Why all dogs are good dogs

This talk is drawn from Horowitz's research on the science of early development in dogs and her own observations of a growing puppy, collected in this scientific memoir.

In the early 20th century, the biologist Jakob von Uexküll appropriated the German term Umwelt — meaning "environment" — to specifically refer to the perceptual environment of each individual, each species. An animal's umwelt is their self-world: what it is like to be that animal, based on their perceptual abilities and cognitive skills. Each species can perceive a particular set of visual, olfactory, electrical, mechanical and other stimuli, and different stimuli have different meanings, or affordances, to individuals within each species.

This study on the "guilty look" in dogs followed up on the first study in 2009 ("Disambiguating the “guilty look”: Salient prompts to a familiar dog behaviour") and confirmed that "the look" was a response to owner behavior, not a response to the dog's own (mis)behavior. The authors also found that when owners guess ahead of time whether their dog disobeyed, they were right only half of the time: the same as guessing at random.

This more practical approach to the first year with one's puppy emphasizes learning about dog behavior and using positive reinforcement techniques. Stilwell is that trainer who every new dog person wishes would just stop by and confirm that everything's going to be okay.

Adolescence unites fruit flies, lobster, zebras, humans — and dogs. Natterson-Horowitz and Bowers describe animals' journeys through the sometimes under-appreciated time of life between youth and adulthood.

The classic book on dog cognition, perception, and umwelt.