This middle grade adaptation of Our Dogs, Ourselves is an eye-opening look about humans' complicated and sometimes contradictory relationship with man's best friend. We keep dogs and are kept by them. We love dogs and (we assume) we are loved by them. Even while we see ourselves in dogs, we also treat them in surprising ways. On the one hand, we let them into our beds, we give them meaningful names, make them members of our family, and buy them the best food, toys, accessories, clothes, and more. But we also shape our dogs into something they aren't meant to be. Purebreeding dogs has led to many unhealthy pups. Many dogs have no homes, or live out their life in shelters. How is it possible we can treat the same species in these two totally different ways?--adapted from publisher's description.

An eye-opening, informative, and wholly entertaining examination and celebration of the human-canine relationship.

"An eye-opening, informative, and wholly entertaining examination and celebration of the human-canine relationship." -- From book jacket flap.

Horowitz examines what's called the 'dog-human bond': examining all aspects of the complexity of this unique interspecies pairing. From her position as a dog scientist, she uses the science of dogs and dog-human interaction to ground consideration of the various ways that dogs, as a species, reflect people, and how they reflect (sometimes badly, sometimes well) on people. And she goes beyond the cognitive science to consider the culture, laws, and human dynamics that reveal and restrict this bond between two disparate species.