Dog behaviour, evolution, and cognition

This book collates and synthesizes recent burgeoning primary research literature on dog behaviour, evolution, and cognition. The book presents a new ecological approach to the understanding of dog behaviour, demonstrating how dogs can be the subject of rigorous and productive scientific study without the need to confine them to a laboratory environment. The text starts with an overview of the conceptual and methodological issues associated with the study of the dog, followed by a brief description of their role in human society - almost a third of human families share their daily life with the dog! An evolutionary perspective is then introduced with a summary of current research into the process of domestication. The central part of the book is devoted to issues relating to the cognitive aspects of behaviour which have received particular attention in recent years from both psychologists and ethologists. The book's final chapters introduce the reader to many novel approaches to dog behaviour, set in the context of behavioural development and genetics.

Ch. 1 Dogs in historical perspective -- Ch. 2 Concepts in the study of dog behaviour -- Ch. 3 Methodological issues in the behavioural study of the dog -- Ch. 4 Dogs in anthropogenic environments: family and society -- Ch. 5 Comparative overview of Canis -- Ch. 6 The story of domestication: archaeological and phylogenetic evidence -- Ch. 7 The emergence of phenotypic novelty -- Ch. 8 Intra-specific social organization in dogs and related forms -- Ch. 9 The perceptual world of the dog -- Ch. 10 Physical-ecological problem solving -- Ch. 11 Affiliative and agonistic social relationships -- Ch. 12 Communication, play, and collaboration -- Ch. 13 Social learning and social problem solving -- Ch. 14 Change of behaviour in time: from birth to death -- Ch. 15 The organization of individual behaviour -- Ch. 16 The genetic contribution to behaviour.