BARK.('The Pawprints of History')(Book Review)

Stanley Coren, a psychologist and dog trainer, is haunted by a primal scene. He pictures a distant ancestor, clothed in skins, huddled by a tiny fire. Next to the ancestor sits a dog, its pointed ears pricked for sounds of danger--sounds too faint for the man to hear. "What do you hear, my dog?" the ancestor says. "You will tell me if I should worry?" Then, Coren writes, "his rough hand reached out and stroked the dog's fur, and that touch made them both feel content."

Coren is the author of several books about dogs--"The Intelligence of Dogs," "What Do Dogs Know?," "Why We Love the Dogs We Do," and "How to Speak Dog." He is the host of "Good Dog!," a Canadian ...