© 2026 New Hampshire Public Radio

Persons with disabilities who need assistance accessing NHPR's FCC public files, please contact us at publicfile@nhpr.org.
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Support local news and essential programs and you could win a trip to Ireland.

Going To The Dogs: Books With Bark And Bite

Callie Neylan, NPR

Man's best friend. We go way back. Of all the animals on earth, only the horse has such a symbiotic relationship with people, and dogs have been with us longer.

A science-writer friend has a cocktail-party theory that canines and human beings actually co-evolved. He likes to say that we made a deal with them to protect their puppies if they would lend us their noses. They became our furry, walking olfactory lobes, freeing our forebrains to develop logic, spatial reasoning and Playstation 3.

Maybe all that ancient history explains why we're so fascinated by our four-legged friends, why we laud and demonize them, fear and love them.

I invite you to lie back in your hammock and enjoy the literature of three very different doggies.

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Steven Barnes

You make NHPR possible.

NHPR is nonprofit and independent. We rely on readers like you to support the local, national, and international coverage on this website. Your support makes this news available to everyone.

Give today. A monthly donation of $5 makes a real difference.