Bibliograph

What is a dog?, Raymond Coppinger and Lorna Coppinger ; foreword by Alan M. Beck

Type

Label

What is a dog?, Raymond Coppinger and Lorna Coppinger ; foreword by Alan M. Beck

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references (pages 233-245) and index

Illustrations

illustrations

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

What is a dog?

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

919068296

Responsibility statement

Raymond Coppinger and Lorna Coppinger ; foreword by Alan M. Beck

Summary

"Exploring the natural history of these creatures, the Coppingers explain how the village dogs of Vietnam, India, Africa, and Mexico are strikingly similar. These feral dogs, argue the Coppingers, are in fact the real representative dogs, nearly uniform in size and shape and incredibly self-sufficient. Drawing on nearly five decades of research, they show how dogs actually domesticated themselves in order to become such sufficient scavengers of human refuse. The Coppingers also examine the behavioral characteristics that enable dogs to live successfully and to reproduce, unconstrained by humans, in environments that we ordinarily do not think of as dog- friendly."--Publisher description

Table Of Contents

About dogs. What is a dog? ; The world is full of village dogs ; Why do village dogs all look alike? ; What is a niche? -- Behavioral ecology. Behavioral ecology of dogs ; The cost of building a dog ; The cost of feeding a dog ; The cost of reproduction ; Avoiding hazards and their costs -- That special relationship between people and dogs. The symbiotic relationship ; Dogs adopt people (and other animals) ; People adopt dogs ; People breed special dogs ; Breed genes stray into the village dog population ; Dog genes stray back into the wild -- Summary. Where and why are all these dogs? ; What should we do, if anything, with all the dogs?

Classification