For Christmas this year, I was so lucky to receive several dog-related books. While I haven’t had time to really dig in, I took one of the books with me to the cabin. It was an amazing book: Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know
The general idea behind Alexandra Horowitz’s book is that, in order to have an enriched relationship with our dogs, we need to take into consideration how they see the world. To us, a chair is a chair. To a dog, a chair might mean sitting, it might mean forbidden, but it definitely doesn’t mean “chair.” The science, combined with anecdotal evidence, makes for an enlightening read. Plus, I now look at Emmett and Lucas a little differently. Horowitz does an incredible job breaking down how dogs use their senses and how they might think and reason.
The best concept I took away from the book, though, was the idea of a smell walk. Because smell is so vitally important to our dogs, sometimes a brisk walk around the neighborhood just doesn’t do it for them. Instead, take a long, slow walk, letting them smell each and everything little thing that strikes their interest. As soon as the foot of snow melts, the paw-burning salt is washed away, and the temperature goes above zero… we will definitely be taking a smell walk!
*Disclaimer: The link to the book above and the widget on the left-side toolbar link to my Amazon page.
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