So why do people feel so close to dogs?  What draws people to create an intense and passionate community of dog owners and enthusiasts today?   A key element is the sense of understanding and communication that people have developed with their dogs, and recently a number of books have come out describing this close dog-human bond built up through close communication.   Here are some of these recent books:

     How to Speak Dog: Mastering the Art of Dog-Human Communication by Stanley Cohen.
            New York: Fireside/Simon & Schuster, 2000.  

     Why We Love the Dogs We Do: How to Find the Dog that Matches Your Personality
             by Stanley Coren, Fireside/Simon and Schuster, 1998.

     The Intelligence of Dogs: A Guide to the Thoughts, Emotions, and Inner Lives of Our
             Canine Companions by Stanley Corren, Bantam Books, 1994.

      Dog Language: An Encyclopedia of Canine Behavior by Rober Abrantes.
              Naperville, Illinois: Wakan Tanka Publishers, 1997.

      Kindred Spirits: How the Remarkable Bond Between Human & Animals Can Change
              the Way We Live by Allen M. Schoen, New York: Broadway Books, 2001.

             Finally, here's a report of some research I have been doing myself on one community of dog owners -- the owners who show their dogs.  I became interested in exploring this community after noticing differences between the owners of different types of dogs in the course of gathering photographs showing how different people looked like their dogs.   But beyond these differences in looks, there seemed to be differences among the owners of different breeds in their lifestyles, activities, and personality characteristics. 

            So that became the basis of an ethnographic study in which I compared the owners of two very different types of dogs  -- Pomeranians and Siberian Huskies.   I started with the Siberian Huskies, since I thought that might be the type of dog I would get myself if I got a dog (although since doing this research, I am particularly drawn to the Norwegian Elkhound), and then I wanted to find a dog that seemed almost the opposite in characteristics, such as a toy dog.  And then I selected the Pomeranian, because I think they are so darn cute, so if I did get a toy dog, that's what I would get. 

           In any case, this became an intensive short-term project in which I went to two dog shows -- one sponsored by the Northern California Pomeranian Club at the Solano County Fairgrounds in Vallejo, California on April 19, 2003 and the other sponsored by the Northern California Siberian Husky Club at the Inn Marin in Novato, California on April 26, 2003.   (You can see photos from these shows in the section on Organizations of Dog Owners).   Then, I conducted interviews with two Pomeranian owners and two Siberian Husky owners I met at these shows about their reasons for choosing their breed, for participating in dog shows, and the kinds of activities they participated in with their dogs, among other questions. 

          Here's a copy of this Ethnographic Project Report. It's entitled: 

Differences Between Dog Owners and the Dog Breeds They Choose:
A Comparison of Pomeranian and Siberian Husky Owners

A growing world of people who
look like their dog--or think so...

What It's All About...