Through a Dog's Eyes by Jennifer Arnold

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If you love your dog and want to understand the reasoning behind his or her behaviors and emotions, this is a must read for you.

Jennifer Arnold, the author, is the founder and executive director of Canine Associates, a service-based school in Milton, Georgia. She shares amazing stories of how their service dogs have brought the chance of second life to the children and adults they serve. Some stories will bring tears to your eyes and a dance to your step.

I believe the constant theme through this book is truly the saying we have always heard: A dog is a man's best friend. Dogs are devoted to their owners in a fierce way and actually have a need for us to acknowledge them and let them know they please us. The author states, "Failing to assure them of that would be ever bit as devastating for our dogs as failing to feed them." (p. 87)

This book also teaches you many facts such as:
~ Dogs have limited vision. Humans vision strives to be 20/20 while dogs eyesight is 80/20. This means what we can see from eighty feet away, dogs can't see well until they are within 20 feet. (p. 44)
~ Most experts agree that dogs can't see reds and greens but they can see yellow and blue. Therefore, what is red to us looks yellow to them and what is green to us looks grayish-white to them. (p. 47)
~ Dogs have many rods in their eyes which help them see in low light. Dogs can see 5 times better at night than we can! (p. 51)
~ Dogs can hear much better than we can. If we were going to match our limit of hearing to a dog's hearing, we would have to add 48 new keys to the right of the keyboard, 20 of which we would not be able to hear. (p 50)
~ Humans have about 9,000 different taste buds and dogs only about 1,706. This is why dogs can be known to eat goose or rabbit poop! (p.49)


I was surprised to learn about the depth of dog's emotions. The author tells a story of her beloved Nick, a service dog she would travel with to meet children and adults needing encouragement. One day, they were called to comfort a little boy who was in a horrible skateboard accident. The child's own dog was not allowed into the hospital so Nick came, jumped up on the bed, maneuvered through the tubes and wires, and laid quietly at the boy's side. Nick stayed on the bed without moving for two and a half hours with the child's arm draped around Nick. The child passed away while Nick was there and then Nick comforted the crying mother, allowing her to hug and cry on him. After a sad good-bye, Nick and Mrs. Arnold headed to the elevator where Nick lay down with a groan and would not get up when the doors opened. He had to be carried to the car. Nick stayed this way through the duration of the day. The author uses this story to show how dogs can experience grief and sadness. She is unsure if Nick actually felt this emotion himself or could feel the stress and sadness coming from her and the boy's mother. Nonetheless, dogs feel emotion. Have you ever noticed a dog's desire to please you? Jennifer Arnold believes dogs experience secondary emotions such as disappointment, stress, and jealously.


Most importantly of all, the stories shared in the book clearly demonstrate how dogs truly do love their owners and will do anything to protect and please them. For example, because of an injury as a young adult, Troy required that his wife, Judy, give him hard, sharp slaps on the back to help clear his lungs. The first time Troy's service dog, Kay witnessed the lung-clearing, she was horrified. Initially, Kay whined and barked. The she attempted to pay Judy's hand away. When those efforts didn't work, she laid her head on Troy's back, prepared to absorb the next blow. (p.129). There is also a story of a service dog named Roxie whose job was to alert the mom, Clair, when her little boy ventilator alarm went off. One morning, Clair was outside getting the mail and talking to a neighbor when the alarm sounded. Roxie could not get to Clair. Before Ben(the boy) lost consciousness, he saw Roxie run behind his chair. When Clair came into the house, Roxie ran up, grabbed her sleeve and pulled her back to Ben's room. The reset switch on the ventilator had been switched. While Roxie had not been trained for this, she was doing what she saw Clair do. Clair also noticed blood on the switch, on Ben's chair, and on the floor of the house. Roxie had scratched on the door so hard with both her front paws, trying to get to Clair, that she had rubbed her nails down to the quick. The marks on the big wooden door were bloody and deep. Roxie was trying to get the help needed for the young man she loved. (p. 126)

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This book is full of so many stories and facts that I can't possibly recall everything to you. Something else you might enjoy learning about is the test to confer which puppies will be good service dogs and a test to see what your own dog's personality is. The Appendix is also full of ways to train your dog with positive reinforcements.

The book refers to a fable that I thought was precious. This fable explains why a dog's nose is always wet:
     As the story goes, the two dogs on Noah's Ark were responsible for patrolling the boat to check on the well-being of the other animals. One day, while on their rounds, the dogs discovered a small leak in the boat's hull. Realizing that a leak meant grave trouble, one dog ran for help while the other used his long nose to plug the hole until his help arrived. God was so pleased that he commanded that henceforth all dogs would have cold, wet noses to commemorate their intelligence and bravery. (p.49).

If you have time this summer, pick this book up at your library and enjoy this insightful read.