Inside of A Dog: What Dogs See, Smell and Know debunks beliefs on pet behaviour

ALEXANDRA Horowitz  examines man's best friend and overturns popular concepts of how dogs think and behave.

MY family has marvelled at the ability of our tiny dog to so frequently leave her mark on walls, trees and footpaths.

Her personal best is 22 times in 40 minutes, a habit a vet described as characteristic of a territorial nature. Alexandra Horowitz would disagree.

As a cognitive scientist, after observing white rhinoceros and bonobos she turned her attention to dogs.

Inside Of A Dog expounds personal research centred on her mixed-breed bitch called Pumpernickel, her scientific research and references to the expanding literature on scientific studies of man's best friend.

For an animal that has featured so strongly in human society, Horowitz writes that serious study of dog behaviour has only evolved in recent decades. The findings often overturn popular concepts of how dogs think and behave.

One theory Horowitz debunks is that dogs urinate to mark territory. Instead, research indicates that marking leaves information about the urinator, such as the frequency of their visits, interest in mating or recent victories.

And apparently dog bladders have evolved to allow them to make frequent, small releases, explaining our pet's well-honed habit.

Marking fits with another doggy obsession, sniffing, which Horowitz says is so well developed that dogs can detect the equivalent of one teaspoon of sugar in two Olympic pools of water.

This acute sense of smell is a complex combination of nostril design, 200 million sensory receptor sites in nasal tissue (humans have about six million), connected directly to specialised olfactory "bulbs" which make up one-eighth of a dog's brain.

Horowitz's work is no sit-down read, but dog-people will enjoy an enlightening and encouraging reference book.

Verdict: Pure puppy love

Inside of A Dog: What Dogs See, Smell and Know by  Alexandra Horowitz
Simon & Schuster, $22.99