Dogs Never Lie About Love : Reflections on the Emotional World of Dogs

Rating:
Summary: Dog Lovers Know this True Love
Review: Compassionately and with easy to read style, this author investigates the emotional state of dogs.

From his three to wide survey of literature on the subject, Masson puts forward observation after observation which this reviewer agress with that something very powerful, real and special goes on inside the dogs we come to cherish.

The sensitivity, the loyalty, the heart to give and receive love, its all here in this good read of the topic.

Particularly intriguing is his contention with some major dog training ideas, such as Alpha leader, wolf derivation, etc. He makes good points without being too dogmatic. Also, his analyis of dominance and submission is fascinating.

There is much for the dog enthusiast to relate to and ponder in this. Great read for any dog person.

Rating:
Summary: Boring, monotonous, but somewhat touching.
Review: I bought this book at a used book store for about 6 dollars. I had heard great things from other doggie lovers like myself, so didn't mind dishing out a few bucks to purchase it.

When I first delved into this book, I had obnoxiously high hopes, a little TOO high I will admit. But this book did not even scratch the surface on what I hoped it to be. I do extensive research on dog's an dog behavior and though this man really does seem to love his dogs, he projects his emotions a little too strongly onto them. Though I cannot speak for fact that dogs can or cannot(none of us can, we have never actually been dogs)feel certain emotions, I have never witnessed any behaviors that could even suggest that the emotions the author claims that dogs have, that dogs feel.

He doesn't have any real scientific proof for these claims. Just what he thinks his three dogs are feeling. And three dogs are few among the millions of dogs in the world. He makes 'scientists' out as unfeeling and uncaring, as if they don't believe dogs have ANY emotions. I've heard and met of many proffessionals and scientists who believe animals have emotions. He seems as if he wants to make himself believe these dogs have emotions. And as much as I do think dogs can love, he credits them with too many expansive feelings. He repeats that dogs are "pure emotion" and "loving beings" too many times to be enjoyable.

It was also rather boring, though some of the stories did warm your heart, it's not a book I will be re-reading or flipping through like I do with a lot of books. It's charming, but don't read all of this with a grain of salt, and don't be afraid to make your own conclusions. Though I'm not going to bash the author like other reviewers have, I will admit the book is rather off, monotonous and not at all scientific.

Rating:
Summary: a must-read for dog-owners
Review: I loved this book, despite the fact that Masson sometimes seems to be projecting his own feelings onto his pets. This is not a scientific examination, but an astute psychologist's ruminations on the bond between human and canine. It should be required reading for all dog OWNERS as well as all dog lovers, as it would help people understand the psychology of dogs better; the neglect and abuse of dogs is far too common.

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Summary: A very enjoyable book about dog behavior.
Review: I really enjoyed reading this wonderfully written book. Many times I have caught myself bursting into laughter and nodding my head fiercely in agreement while reading. Some of his descriptions of dog behavior closely match my own observations and opinions of my dog's behavior. My dog is now 14, and this book brought back many fond memories of my own attempts in the last 14 years at trying to interpret his many bodily and facial expressions and interesting behavior. Mr. Masson has done an excellent job at conveying his own love for dogs by offering his own perspective of dog psychology based on his first-hand experience as a dog owner. This book is not the "text book on dog psychology" which some people may have come to expect. It does not offer scientific analyses with data gathered in labs from formal, structured research, but that's also the beauty of the book. I think this book succeeds at telling a very personal story and providing insights into how a true dog lover WOULD come to interpret and understand their pets expressions and behavior. With Mr. Masson's powerful writing style, vivid images of dogs' expressions literally jumped to my eyes as I read through the book. My heart has melted more than once over the many dog stories told by this book. It is not just a good story book about one man's understanding of dog psychology. It is also a good introductory book for casual dog owners who want to know more about psychoanalysis of dogs. Written not only for those who appreciate dogs, I also believe it has enough power to transform those who are indifferent to dogs into avid dog lovers.

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Summary: Why?
Review: If you want to know what this guy thinks his dogs are thinking, buy this book.

Rating:
Summary: A book to make you appreciate your dog even more
Review: This was a wonderful book. I'm not a non-fiction reader by nature, but I absolutely loved every interesting, loving, thoughtful chapter. I found the many anecdotes so touching, and often found myself envying Masson's freedom to spend so much time with his dogs (and cats) every day. I enjoyed his writing so much that I plan on reading another of his books, "Why Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals."

If you love dogs (and/or truly love animals in general), and, like me, berate yourself for sometimes not appreciating our canine friends as much as you should, read this book. I believe people who gave it a bad review are letting their cynicism color their judgement. The fact remains that dogs love us in spite of our flawed human selves, and God bless them for it.

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Summary: I enjoyed this book immensely
Review: Touching, interesting and helpful, this book is is a treasure of information about dogs. I enjoyed the look inside the behavior of dogs and the humor Masson used to share these insights. I work at a pet rescue and also write columns for pet rescue newsletters. The factual information in this book allowed me to research the reasons for behaviors of dogs and I feel confident that the information in Masson's book is correct.

I also like the warm and fuzzy stories about pets and their owners Masson uses to support or introduce his subjects.

You can't go wrong with this book.

Rating:
Summary: I loved this book!!
Review: Understandably, I wanted to love this book; we all want to love books about subjects that interest us and that we paid for. And, I hate to criticize other people's work. So I've never dwelled much on this book since I've read it. But now that I've read the many negative reviews of this book posted here by readers, I have to admit that they represent most of my impressions. I might as well not bother adding my own, but directing you to those with the lowest numbers of stars.

Needless to say, many people loved it, and I'd still lend it to anyone who wants to read it. I'm not sure I'd even discourage anyone from reading it; I just wouldn't lend it out or recommend it without revealing that many people, myself included, have not found it to be so wonderful.

I do want to counter something said by at least one who reviewed it negatively. Someone criticized the fact that the author didn't even have a dog, but went out to get several of them to write the book. I'm not sure that's so bad. To do it the other way might have me thinking, "oh this author is just so crazy about his dogs that he wants to write about them just like I'm so crazy about my dog that I want to write about him and tell the world how much I love him" even if there's not really a book in it. So, yes that's a thought, but I don't think I really agree that that factor was such a negative.

If you haven't read it and you're curious or interested, go for it (but maybe to the library), BUT - find the negative reviews here first and consider if you want to read the stuff that these readers say the book contains. Because they're mostly right.

Rating:
Summary: The books a nice read, but I was expecting more.
Review: When I learned that the content of "Dogs Never Lie About Love" was about the author's observations of his 3 dogs and 2 cats, I was very excited. I too have 3 dogs and 2 cats. Like the author, I also have German Shepherd Dogs. And like the author, I truely love my dogs. With that, I couldn't wait to dive into Chapter 1. It didn't take me long to figure out that the author had very little to say. His basic messages of "dogs are pure emotion" and "dogs love" are repeated over and over. There are also endless references of ancient quotes. My favorite quote was from Napolean as he witnessed a dog attending to his fallen master. Most however are easily forgotten. I would only recommend this book to the true dog lover, with the understanding you probably are not going to read anything you don't already know. I already know dogs love. I happily live with it every day.

Rating:
Summary: The Thoughts and Feelings of Dogs
Review: Written with the goal to study the emotions and inner thinking of dogs, this book is a fairly interesting write- up on one man's observations of his canine companions. The author's name is Jeffrey Masson and he is a dog lover extraordinaire- a man who thinks the world of his dogs and wants to share with everyone on the planet what he feels he knows about canine thinking.

Masson spends his time in this book talking about his three dogs and explaining the behavior he has observed in each of them. He talks about how his dogs react to different people and different situations. He presents examples of canine loyalty and heroics from known events in the past. This all makes for some pleasant enough reading, even though it gets a little repetitive after a while.

One thing that makes this book a little less valuable than it might otherwise be is the author's lack of any scientific research to back up its claims. Masson really likes dogs and he feels pretty certain that his observations bear some resemblance to absolute truth. But he offers nothing to back up his claims. He only offers observations, without any scientific or original research to prove himself.

Masson gets sappy from time to time in this book, so be prepared to read about his dogs giving him kisses, sleeping at the foot of the bed, showing their uncontrolled enthusiasm when he gets home, etc. It's easy to see that Masson is a lover of dogs, but his book is only average. I can relate to how he feels about our canine friends, but in the absence of any scientific experiments or original research, this book is only half as good as it could have been.