Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know

Inside of a Dog, What Dogs See, Smell, and Know, a nonfiction book by Alexandra Horowitz was mostly a disappointment. I thought the best part was the explanation of the title, which is from a quote by Groucho Marx: “Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” That is funny. I thought the author did a fine job of challenging our tendency to anthropomorphize our pets.

Interestingly, my wife and I both were disappointed in the book for nearly opposite reasons. I was interested in whatever scientific data the author might report about dogs, their perceptual capacities, their brain waves, etc. I did not get nearly enough of that and was frustrated that so much of the book had to do with cutie stories about the author and her dog. My wife thought it was way too scientific, and she grew tired of it for that reason. From these very opposite positions (I guess we’re both correct) we both caved in and abandoned the book by about the 30% mark.