Alexandra Horowitz: Our Dogs, Ourselves | Town Hall Seattle

The story of humans and dogs is thousands of years old—but is far from understood. We keep dogs and are kept by them. We love dogs and (we assume) we are loved by them. Author and dog cognition researcher Alexandra Horowitz joins us to explore all aspects of this unique and complex interspecies pairing. Horowitz considers the current culture of dogdom, sharing highlights from her book Our Dogs, Ourselves to reveal the odd, surprising, and contradictory ways we live with dogs. We celebrate their individuality but breed them for sameness. Despite our deep emotional relationships with dogs, legally they are property to be bought, sold, abandoned, or euthanized as we wish. Even the way we speak to our dogs is at once perplexing and delightful. Join Horowitz for a curious conversation that affirms our profound affection for these charismatic of animals—and opens our eyes to the companions at our sides as never before.

Alexandra Horowitz is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know and On Looking: A Walker’s Guide to the Art of Observation. She teaches at Barnard College, where she runs the Dog Cognition Lab.

Presented by Town Hall Seattle.