Men and Their Dogs: A New Understanding of Man’s Best Friend

Author ORCID Identifier

Robert W. Mitchell ORCID iD iconhttps://orcid.org/0000-0002-8797-7484

Department

Psychology

Document Type

Book Review

Publication Date

2017

Abstract

In his book describing how and why he saved his pet dog from Iraq and brought him home to southern California, former Marine Jay Kopelman describes how loving and caring for a dog and being loved in return made him feel human amid the dehumanizing atrocities of the Iraq war. For most Americans and other dog lovers throughout the world, I suspect, Kopelman’s story is not surprising. We all “know” that our relationships with dogs somehow make us better people, psychologically, and many of us turn to our dog in times of distress and feel better for it. But are dogs really as effective in helping us as we believe? In Men and Their Dogs, psychologists Chris Blazina, Lori Kogan, and other authors provide a set of intriguing chapters that examine, scientifically, how and why dogs might, can, and do help us, focusing on the benefits for men of having a relationship with a dog.

Journal Title

Anthrozoös

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