How Dogs Love Us answers the age-old question of dog lovers everywhere: What is my dog thinking?

And it gets there with a well-told, heart-warming, fascinating story that starts with the author’s desire to understand what was going on in the brain of his own dog, Callie—an adopted shy, skinny terrier mix. As a neuroscientist, Berns had spent decades using MRI imaging technology to study how the human brain works; why not try using the same technology on dogs?

For one thing, no one had ever been able to get a dog to undergo an MRI scan without sedation or restraint. But sedating the dog would make it impossible for Berns to study the brain activity that could help answer his questions, and restraining the dog would result in anxiety and distress for the dog. Berns believed that all subjects of scientific study—not just humans—must be willing participants. Humans must sign a consent form, something a dog cannot do. Berns wanted a dog to enter willingly into the activities that would allow fMRI (functional magnetic resonance) imaging studies of their brains; the dog’s behavior would indicate consent. In keeping with his determination to conduct the studies in an ethical way, Berns insisted that if the dog changed its mind and hopped out of the MRI, the study would stop.

Despite the initial naysayers (including most of his colleagues), Berns reasoned that if the military could train dogs to operate calmly in some of the loudest, most chaotic, and dangerous environments, there must be a way to train dogs to sit in an MRI scanner.

And so, led by Berns and his small, hand-picked team of researchers, he and Callie worked together to overcome the behavioral, technical, and legal challenges of capturing the inner workings of the canine brain.

The results are fascinating, and mark a major milestone in the study of dog cognition, including how dogs empathize with human emotions, and how they love us. It’s a joyous look at why dogs and humans share “one of the most remarkable friendships in the animal kingdom.”

If you’re thinking, “this book sounds like too much science for me to enjoy,” let me assure you: How Dogs Love Us is a page-turner (I couldn’t put it down). It reads like a thriller/mystery, well-told memoir/love-story, with plenty of laughs along the way. It is a tribute to scientific study, as well as a testament to the truth that many already hold dear: Dogs should be treated as we would treat our best human friends, “with love, respect, and appreciation for their social and emotional intelligence.”

Note: How Dogs Love Us was initially published in hardcover in 2013. A paperback edition was published in 2022. Somehow, it escaped my radar; I came across it one day at the local library when I was perusing the aisles—yet another reason I love libraries.

Another note for Audible fans: I like to read books off a printed page—not on a screen. I like to hold the book in my hands, turn the pages, admire the production qualities, and so on. I have rarely listened to an audio version of a book; as a writer, I like to see the words on the page, which is a different experience for my brain (for every brain, according to researchers), than hearing them. While writers enjoy reading a good book the same way any reader does, we are also—without even thinking about it—examining sentence structure, word choice, paragraph breaks, even punctuation as we read. That kind of “reading like a writer” is not possible when listening to a book.

And so, I was really delighted to have a conversation today about How Dogs Love Us with my favorite landscaper/paralegal/nonfiction writer friend, Greg, whose taste in books has led me to many good reads. He wanted me to know how much he is enjoying listening to the book. “The narrator does a terrific job,” he told me, something that is “not always the case,” he said. Like me, he finds the story to be a page-turner, although he is not turning the pages. “It reads like a mystery thriller,” he said. He’s reluctant to hit pause, and always eager to return to where he left off listening. Kudos to LJ Ganser, the voice on Audible delivering this fascinating tale.   

About The Author, Gregory Berns:

Gregory Berns, M.D., Ph.D., is the Distinguished Professor of Neuroeconomics at Emory University. His research has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, National Geographic, Smithsonian, The Los Angeles Times, Nature, New Scientist, and Psychology Today. He has appeared on 60 Minutes, GMA, CNN, NPR, ABC, and the BBC.

How Dogs Love Us was a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller. He has written other books about dogs, including What It’s Like to Be a Dog, which was named one of the 10 best science books of 2017 by the Smithsonian. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Finding Home: Shelter Dogs and Their Stories
By Traer Scott

Finding Home is the author’s follow-up to her first book, the best-seller Shelter Dogs. Filled with her beautiful photographs, the stories in Finding Home introduce us to a variety of dogs who have landed in a shelter for one reason or another, and their unique stories of each one’s transition to a new home. If you have been thinking of adopting a shelter dog, this book will enlighten and inspire you.

About the Author:

Traer Scott is an award-winning photographer and author of eleven books including Forever Home, Shelter Dogs, and Radiant. Her work is exhibited around the world and is regularly featured in national and international print and online publications. She lives in Providence, Rhode Island.

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Starter Dog: My Path To Joy, Belonging, And Loving This World, by Rona Maynard

When Rona Maynard’s husband of nearly 50 years said one evening, “Let’s get a dog,” she was inclined to say, “Let’s not.” Indeed, as an online description of Starter Dog notes, this book is “an irresistible tale of reluctant dog ownership full of heart, humor, and wisdom.”

But, eventually, a dog does make his way into her life. Casey, a rescue mutt trained to be “adoptable” in a program that employs prison convicts, quickly wins Rona’s heart. Despite her initial doubts, this dog with “the torn right ear, the bowlegs a bit spindly for the barrel chest, the woebegone air conveyed by his long snout,” nearly immediately becomes, in her view, “the One.”  

As this beautifully written, enthralling tale unfolds, we see that Casey has done much more than satisfy Rona’s husband’s decades-long desire for a dog; Casey has shown Rona a new way to see and experience the world around her.

About the Author:

Rona Maynard is an author, speaker, and mentor to other writers. She lives in Toronto with her husband of 50 years, Paul, and their “starter dog” Casey.

A gift from Rona: Every book needs a bookmark. You can get an autographed and paw-printed Starter Dog postcard from Rona, which makes a great bookmark for whatever you happen to be reading, by sending her a note here. Just mention TheDogsLife website!  

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Togo and Leonhard: The True Story of Alaska’s Greatest Musher and His Lead Dog, by Pam Flowers

When the author of this book first learned the story of Leonhard Seppala and his dog, Togo, she said, “It was just too compelling a story not to write.” And while much had been written about the historic “Great Serum Run” of 1925, she wanted to focus on the relationship between Seppala and Togo. She writes “not only from the perspective of a musher but from the perspective of an arctic-expedition musher.”  

In addition to being a well-told story of a remarkable event, Togo and Leonhard is a tale of the courage and determination demonstrated by two beings—a man and a dog—in the most adverse conditions. While both had faced a multitude of difficulties earlier in life, they pushed themselves to persevere and, in so doing, they saved countless lives.   

About the Author:

Pam Flowers is a children’s book author and dog lover who has been a dog musher on nine Arctic expeditions and finished the famed annual Iditarod. She has lived in Alaska for 40 years and during most of that time was an active dog musher.

She first heard about Leonhard Seppala when she ran in the Iditarod Sled Dog Race and was nominated for the Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award. The veterinarians who monitor the race established the award in honor of Seppala for the excellent care he was known to give his sled dogs. Every year this distinction recognizes the musher who gives their dogs “the most outstanding care during the race.” Flowers’ nomination for the award fueled her interest in Seppala. 

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A Friend Like Henry: The Remarkable True Story of an Autistic Boy and the Dog That Unlocked His World, by Nuala Gardner 

This New York Times bestseller is the true story of a boy, his dog, and the mutual love that changed their lives.

After being shuttled between ineffective and often uncaring healthcare professionals, Dale’s parents decided they would try anything to support their nonverbal son, Dale, who had been diagnosed as autistic*.

After years of effort and slow progress, the family’s life was transformed when Henry, a Golden Retriever puppy, became a member of their household.

This book is enlightening and filled with lessons about perseverance and the life-changing effect of love and empathy.

About the Author:

Nuala Gardner is aNew York Times bestselling author, nurse, and mother of two children on the spectrum. She and her husband challenged what they were being told by authorities as they persisted in having their children’s condition recognized, which was before there was the understanding of autism we now have.

*Everything I have learned about autism is thanks to Janet Lintala, founder of Autism Health.

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