Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson is interviewed by Bark Magazine.
In For the Love of a Dog, McConnell suggests that one of the reasons we love dogs so much is that they express emotions in ways similar to humans. After all, who can communicate joy better than a puppy? But not all emotional expressions are obvious, and McConnell teaches both beginning dog owners and experienced dog lovers how to read the more subtle expressions hidden behind fuzzy faces and floppy ears. For those of us who deeply cherish our dogs but are sometimes baffled by their behavior, For the Love of a Dog will come as a revelation–a treasure trove of useful facts, informed speculation, and intriguing accounts of man’s best friend at his worst and at his very best. Readers will discover how fear, anger, and happiness underlie the lives of both people and dogs and, most important, how understanding emotion in both species can improve the relationship between them. Thus McConnell introduces us to the possibility of a richer, more rewarding relationship with our dogs.
In the 1980s, applied behavior analysts began looking at animals’ motivations for their behaviors (Burch & Bailey, 1999). Cognitive ethologists (Bekoff, 2007) and neuroscientists (Panksepp, 2005) have shown that animals do have an inner emotional life to an extent that most scientists now accept this fact.
