Product Description
Dogs fill our hearts with love and our minds with wonder, but their emotional lives have remained unexplored since Darwin 125 years ago. Now in Dogs Never Lie About Love, controversial psychoanalyst Jeffrey Masson brilliantly navigates the rich inner landscape of "our best friends."

As he guides readers through the surprising depth of canine emotional complexity, Jeffrey Masson draws from myth and literature, from scientific studies, and from the stories and observations of dog trainers and dog lovers around the world. But the stars of the book are the author's own three dogs whose delightful and mysterious behavior provides the way to exploring a wide range of subjects--from emotions like gratitude, compassion, loneliness, and disappointment to speculating what dogs dream of and how their powerful sense of smell shapes their perception of reality. As he sweeps aside old prejudices on animal behavior, Masson reaches into a rich universe of dog feeling to its essential core, their "master emotion": love.

Like the dogs he loves, Masson's writing will capture the reader with its playful, mysterious, and serious sides. Its surprising insights provide a new dimension of understanding for dog owners everywhere.

Amazon.com Review
Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson was, oddly enough, pet-free when he decided to write about their key role in his life. Not to worry, though. In a trice he acquired a troika of pups (a purebred and two mongrels) and a couple of kittens. (The pussycats, alas, play only cameo roles.) In Dogs Never Lie About Love, Masson finds plenty of new things to say about canines--not that there hasn't been a plenitude of pupper reportage in the '90s. Or at least he easily articulates what some of us might already think: "Dogs feel more than I do (I am not prepared to speak for other people)," Masson asserts. "They feel more, and they feel more purely and more intensely." Often, however, he seems to be writing less about animals than humans: "In searching for why we are so inhibited compared with dogs, perhaps we can learn to be as direct, as honest, as straightforward, and especially as intense in our feelings as dogs are." But this book is not just a cozy mix of navel gazing (bestial and human) and long, leash-filled walks. Masson offers several proofs that dogs do take the high moral road--one police pooch, for instance, refused to acknowledge his handler's attack command. A good thing, too, since Masson himself would have been the victim! In more ways than one, Dogs Never Lie About Love is a Milk-Bone masterpiece.--Kerry Fried

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.5 based on 55 reviews)

Dogs Never Lie About Love Simply Outstanding!

Dogs Never Lie about Love is a truly outstanding insight into the unique personality traits and emotions of dogs, particularly their need for human companionship and seemingly limitless capacity for love of their owners for love's own sake. It also describes the many things we can learn from our dogs to change our own behavior--unconditional love, patience, loyalty, gratitude, joy, living in the present moment, and, of course, affection--just to name a few. I've had dogs all my life and thought that I knew something about them. While some of my observations were confirmed, I learned a whole lot. This book is a must read for all dog lovers and those who would like to be one.
November 11, 2008

Worth reading for any dog lover or person thinking of owning a dog

This is a wonderful book full of the life the embodies the love of the dog. Unfortunately, I felt the last few chapters of the book fell apart and were not as cohesive as the other chapters. It was unfortunate--almost felt like the author was making a deadline.
August 22, 2008

Nails it

Author really demonstrates his knowledge of an appreciation for the love that dogs give unconditionally and fully. He nails it with insights, evidence, and examples. I don't understand why some people were so critical of this book. Love is the emotion. They love us and we love them. We have much to learn about caring for ourselves, other people, and these wonderful creatures.

If you want to know more about the how and why of the love, take a look at the book mentioned below. I enjoyed it, too, and it provides some surprising insights and valuable, usable information. It discusses the origin and comprehensive nature of our relationships with animals, providing scientifically sound information on the love we share and the roles we play in each other's lives: The Powerful Bond between People and Pets: Our Boundless Connections to Companion Animals (Practical and Applied Psychology)
February 23, 2008

Thoughtful, Luminous Book

Pleasurable reading with thought-provoking questions and reflections about loving non-human companions and how the attention they show us is perhaps more than a simple analog to human emotions. Well-written and concise, filled with great stories, tenderness that didn't indulge sentimentality -- I highly recommend this book.
February 21, 2008

Dogs Are Love

Mr. Masson writes beautifully and thoughtfully about dogs, their thoughts,feelings, habits and characteristics. I loved the book and have recommended it to many friends.
August 06, 2007

SIMILAR PRODUCTS

When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals
by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, Susan McCarthy

Pack of Two: The Intricate Bond Between People and Dogs
by Caroline Knapp

The Pig Who Sang to the Moon: The Emotional World of Farm Animals
by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson

The Nine Emotional Lives of Cats: A Journey Into the Feline Heart
by Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson

The Hidden Life Of Dogs
by Elizabeth Marshall Thomas