Puppy Kindergarten

The New Science of Raising a Great Dog

By: Brian Hare, Vanessa Woods

Length: 8 hrs

Publisher's summary

The New York Times bestselling authors of The Genius of Dogs take us into their “Puppy Kindergarten” at Duke University, a center to study how puppies develop, to show us what goes in to raising a great dog.

“A firehose of knowledge suffused with levity and charm.”—Alexandra Horowitz, author of Inside of a Dog

What does it take to raise a great dog? This was the question that husband-and-wife team Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods hoped to answer when they enrolled one hundred and one puppies in the Duke Puppy Kindergarten. With the help of a retired service dog named Congo, Brian, Vanessa, and their team set out to understand the secrets of the puppy mind: What factors might predict whether a puppy will grow up to change someone’s life?

Never has cuteness been so cutting edge. Applying the same games that psychologists use when exploring the development of young children, Hare and Woods uncover what happens in a puppy’s mind during their final stage of rapid brain development. Follow the adventures of Arthur, who makes friends with toy dinosaurs; Wisdom, the puppy genius; and Ying, who fails at cognitive games that even pigeons usually pass with flying colors. Along the way, learn about when puppies finally start to retain memories for longer than just a few seconds, or when they finally develop some self-control.

Raising dozens of puppies on a college campus means you get pretty good at answering big questions, such as: When do puppies sleep through the night? How do you stop them from eating poop? How can we help our puppies grow up to be the best dogs they can possibly be? Whether you are a new puppy parent or a perennial puppy lover, Puppy Kindergarten will answer every question you’ve ever had about puppies—and some you never thought to ask.

©2024 Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods (P)2024 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“As the ingenious minds behind starting a Puppy Kindergarten at Duke, there is but no question that Vanessa Woods and Brian Hare needed to write a book on puppies. Nor is there any question of the pleasures this book brings, for fans of science, puppies, and puppy science. Read it, and get a firehose of knowledge suffused with levity and charm.”—Alexandra Horowitz, author of the New York Times #1 bestseller Inside of a Dog

“Insightfully and delightfully, Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods combine deep affection and wide experience with their unique scientific approach to puppy minds. Lots of people can tell you about dogs, but Hare and Woods—having worked with hundreds of puppies and collected data on thousands of family dogs—understand dogs in a unique way. This book isn’t just about puppies. This book shows us who puppies are, how their minds develop, and how to raise a great dog. And it does so gently and lovingly.”—Carl Safina, author of Beyond Worlds

“This book answers questions I have asked myself all my life—can breeds predict personality? Are dogs intelligent, and is it heritable? Why do we feel so attached to them to the point that they are part of our families? This book satisfies me on all levels—as an ethologist, a volunteer who raises guide dogs, and as a dog lover.”—Isabella Rossellini, actress and activist