Overview

A firsthand exploration of the fascinating world of working dogs --who seek out missing persons, sniff for explosives in war zones, and locate long-dead remains--through the experiences of a journalist and her canine companion, an incorrigible pup named Solo. Cat Warren is a university professor and former journalist with an admittedly odd hobby: She and her German shepherd have spent the last seven years searching for the dead. Solo is a cadaver dog. What started as a way to harness Solo's unruly energy and enthusiasm soon became a calling that introduced Warren to the hidden and fascinating universe of working dogs, their handlers, and their trainers. Solo has a fine nose and knows how to use it, but he's only one of many thousands of working dogs all over the United States and beyond. In What the Dog Knows, Warren uses her ongoing work with Solo as a way to explore a captivating field that includes cadaver dogs, drug- and bomb-detecting K9s, tracking and apprehension dogs--even dogs who can locate unmarked graves of Civil War soldiers and help find drowning victims more than two hundred feet below the surface of a lake. Working dogs' abilities may seem magical or mysterious, but Warren shows the multifaceted science, the rigorous training, and the skilled handling that underlie the amazing abilities of dogs who work with their noses. Warren interviews cognitive psychologists, historians, medical examiners, epidemiologists, and forensic anthropologists, as well as the breeders, trainers, and handlers who work with and rely on these remarkable and adaptable animals daily. Along the way, she discovers story after story that proves the impressive capabilities--as well as the very real limits--of working dogs and their human partners. Clear-eyed and unsentimental, Warren explains why our partnership with dogs is woven into the fabric of society and why we keep finding new uses for their wonderful noses.

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9781451667318

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Reviews

What the Dog Knows is first the story of the relationship between a hard-working cadaver dog and his human companion. But that deeply felt relationship opens the way to an exploration of the working dog world and in doing so becomes something more--a realization of the intelligence, determination, and decency of these animals, a story both wonderful and wise. --Deborah Blum, author of Love at Goon Park and The Poisoner s Handbook

Warren's painstaking research on the history and science of working dogs debunks myths and explains what is known--and how much remains unknown--about canine abilities and behavior. By combining this hard information with anecdotes about training Solo, accounts of searching the North Carolina woods for dead bodies, and the stories of other trainers and their dogs, she has produced a book that is both informative and entertaining. Although her love for Solo is palpable, she remains analytical and clear-headed, never romanticizing what he or other working dogs do. --Bruce DeSilva, Edgar Award-winning author of the Mulligan crime novels

Fantastic ... should be mandatory reading for any police dog handler or trainer. --Andrew C. Revering, Chief of Police, Ret., Anoka, Minnesota Police Department

Author Information

Cat Warren is a professor at North Carolina State University, where she teaches science journalism, editing, and creative nonfiction courses. Before starting her academic career, Warren worked for newspapers across the United States, reporting on crime, poverty, and politics, from California to Wyoming to Connecticut. Warren started training her young German shepherd, Solo, as a cadaver dog in 2004. She and Solo were called to search for the missing across North Carolina for a number of years. She lives in downtown Durham, North Carolina, with her husband, David Auerbach, a retired professor of philosophy at North Carolina State University, and their two German shepherds. Visit CatWarren.com.

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