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Dog's Best Friend
Annals of the Dog-Human Relationship
by Mark Derr
ISBN: 0805040633
ISBN-13: 9780805040630
Format: Hardcover
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Summary
A book about all aspects of the canine-human bond, including the author's view that pedigreed dogs are overbred at the expense of their health and usefulness.
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Media Reviews
"...[A] love song, a celebration, a well-told tale."
-- Kirkus
"...Derr understands that humans and dogs are linked; that however much the domestic dog may delight in other dogs, people are at the center of its world....Of particular interest is Derr's discussion of scent." -- Jonathan Yardley
-- Washington Post Book World
"For all its blather, this is a useful book." -- Christopher Lehmann-Haupt
-- New York Times
"Mark Derr is no dog-in-the-window sentimentalist. the world of working dogs, like the world itself, is harsh, and he knows it." -- Timothy Foote
-- New York Times Book Review
"[T]he author's insistent emphasis on how man has exploited and betrayed his best friend for his own needs and vanity soon makes the reader realize that the book's title is not intended as an encomium but rather as bitter irony." -- Selma G. Lanes
-- Los Angeles Times Book Review
Bibliographic Details
Publisher: Henry Holt & Co
Published date: 1997
Size: 7 x 10 inches
Weight: 1.45 pounds
Pages: 380
Publisher's Notes
In Dog's Best Friend, Mark Derr conducts a stylish, humane, often bemused, and highly personal tour of the world of dogs and humans. A sharp-eyed journalist and keen historian with a poet's ear for language, Derr mixes anecdote, solid research, and reportage to produce a work that spans time and cultures, revealing the complexities of our unique bond with canines. Dog's Best Friend first takes us back to prehistoric days when, around the world, small numbers of tamed wolves became dogs, joining their human companions in a new way of life. Derr then introduces us to an astonishing array of talented dogs: squirrel-treeing feists and feral, cattle-hunting curs; retrieves and herders; fleet, tough Alaskan huskies and Navajo sheepdogs who prefer their four-legged charges to people. We also meet dogs trained to locate and rescue victims of disaster, fly after Frisbees, detect everything from contraband mangoes to plastic explosives, stop crime, and guide the blind. Along the way, Derr delivers a hard-hitting analysis of current issues, including the horror of overbreeding dogs for show and profit. Derr's subject, as much as dogs, is people, especially those with the remarkable ability to "get inside the minds of their dogs", to understand their needs and talents. These exemplars never ask a dog to perform against its nature or to undertake a task at which it will fail, yet they unfailingly raise dogs distinguished for their brains, temperaments, and accomplishments.
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Dog's Best Friend: Annals of the Dog-Human Relationship
Mark Derr
Henry Holt & Co. Used - Good. Former Library book. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. 100% Money Back Guarantee. Shipped to over one million happy customers! Your purchase benefits world literacy! ( more information) Offered by Better World Books (United States)
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Dog's Best Friend: Annals of the Dog-Human Relationship
Mark Derr
Henry Holt and Company, 1997. Hardcover. Very good/Very good. Dustjacket and cover have light wear. Former owner's seal on title page. First printing. ( more information) Offered by Bark'N Books (United States)
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Dog's Best Friend: Annals of the Dog-Human Relationship
Mark Derr
Henry Holt & Co. New in Good+ dust jacket. 1997. Hardcover. New hardcover with lightly bumped spine ends. No remainder mark. DJ has light scratches, some light scuffing and edgewear. Top spine end hinge bumped. Professional service from a Main Street bookstore. ; 1.5 x 10 x 7 Inches; 380 pages . ( more information) Offered by BookNest (United States)
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Dog's Best Friend: Annals of the Dog-Human Relationship
Derr, Mark
New York, New York, U.S.A.: Henry Holt & Co, 1997. bumped at top and bottom of spine and bottom corners. A Hard Cover. Good-Bumped/Good -Wrinkled. ( more information) Offered by Starr Book Shop (United States)
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Dog's Best Friend : Annals of the Dog-Human Relationship
Derr, Mark
New York:: Henry Holt & Company, LLC,, 1997.. First Edition. Hard Cover. As New in Very Good Plus DJ. 8vo, 1/2 inch tear on front panel at spine. 380 pages. In Dog's Best Friend, Mark Derr conducts a stylish, humane, often bemused, and highly personal tour of the world of dogs and humans. A sharp-eyed journalist and keen historian with a poet's ear for language, Derr mixes anecdote, solid research, and reportage to produce a work that spans time and cultures, revealing the complixities of our unique bond with canines. ( more information) Offered by Olmstead Books (Canada)
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