangers_mom (May 16, 2013)

Correction- looked it up. Brain Hare is a professor of evolutionary anthropology at Duke.


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## cshepherd9 (Feb 11, 2010)

I am reading it now. I started it last night but I don't have an opinion yet as I am only on Chapter 3. I will let you know what I think when I finish it!


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## Rangers_mom (May 16, 2013)

Cshepherd9, you might be interested in the interview I heard. It was on Radio Times (NPR WHYY) last week, but it was a rebroadcast. I know there are podcasts of Radio Times if you are interested. It was pretty interesting.


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## cshepherd9 (Feb 11, 2010)

Yes, I will check it out. Thanks!


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## Rangers_mom (May 16, 2013)

And I can't wait to hear what you think of the book.

FYI - on the talk show he kept mentioning a website dognition.com. It was a site to collect data for his research. He kept saying he wanted info from as many dog owners as possible and that the site included "tests" to give your dog. When I went to the site there was a fee to participate (and it wasn't a nominal fee). I understand he needs to fund his research, but I really question the validity of data collected that way. I guess writing a book about dogs is the on way an evolutionary anthropologist can make money - LOL.


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## carmspack (Feb 2, 2011)

" Dogs (not wolves) that are feral will follow the dog with the most friends not the aggressive dog."

There are several other studies out that basically say the same thing. This is because the pack is a co-operative , symbiotic unit . An aggressive dog is a loose wheel hindering the success of the group.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

I read the book. I just loaned it out to a friend!
What he writes is based on studies and tests, not opinions.
Interesting reading about the Bonobo's. 

https://www.dognition.com/


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## Rangers_mom (May 16, 2013)

Onyx'girl, in the radio interview he was referencing a lot of studies - some done by him but many studies done by others. They touched on the who,e bonobo thing but really didn't have time to get into it in detail. Would you recommend the book?


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

absolutely!
It was a great read. You could probably get it at the local library.


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## cshepherd9 (Feb 11, 2010)

Ha! I got mine at the library. I wanted to read it but didn't want to pay for it :blush:


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## Kaimeju (Feb 2, 2013)

I am very interested in reading the book, but IMHO Dognition.com is a borderline scam. There is simply no way such a research design would pass peer-review. He is essentially selling you a very expensive personality test for your dog that is neither objective nor scientific.

Now, I think it would be interesting if he was using the test in a controlled environment, but he is not. Maybe this is an exploratory study. Or maybe he just wants to make some cash off of dog owners.


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Rangers_mom (May 16, 2013)

Kaimeju, that was my feeling exactly. When I was listening to the radio broadcast I was thinking "how are you going to get anything you can use in your research if you have 50,000 different people administering the test." Furthermore they are not objective administrators of the test. A test to see how smart Fido is? Let see, turns out everyone has an above average dog. Suddenly we are living in Lake Wobegon. Then I went to the site and thought this is just a way for him to make money. But as I said earlier, I guess when you are an evolutionary anthropologist the money making opportunities are very limited and taking advantage of people's love for their dogs is your best bet.

That said, the book sounded interesting and he does reference some interesting studies done by others.


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