Here are 100 books that How the Dog Became the Dog fans have personally recommended if you like How the Dog Became the Dog. Book DNA is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of The Covenant of the Wild: Why Animals Chose Domestication

Jan Dohner Author Of Farm Dogs: A Comprehensive Breed Guide to 93 Guardians, Herders, Terriers, and Other Canine Working Partners

From my list on dogs domesticated humans irreplaceable partners.

Why am I passionate about this?

Coming from a family of dog lovers, I have lived a lifetime of loving dogs and reading (and writing) books about dogs. My childhood animal books were “dog-eared” for sure, but when I began to read dog books like those on my list, my relationship with dogs became deeper and richer beyond how a dog looks or acts; these books opened a door on our mutual history and how our lives fit together. As our oldest animal partner, dogs choose to travel this shared path with us. A gift to us, it is now our responsibility to honor them.

Jan's book list on dogs domesticated humans irreplaceable partners

Jan Dohner Why Jan loves this book

I cannot imagine my life with animals without the understanding I have drawn from this book. While biologists and the public have long viewed domestication as a form of forced servitude, Budiansky details another revolutionary theory that some special animal species “choose” to throw their futures in with humans.

How this happened is a fascinating story that challenges our long-held assumptions and reveals our huge debt and responsibility to these animals who chose to live with us. This book is the foundation stone of my work with dogs and other domesticated animals. 

By Stephen Budiansky ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Covenant of the Wild as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Animal rights extremists argue that eating meat is murder and that pets are slaves. This compelling reappraisal of the human-animal bond, however, shows that domestication of animals is not an act of exploitation but a brilliantly successful evolutionary strategy that has benefited humans and animals alike.

"Budiansky's slim, elegant discourse is a persuasive counterweight to the pastoral delusions of sentimentalists intent on seeing humans as malevolently at odds with the noble animal kingdom."-Manuela Hoelterhoff, Wall Street Journal

"Forcefully argued and eloquent."-Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, New York Times

"A subtle look at the mysteries of evolution and a stinging response to animal-rights extremists.…


If you love How the Dog Became the Dog...

Book cover of The Rosewood Penny

The Rosewood Penny by J.S. Fields,

2023 Queer Indie Award Nominee!

The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.

On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictive…

Book cover of Dogs: a Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior and Evolution

Jan Dohner Author Of Farm Dogs: A Comprehensive Breed Guide to 93 Guardians, Herders, Terriers, and Other Canine Working Partners

From my list on dogs domesticated humans irreplaceable partners.

Why am I passionate about this?

Coming from a family of dog lovers, I have lived a lifetime of loving dogs and reading (and writing) books about dogs. My childhood animal books were “dog-eared” for sure, but when I began to read dog books like those on my list, my relationship with dogs became deeper and richer beyond how a dog looks or acts; these books opened a door on our mutual history and how our lives fit together. As our oldest animal partner, dogs choose to travel this shared path with us. A gift to us, it is now our responsibility to honor them.

Jan's book list on dogs domesticated humans irreplaceable partners

Jan Dohner Why Jan loves this book

I have always been fascinated and in awe of working livestock guardian dogs. One of our first human/dog partnerships, this group of dogs possesses a unique set of genetically inherited behaviors.

The Coppingers' research into how livestock guardian dogs think and work was groundbreaking and instrumental in promoting the use of these working dogs for predator coexistence in North America.

Expanding their work to include sled, herding, and hunting dogs, the Coppingers also explain how these specific dog breeds acquired their special traits. 

By Ray Coppinger , Lorna Coppinger ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Dogs as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Marking the first time that dogs have been explained in such detail by eminent researchers, Dogs is a work of wide appeal, as absorbing as it is enlightening.

Drawing on insight gleaned from forty-five years of raising, training, and studying the behaviors of dogs worldwide, Lorna and Raymond Coppinger explore the fascinating processes by which dog breeds have evolved into their unique shapes and behaviors. Concentrating on five types of dogs—modern household dogs, village dogs, livestock-guarding dogs, sled dogs, and herding dogs—the Coppingers, internationally recognized canine ethologists and consummate dog lovers, examine our canine companions from a unique biological viewpoint.…


Book cover of A Dog's History of the World: Canines and the Domestication of Humans

Jan Dohner Author Of Farm Dogs: A Comprehensive Breed Guide to 93 Guardians, Herders, Terriers, and Other Canine Working Partners

From my list on dogs domesticated humans irreplaceable partners.

Why am I passionate about this?

Coming from a family of dog lovers, I have lived a lifetime of loving dogs and reading (and writing) books about dogs. My childhood animal books were “dog-eared” for sure, but when I began to read dog books like those on my list, my relationship with dogs became deeper and richer beyond how a dog looks or acts; these books opened a door on our mutual history and how our lives fit together. As our oldest animal partner, dogs choose to travel this shared path with us. A gift to us, it is now our responsibility to honor them.

Jan's book list on dogs domesticated humans irreplaceable partners

Jan Dohner Why Jan loves this book

I found this book to be a deeply humane exploration of our human-dog relationship from prehistory to the present. It presents the essential ways that dogs changed us and acknowledges the ever-lurking, awful temptation to exploit or harm our oldest friend.

Hobgood-Ostler weaves together canine-human archaeology, history, and literature to show us how we would not have flourished without our dogs, from the earliest days of our partnership to our current lives in which dogs have become actual family members, offering companionship, support, and love.

By Laura Hobgood-Oster ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Dog's History of the World as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Canines and humans have depended upon one another for tens of thousands of years. Humans took the initial steps of domesticating canines, but somewhere through the millennia, dogs began dramatically to affect the future of their masters. In A Dog's History of the World, Laura Hobgood-Oster chronicles the canine-human story. From the earliest cave paintings depicting the primitive canine-human relationship to the modern model of dogs as family members, Hobgood-Oster reveals how the relationship has been marked by both love and exploitation.Canines have aided and been heir to humankind's ever-increasing thirst for scientific advancements, empire building, and personal satisfaction. They…


If you love Mark Derr...

Book cover of Chilled to the Bone

Chilled to the Bone by B.D. Lawrence,

Jake Sledge, a rugged ex-cop turned private eye, teams up with his colossal partner Bobo to navigate the gritty streets of River City.

A murdered lawyer drags them into a web of political intrigue, neo-Nazi thugs, and bloody showdowns. With sharp wit and hard-hitting action, Jake tackles scumbags the only…

Book cover of A Dog's History Of America: How Our Best Friend Explored, Conquered, and Settled a Continent

Jan Dohner Author Of Farm Dogs: A Comprehensive Breed Guide to 93 Guardians, Herders, Terriers, and Other Canine Working Partners

From my list on dogs domesticated humans irreplaceable partners.

Why am I passionate about this?

Coming from a family of dog lovers, I have lived a lifetime of loving dogs and reading (and writing) books about dogs. My childhood animal books were “dog-eared” for sure, but when I began to read dog books like those on my list, my relationship with dogs became deeper and richer beyond how a dog looks or acts; these books opened a door on our mutual history and how our lives fit together. As our oldest animal partner, dogs choose to travel this shared path with us. A gift to us, it is now our responsibility to honor them.

Jan's book list on dogs domesticated humans irreplaceable partners

Jan Dohner Why Jan loves this book

Like most dog lovers, I love the incredible diversity of modern dog breeds, but I thought very little about the dogs already here in the Western Hemisphere before the European colonists arrived.

Derr tells the story of the First Peoples and their dog companions, who traveled to the corners of both continents. But then the story becomes one of tragic slaughter and conquest for both people and dogs.

What happened to these Native American dog breeds? Did any remnants survive to interact with the new settlers? What new types and breeds emerged? How did they and their descendants shape American history? I found all the answers fascinating.

By Mark Derr ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Dog's History Of America as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the New World, wherever humans have gone, dogs have been their close companions. In this revelatory history, Mark Derr looks at the ways in which we have used canines - as sled dogs, sheepdogs, Seeing Eye dogs, guard dogs show dogs and more - as he tracks changes in American culture and society. Derr weaves a remarkable tapestry of heroism, betrayal, tragedy, kindness, abuse and unique companionship. The result is an enlightening perspective on American history through the eyes of humanity's best friend.


Book cover of Darwin's Dogs: How Darwin's Pets Helped Form a World-Changing Theory of Evolution

Clive D.L. Wynne Author Of Dog Is Love: Why and How Your Dog Loves You

From my list on how dogs love people.

Why am I passionate about this?

I have loved dogs since I was a kid and have been fascinated by a scientific approach to animal behavior since I was in college. About fifteen years ago I found a way to meld my love of dogs with my scientific expertise in animal behavior by studying how and why dogs love people. My quest to understand the human-dog relationship has taken me around the world: from hunting with native people in Nicaragua to examining the remains of a woman buried with a dog 12,000 years ago in Israel. And yes, I really do get to cuddle puppies for a living!

Clive's book list on how dogs love people

Clive D.L. Wynne Why Clive loves this book

So (so) much has been written about Charles Darwin but this short book captures a side of the great man’s life that had been hiding in plain sight: his love of dogs. When Darwin was a youngster his father complained he “care[d] for nothing but shooting, dogs and rat-catching.” There was only one period of Darwin’s adulthood when he was not living with dogs and that was the five years he spent going 'round the world on a boat named – ironically enough – the Beagle. A love of dogs informed Darwin’s thinking on everything from marriage to his epochal theory of evolution by natural selection.

By Emma Townshend ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Darwin's Dogs as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Anyone who has ever looked at a dog waiting to go for a walk and thought there was something age-old and almost human in its sad expression can take comfort in knowing that Charles Darwin did exactly the same thing. But Darwin didn't just stop at feeling that there was some connection between humans and dogs. A great naturalist, pioneer of the theory of evolution, and incurable dog-lover, Darwin used his much-loved dogs as evidence in his continuing argument that all animals, including human beings, descended from one common ancestor. Emma Townshend looks at Darwin's life through a uniquely canine…


Book cover of A Wolf Called Romeo

Christopher J. Preston Author Of Tenacious Beasts: Wildlife Recoveries That Change How We Think about Animals

From my list on opening your eyes to wildlife.

Why am I passionate about this?

Born in England but living now in America’s mountain west, I am sucker for landscapes that dance with unusual plants and animals. I have been a commercial fisherman, a tool librarian, and a back-country park ranger. These days, I’m an award-winning public philosopher and author. I have written books and articles about powerful emerging technologies. However, I realized a few years ago that wild animals are an antidote to the technological and commercial forces that can flatten our world. From art painted on cave walls millennia ago to the toys we still give to our children, animals are an important part of human identity. I celebrate this in my work.  

Christopher's book list on opening your eyes to wildlife

Christopher J. Preston Why Christopher loves this book

I knew, like most people, that pet dogs are descended from wild wolves. But when do you get to see this natural history play out in front of your eyes?

Romeo, a wild wolf that spent winters on a frozen lake at the foot of the Mendenhall Glacier, gave the skiers and dog-walkers of Juneau, Alaska, a lesson in the intelligence of our wild brethren. I marveled at Romeo’s gentle playfulness. I admired the wisdom that prevented him from getting too close to people, preferring to play with the pooches that people let off their leashes.

Jans’ book reveals how authorities struggled to know what to do with this animal that moved so easily back and forth between the wild and the civilized. Romeo’s end provides plenty of reason for reflection.

By Nick Jans ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Wolf Called Romeo as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A Wolf Called Romeo is the remarkable story of a wolf who returned again and again to interact with the people and dogs of Juneau, Alaska, living on the edges of their community, engaging in an improbable, awe-inspiring inter-species dance and bringing the wild into sharp focus.

At first the people of Juneau were guarded, torn between caution and curiosity. But as Romeo began to tag along with cross-country skiers on their daily jaunts, play fetch with local dogs, or simply lie near author Nick Jans and nap under the sun, they came to accept Romeo, and he them. For…


If you love How the Dog Became the Dog...

Book cover of The Woman and Her Stars

The Woman and Her Stars by Penny Haw,

Caroline Herschel has always lived in the shadows. Beholden to her wildly popular older brother, William, who rescued her from servitude, she's worked hard to build a life for herself – one where she can go unnoticed and repay the debt she believes she owes him. But when her brother…

Book cover of Everybody's Story: Wising Up to the Epic of Evolution

Ursula Goodenough Author Of The Sacred Depths of Nature: How Life Has Emerged and Evolved

From my list on an ecospiritual orientation.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m working with others to develop what we call a religious naturalist orientation or an ecospiritual orientation, and these books have deeply guided my path and inspired the writing of my own book. 

Ursula's book list on an ecospiritual orientation

Ursula Goodenough Why Ursula loves this book

Philosopher Loyal Rue, an important mentor of mine, coined and developed the concept that our science-based understandings of cosmic, planetary, and biological evolution represent Everybody’s Story, a notion he first proposed in Amythia: Crisis in the Natural History of Western Culture. He writes with lucidity, grace, and deep wisdom, and is frequently quoted in my book.

By Loyal Rue ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Everybody's Story as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This exhilarating tale of natural history illuminates the evolution of matter, life, and consciousness. In Everybody’s Story, Loyal Rue finds the means for global solidarity and cooperation in the shared story of humanity.


Book cover of Looking for a Few Good Males: Female Choice in Evolutionary Biology

Ingo Schlupp Author Of Male Choice, Female Competition, and Female Ornaments in Sexual Selection

From my list on mate choice – in animals.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an evolutionary ecologist with a lifelong fascination with mating behavior in animals, particularly fishes. The core of my doctoral thesis was trying to understand why some males mate with females of a different species, a behavior that I thought could not be adaptive. This was the starting point of my work on male mate choice, but also mate choice more generally. Originally from Germany, I have lived and worked in the US for a long time. Most of my work is on neotropical fishes so moving to America made sense.

Ingo's book list on mate choice – in animals

Ingo Schlupp Why Ingo loves this book

When Darwin proposed the two mechanisms of sexual selection, one was almost immediately embraced by his Victorian contemporaries: male competition. Female choice, on the other hand, had to wait almost 100 years to be fully recognized. This book is an account of the history of female choice and provides fascinating insights into the development of a scientific discipline and how it is intertwined with society. Well written and very accessible, this is a great read.

By Erika L. Milam ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Looking for a Few Good Males as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Why do female animals select certain mates, and how do scientists determine the answer? In considering these questions, Erika Lorraine Milam explores the fascinating patterns of experiment and interpretation that emerged as twentieth-century researchers studied sexual selection and female choice. Approaching the topic from both biological and animal-studies perspectives, Milam not only presents a broad history of sexual selection-from Darwin to sociobiology-but also analyzes the animal-human continuum from the perspectives of sex, evolution, and behavior. She asks how social and cultural assumptions influence human-animal research and wonders about the implications of gender on scientific outcomes. Although female choice appears to…


Book cover of The Sacred Chain

Sy Garte Author Of Beyond Evolution

From my list on science and the Christian faith.

Why am I passionate about this?

Raised in an atheist family, I came to faith in Christ in middle age and am now devoted to spreading the Gospel. I am a PhD biochemist and the author of the award-winning The Works of His Hands: A Scientist’s Journey from Atheism to Faith. I was a professor at three major universities and held leadership positions at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. I have published over 200 peer-reviewed scientific papers, as well as articles on science and faith. I serve as the Editor-in-Chief of the quarterly magazine God and Nature. My passion is to proclaim the harmony between science and Christianity.

Sy's book list on science and the Christian faith

Sy Garte Why Sy loves this book

This book by James Stump is a landmark work that contains the best amalgam of philosophy, science, and theology that I have come across.

I was strongly moved by the many discussions of the role of change (exemplified by biological evolution) in our world. Stump discusses how science itself, as much as the subjects of scientific enquiry, changes and ties this in with the theological implications of biblical/scientific interactions.

The book covers a great deal of ground as the chain of the title weaves into the problem of evil, the origins of humanity, the definition of the soul, and a lot more. It is all beautifully written and highly accessible, as well as accurate and thorough throughout.

Many readers will know the author from the high-quality podcast, “The Language of God.” Reading this book, one can almost hear Stump’s melodious voice as he discusses the science of God’s creation with…

By Jim Stump ,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Sacred Chain as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

“In this marvelously accessible book, philosopher-Christian Jim Stump provides the reader with new eyes for a journey through time, the origin of the soul, suffering, and morality, and reveals how the latest scientific findings about what it means to be human have led him to a deeper and more authentic faith.”—Francis S. Collins, Director of the Human Genome Project and Founder of BioLogos, author of The Language of God

A thought-provoking and eye-opening work by Jim Stump, Vice President at BioLogos and host of the Language of God podcast, offering a compelling argument about how evolution does not have to…


If you love Mark Derr...

Book cover of Murder, Lies and Chocolate

Murder, Lies and Chocolate by Sally Berneathy,

Book 2, Death by Chocolate series.

Rodney Bradford comes into Lindsay's restaurant, offers to buy her small house for double its value, eats her brownies, and drops dead on the sidewalk in front. Next, her almost-ex-husband offers to sign the divorce papers, but only if she'll give him her small,…

Book cover of God After Darwin: A Theology of Evolution

Brendan Sweetman Author Of Evolution, Chance, and God: Understanding the Relationship Between Evolution and Religion

From my list on religion, evolution, and chance.

Why am I passionate about this?

I'm a teacher, philosopher, writer, Professor of Philosophy, and holder of the Sullivan Chair in Philosophy at Rockhurst University, Kansas City, Missouri, USA. I'm the author/editor of sixteen books on such topics as religion and science, religion and politics, contemporary European philosophy, and political philosophy. I'm particularly interested in how religion and science, especially evolution, can be shown to be compatible with each other, as well as in developing an argument that there is no chance operating in nature (including in biology). My book and the books below explore these fascinating topics from almost every possible angle, and should whet readers’ appetites for further thinking about these intriguing matters!

Brendan's book list on religion, evolution, and chance

Brendan Sweetman Why Brendan loves this book

I have always appreciated John Haught’s point that theologians, in particular, have to do a better job of thinking about how to incorporate evolutionary theory into their theologies. While I would not follow him all the way, I learned much from his arguments that the ongoing debate between Darwinian evolutionists and Christian apologists is fundamentally misdirected; he suggests that both sides mistakenly persist in focusing on an explanation of underlying design and order in the universe. His own suggestions for the direction we might take are intriguing and provide much food for thought. What is lacking, he argues, is the notion of novelty, a necessary component of evolution and the essence of the unfolding of the divine mystery.  

By John F. Haught ,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked God After Darwin as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In God After Darwin, eminent theologian John F. Haught argues that the ongoing debate between Darwinian evolutionists and Christian apologists is fundamentally misdirected: Both sides persist in focusing on an explanation of underlying design and order in the universe. Haught suggests that what is lacking in both of these competing ideologies is the notion of novelty, a necessary component of evolution and the essence of the unfolding of the divine mystery. He argues that Darwin's disturbing picture of life, instead of being hostile to religion-as scientific skeptics and many believers have thought it to be-actually provides a most fertile setting…


Book cover of The Covenant of the Wild: Why Animals Chose Domestication
Book cover of Dogs: a Startling New Understanding of Canine Origin, Behavior and Evolution
Book cover of A Dog's History of the World: Canines and the Domestication of Humans

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Interested in evolution, dogs, and wolves?

Evolution 166 books
Dogs 439 books
Wolves 137 books