The Year of the Puppy

How Dogs Become Themselves

By: Alexandra Horowitz

Narrated by: Alexandra Horowitz

“What Mr. Rogers was to children, Alexandra Horowitz is to dogs: a wise and patient observer who seeks to intimately know a creature... Her chapters, packed with close observations about canine cognition and behavior, are mini-mood lifters."—NPR, Maureen Corrigan on Fresh Air

What is it like to be a puppy? Author of the classic Inside of a Dog, Alexandra Horowitz tries to find out, spending a year scrutinizing her puppy’s daily existence and poring over the science of early dog development

Few of us meet our dogs at Day One. The dog who will, eventually, become an integral part of our family, our constant companion and best friend, is born without us into a family of her own. A puppy's critical early development into the dog we come to know is usually missed entirely. Dog researcher Alexandra Horowitz aimed to change that with her family's new pup, Quiddity (Quid). In this scientific memoir, she charts Quid's growth from wee grub to boisterous sprite, from her birth to her first birthday.

Horowitz follows Quid's first weeks with her mother and ten roly-poly littermates, and then each week after the puppy joins her household of three humans, two large dogs, and a wary cat. She documents the social and cognitive milestones that so many of us miss in our puppies' lives, when caught up in the housetraining and behavioral training that easily overwhelms the first months of a dog's life with a new family. In focusing on training a dog to behave, we mostly miss the radical development of a puppy into themselves—through the equivalent of infancy, childhood, young adolescence, and teenager-hood.

By slowing down to observe Quid from week to week, The Year of the Puppy makes new sense of a dog's behavior in a way that is missed when the focus is only on training. Horowitz keeps a lens on the puppy's point of view—how they (begin to) see and smell the world, make meaning of it, and become an individual personality. She's there when the puppies first open their eyes, first start to recognize one another and learn about cats, sheep, and people; she sees them from their first play bows to puberty. Horowitz also draws from the ample research in the fields of dog and human development to draw analogies between a dog's first year and the growing child—and to note where they diverge. The Year of the Puppy is indispensable for anyone navigating their way through the frustrating, amusing, and ultimately delightful first year of a puppy’s life.

©2022 Alexandra Horowitz (P)2022 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2022

"Horowitz’s goal is to think and write about dogs in a way that is distinct from usual pet-related fare about how to teach a puppy not to lunge at children and not to increase your household paper-towel budget. Instead, she aims to try to better understand a young dog, from Day One to day three hundred and sixty-five, as a being in transformation."—Rivka Galchen, The New Yorker

"What Mr. Rogers was to children, Alexandra Horowitz is to dogs: a wise and patient observer who seeks to intimately know a creature who is fundamentally different from us adult humans. . . . Horowitz's writing is as simultaneously buoyant and precise as Quid's zest for catching tennis balls—over, and over, and over again. Her chapters, packed with close observations about canine cognition and behavior, are mini-mood lifters."—NPR, Maureen Corrigan on Fresh Air

“Horowitz takes science writing to the next level in this stunning exploration of what the world looks like through the eyes of man’s best friend. It’s a blast to join her as she tracks a puppy’s development week by week for a year. Come for the heartwarming anecdotes about her pandemic pup Quiddity, stay for the constantly surprising takeaways.”—Publishers Weekly, "Publisher’s Weekly Best Books of 2022"

Listen, then listen again.

I have listened to this book four times, and will probably listen again. I also brought home a puppy during the pandemic and train for competition scent detection. This book has so much information on the science of puppy development and working dog development, but also has a wonderful heartfelt story. I highly recommend this book to everyone, people who bring home puppies but also anyone who loves learning more about dogs and dog behavior. I have picked up new information and understanding with every listen.

Best Alexandra Horowitz book yet

I have listened to all of her books, and this was my favorite. Being a lover of dogs, but puppies especially, I wanted to hear her unique perspective. This was time well spent.

A must read

I wish this book was around when I got my Shark (my 15 months old golden retriever). While I had other titles that were of great help, including Dr Horowitz other books, this one would have made the whole process less “surgical”, and more dogish. I loved listening about all the puppies of the litter and I even had a favorite hahaha It was fun trying to guess which one you picked. I got it wrong. Thank you for sharing this informative and yet touching puppy journey with us.

Puppy Love

Who doesn’t love puppies? This was a great book. It was a front row seat to a step-by-step journey of a puppy’s life stages from birth through developmental periods to beginning a life in a new home. The author includes a lot of great information on training and behavior. Highly recommend.

Information every dog owner should know!

I just got a puppy about a year ago and this book was extremely insightful to each stage of a puppy’s development. It’s as very helpful that the author gave specific analogies to a human baby’s development. Love this book! ❤️

Excellent for all dog owners

As a trainer and lifelong dog owner, this book made me happy. I think it would be great if more first time owners would read it BEFORE they get their puppy. It is a great look at the maturing of the puppy's brain and body over the first year.

Extraordinary

This is a fabulous book— excellent in every way. I’ll want to listen again. And again!

Wonderful!

Loved how the author brought together her puppy’s growth and personality with the comparison to human babies and the scientific research! Highly recommend!

Interesting story

Enjoyed reading about her journey with the puppy & the scientific details on development or canine abilities

Excellent Book

We enjoyed and recognized so much of the dogs behavior based on our own experience with raising puppies. Learned a lot of nuances and ended up feeling we knew Quid and Finn and Upton. Shocking to hear of the loss of Finn and Upton - though that is life too. Excellent book.