How Dogs Love Us: A Neuroscientist and His Adopted Dog Decode the Canine Brain Hardcover – October 22, 2013

Gregory Berns loves dogs. So does the rest of his family, but he's the neuroscientist, He decided he wanted to know if his dogs really loved him, and if he could determine how and why.This led inevitably to training the newest addition to their family of six (two adults, two daughters, two dogs) a terrier mix they named Callie, to enter an MRI, assume a scannable position, and remain motionless for long enough intervals for useful brain scans.Just getting the necessary permissions and approvals to bring pet dogs, rather than "purpose-bred dogs," mostly beagles bred only to be lab animals, into the lab or even onto Emory University property, was a challenge. There are good reasons, for many kinds of research, for using purpose-bred animals, including dogs. It's not the best choice in every case, though, and for at least thirty years the trend has been to eliminate research animals altogether whenever there are alternatives that give good results. Real alternatives to animal haven't yet reached to point of making lab animals completely unnecessary, but the need has been dramatically reduced over the course of my working life.And while this particular research project necessarily involved real dogs, there was no need at all for them to be purpose-bred lab animals. Pet dogs calm enough to be trained for the MRI tests were arguably a better choice, because they would have a more normal relationship with humans, and that's what "the dog project" was all about.So Berns kept pushing, and inventing work-arounds for the demands of the research office and the legal office, and got his project approved.Then came figuring out to train his own terrier mix, Callie, and a border collie, McKenzie, to accept the MRI, the noise of the MRI, and keeping still in the correct position for the scans. All this just to get to the proof of concept stage, proving they could do useful MRI scans on animals as different from the normal MRI subjects (humans and other primates) as dogs are.And it's unexpectedly fun to read this section, before they ever get to the tests they want--can they tell from brain scans whether dogs actually like humans, and not just the fact that we're a reliable source of food and toys?It's a great account, further enlivened by Callie herself, the Berns family, and the other Berns dogs, both Lyra the Golden retriever they had at the same time as Callie, and the pugs, especially Newton, who preceded them. And yet, that leads to the one part of this book that bothered me.The other standout personality here besides Callie, is Newton. Pugs are generally happy, affectionate personalities, really great companion dogs. Except, of course, for the fact that their skulls are so short and their faces so flat that often they can't breathe properly. The snorting, the snuffling, the snoring, that many people, including Gregory Berns, think is so cute, is in fact a sign of a dog who is suffering from not breathing properly. It's not fun to breathe that badly. It's exhausting, compromises sleep, is at best uncomfortable and often painful.This is something that can be avoided, or at least greatly minimized, by being really careful in selecting a breeder to get your dog from. But the Berns family prefers to adopt from shelters, which is good and much to be encouraged--but if you adopt pug or another brachcephalic dog from a shelter or rescue, and you have, like the Berns family, an at least upper middle class income, you should be asking your vet, first thing, whether a soft palette resection is right for your dog. If your dog is one of the dogs of this type that has significant difficulty breathing, and you have the resources, you should be talking to your vet about whether your dog can be helped. It may not be possible in every case, but when, like Gregory Berns, you know that "cute" snorting and snoring is in fact very hard on your dog, you ought to at least talk to your vet about possible help for the problem. And yet Berns, who clearly really loves his dogs, and who tells us that Newton couldn't breathe properly and it was a problem for the poor dog, never mentions talking to the vet about it.I really do feel that even if Newton couldn't be helped, Berns could have devoted a paragraph to telling people that the snorting and snoring isn't cute, and that if they have the means they should at least talk to their vet about it. He doesn't.And yet.This is a really good book about research that any dog lover will love.I should, in fairness, warn those who need to know that yes, dogs, including Newton and later Lyra, the Golden retriever, do die during the book. But these are the deaths at a reasonable age of dogs who were loved and happy members of their family. They're not awful tragedies that come out of nowhere to smack you in the face for the sake of extracting emotion from you.And yes, you will love the research and its results.Recommended.I bought this audiobook.

This book has something to offer the dog lovers among us, including me, who are interested in a scientific understanding of the dog's mind. That said, the book is seriously flawed by Berns' apparent lack of ability to empathize or intuitively understand dogs. I do not think that Berns is a dog lover, though he is concerned with being politically correct when it comes to respecting dog's rights. These are NOT the same thing. Berns repeatedly expresses how he doesn't understand dogs behavior and motives. He is baffled at why his dog gets excited when a woman is shrieking. He states, "Observing Lyra's behavior doesn't tell us what she was thinking." Careful observation very often can give insights into what a dog is thinking, and there are many recent scientific experiments which do exactly that. On page 17, Berns claims that we can make inferences about what other people are thinking, but not about dogs because "they certainly don't have a shared culture like we do." I beg to differ. We have shared a culture with dogs for about 10,000 years. There are a number of very recent books on this and related topics. Check out If Dogs Could Talk: Exploring the Canine Mind, by Vilmos Csányi, For the Love of a Dog: Understanding Emotion in You and Your Best Friend, by Patricia McConnell and The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter than You Think by Brian Hare. These, and more, are much more worthwhile reading that this book. Still, if you read those and want more, Berns has a little bit to add. Really, I'ld have rather just read his research report or an article on it, as much of this book was a waste of time to me. For example, I really don't need to hear about his daughter's struggles with science class. There is also far too much time spent on the mechanics of MRIs for me. I like an understanding of the science behind it, but I don't plan on building one anytime soon.So, what exactly is the topic of this book? Berns states, "It all comes down to reciprocity. If the dog-human relationship is predominantly one-sided, with humans projecting their thoughts onto the dog vacuously staring up at this master in the hopes of receiving a doggie treat, then the dog is not much better than a big teddy bear -- a warm, soft, comforting object. But what if the dog reciprocates in the relationship? Do dogs have some concept of humans as something more than food dispensers? Simply knowing that human feelings toward dogs are reciprocated in some way, even if only partially, changes everything. It would mean that dog-human relationships belong on the same plane as human-human relationships. None of these questions can be answered simply by observing dogs' behavior." That is the question that Berns addresses, and that is the perspective that he addresses it from. Again, I disagree that observation doesn't give answers. I'll also venture a guess that Berns' dog is more attached to him and he is to her. Throughout the book, he comes across as stiff and out of touch with his emotions.For those unfamiliar with shaping as a training method, the descriptions of training Callie and McKenzie to stay still in the MRI would be an interesting read, but there's little new here for those who already know shaping. Also, chapter 12 has info on the benefits of dogs at work.Further evidence of the author's handicap when it comes to understanding dogs. He's vacationing with his family, including the two dogs. I'll let him take it from there, "I looked at Callie. Her prey instinct was on red alert. She sat stiffly at the end of the leash, head like a periscope, twisting in lightning fast jerks toward every sound and motion in the woods. She looked up at me and whimpered. I didn't need an MRI to know what she wanted. She wanted to be off-leash like Lyra. Figuring she would hang around the picnic spread that Kat had been setting up, I reached down to unclip her. The world seemed to spin down. As I pulled back on the leash clip, Kat screamed out in slow motion "Nooooo!" With the opening of the clip, everything kicked into motion. With that telltale click, Callie knew she was free. She never looked back...." I think most of us could have foretold that, as Kat did, but not the author. I think he mistakes his inability to read dog body language as a universal trait, which it is not.

Of course, the book published by Amazon will always appear to be the best-selling book. I would not recommend this book if you want to learn about dog psychology or behavior. Keep looking. There are better books e.g. Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know and The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs.I you want to read the story about a neuroscientist training his dog to sit still in an MRI machine and a bit of obvious insight gained from it, then read this! I didn't learn much about dogs in this book. I learned more about the author's family, to be honest.

Quoted from the publisher review on Amazon: "Emory University neuroscientist Gregory Berns had spent decades using MRI imaging technology to study how the human brain works, but a different question still nagged at him: What is my dog thinking?"This is primarily why i read this book. I have five dogs. I know a lot about them as individuals just from living closely with them, but I've always wondered about the extent of their cognition ... do they even see me as someone other than a food dispenser who they need to be nice to. Berns' book is based on his carefully constructed study from the beginning to the results and conclusions ... and convinced me of some very interesting features of dogs and their ability to think.On top of the fascinating study and results, Berns is a great writer and researcher and he loves his dogs! ... which you can see does not bias his results or interpretations because of the very careful writing ... which is also a very good example of how ethical and responsible research should be carried out.There were instances, and quite a few, where i wondered about the relevance of some of the topics, but as i read on the relevance became clear. The discourse is carefully constructed creating a complete picture of the context of the research and making it a much more enjoyable text to read than it otherwise would have been as a research report.His description of the procedure needed to carry out the research and the training of the dogs was fascinating and at the same time raises difficult questions about traditional research methods which use animals as data sources. Among all the other things his study shows, it also shows that ethical research can be carried out if we care enough to ensure the animals are treated with as much respect as we would treat human participants.There are many many implications from the study reported in this book ... not to mention the results from the actual study, which are fascinating.I highly recommend it!

Berns talks us through some very complicated science, in a way that we understand it so well we could be reading about him making a sandwich. The experiments he did on the dogs were not only ground breaking for the science, but also in the way the animals were not treated as laboratory commodities, but kindly and with dignity, and so they participated willingly. The science involved has opened up a whole can of worms, which will be fascinating to watch as it plays out in the future.A fantastic read.

Anyone who lives with a dog should read this interesting and engaging account of how an off-the-wall research project was incepted, progressed and conducted: scanning the brains of fully conscious dogs to map how responses in specific areas of the dogs’ brains are triggered by actions of the owners. Every obstacle and difficulty is foreseen and overcome to safeguard the comfort and well-being of the subjects at all times, while ensuring the integrity of the data collected from the scans. The author’s own academic and emotional journey through this process is accounted honestly revealing the love and respect he feels for dogs, and how his understanding of and empathy with them evolved and grew throughout the project. Like most pioneering research, this account raises more questions than answers and provides much food for thought about conventional dog training methods.

At first glance this book was an odd subject to write about. But as I read on I became more and more interested in learning about how the dogs responded to what Gregory Burns asked them to do. There is so much interesting science in the book as well as the insights Gregory Burns notices with the dogs as the project develops. I have a dog and since reading this book I have paid more attention to the way my dog reacts when he is trying to tell me something. I would recommend this book to all dog lovers everywhere.

I loved the narrative format which was easy to read and non-sciencey, with an appropriately sciencey list of books and articles at the end if you want the science. I found myself absolutely weeping at the end for this species who give us so much, who demand so little and are our constant companions. I look forward to more neuroscientists choosing to consider the brains of our closest companions and finding out more about the dogs we have in our lives.