‘The Wolf in the Parlor’ is a fascinating read
By Liz Palika
November 5, 2009
As a writer on canine topics myself, I’m always on the lookout for a good book about dogs. I have favorite authors I look for and others I tend to avoid, but often I reach for a book because something draws me to it. With “The Wolf in the Parlor: The Eternal Connection Between Humans and Dogs” (Henry Holt & Company), it was the title. As a writer who often has trouble coming up with good titles, I appreciate a great title and this is one.
The author, Jon Franklin, is a two time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who specializes in science writing. The book is his journey in dogs. Those of us who love dogs and share our homes (and often our professions) with dogs know how important dogs are to us and to people in general. But just as that Chicago blogger posted a few weeks ago, not everyone loves dogs as we do.
One of Franklin’s first steps to discover what dogs are all about began when he saw a photo of an archeological dig with the skeleton of a man with a hand outstretched to the skeleton of a small dog or puppy. Franklin began questioning, “What was going on here? Why was the man reaching towards the puppy? Did the two die together? Why was the dog even there?”
Franklin’s journey into dogs was firmly cemented when he proposed to his soon to be wife and her answer was, “Can I get a puppy?” Good woman!
A black Standard Poodle named Charlie (Yes, there is a connection to John Steinbeck’s “Travels with Charlie”) joined their household. Franklin watches and documents his own transformation as he changes from an outsider looking in to a firmly committed dog owner.
Charlie becomes housetrained, goes to dog training class, earns his CGC and even competes in obedience. He learns to sing along with the piano as Franklin’s wife plays (yes to Henry Mancini and no to rock and roll). He earns his certification as a therapy dog and Franklin observes — as a good journalist does — the transformations that take place when a dog visits.
What I enjoyed the most, though, were the transformations within Franklin himself that he’s recording. He talks about his walks with Charlie and learning to see the world as Charlie sees it – the birds exploding into flight when startled, the gopher snake caught in garden netting, and the mole dug up from the earth.
Franklin also chronicled his grief when Charlie dies. He talks about his depression, the medication the doctor recommends, and his wife’s desire to get another dog. In his grief and apathy, he doesn’t fight his wife over it, but does talk about a dog who helps bring him out of his grief before they bring home a new puppy, Sam.
I will have to admit, there are some sections of this book that I skimmed over. There is a little more science than I like in some places and sometimes the prose is a little over done for my taste. But Franklin’s journey into the origins of dogs and our relationship with dogs is wonderful.
I won’t tell you the end of the book – I won’t spoil it – but do have some tissues at hand.
I have a slightly different view of this book.
The science on dog behavior and evolution (especially the co-evolution bit) is a bit, let’s just say, off.
Comment by retrieverman — November 5, 2009 @ 2:50 pm
Oh, I didn’t say I agreed with ALL of it and I certainly am not an expert in the science aspects.
I said his journey through his research - sharing his interpretations of his research - and his becoming a dog owner was wonderful. I liked his observations of himself and the changes within himself. Not all of us can look inside ourselves and chronicle the changes as Franklin did.
As far as his observations regarding dog behavior, let’s face it - when we talk about dog behavior - there’s that standard joke: Put 100 dog trainers in a room and the only thing they’ll all agree upon is that the other 99 are wrong.
So I wasn’t looking at this as a training/behavior book and I don’t believe it’s marketed as a training book.
Comment by Liz Palika — November 5, 2009 @ 4:35 pm
I’m talking specifically about his co-evolution theory. The dates don’t line up.
Comment by retrieverman — November 5, 2009 @ 5:07 pm
Retrieverman, please expand on your view.
Comment by Glenye Oakford — November 5, 2009 @ 8:44 pm
I hate to be coy, but I have a piece coming out on it in the next week.
Comment by retrieverman — November 5, 2009 @ 8:53 pm
Two problems with his theory:
1. Dogs were probably domesticated and distinct from wolves at least two thousand years before he thinks they first appeared. They are probably much older than that— at least 16,000 years old.
2. Humans have lost brain size, but it is in proportion to our body size. We are actually smaller since the end of the last Ice Age.
Comment by retrieverman — November 5, 2009 @ 8:56 pm
This is a better theory of the co-evolution of our two species: http://www.uwsp.edu/psych/s/27.....tion03.pdf
Comment by retrieverman — November 5, 2009 @ 8:58 pm
The stories about the poodles are very nice, as is the central narrative, but I had a hard time enjoying it because he was ignoring certain new findings about the origin of the domestic dog.
Comment by retrieverman — November 5, 2009 @ 9:00 pm
Interesting. I’ll look forward to your piece.
Comment by Glenye Oakford — November 6, 2009 @ 7:11 am
I couldn’t finish the book because his attitude and choice of words put me off. I also don’t think he really explored the actual research that others - especially others who’ve worked on the evolution of dogs - as much as he came up with a ‘unique’ theory and tried to ‘find’ (i.e make) observations to fit it.
Comment by KateH — November 6, 2009 @ 7:56 am
Elaine’s dog was named “Charley”
Herb Behrens
Comment by Herb Behrens — November 8, 2009 @ 12:00 pm