Illustrated Dogwatching - Tapa dura

What is it about the canine personality which has singled this animal out from all the 4, 236 species of non-human mammals to be man's closest companion? This is a relationship that goes back at least 10, 000 years, when both wolves and men lived in 'packs' and entered a relationship involving mutual survival, hunting and defence of property. But the bond was so strong that the loss of the canine element in human family life was inconceivable, even as mankind moved from the country to the town. Working dog became pet dog. In the last few hundred years, breeding has speeded up to produce the astonishing range which finds the St Bernard weighing 300 times more than the Yorkshire terrier. Yet all dogs, from scruffy mongrels to haughty show champions, are members of the same species - that of the wolf. DOGWATCHING tells us the answers to all the most fascinating questions about our canine companions, expressing Desmond Morris's inimitable insight and understanding of these remarkable and delightful creatures.

Desmond Morris (Author)
Desmond Morris was born in 1928. Educated at Birmingham and Oxford universities, he became the Curator of Mammals at London Zoo in 1959, a post he held for eight years. In 1967 he published The Naked Ape which has sold over 10 million copies worldwide and has changed the way we view our own species forever. An accomplished artist, tv presenter, film maker and writer, Desmond Morris's books have been published in over thirty-six countries.

Donald R Morris (Author)
Donald R. Morris was born in 1924 and grew up in New York City. In 1948 he graduated from the US Naval Academy at Annapolis. After serving on several destroyers, he went on to Naval Intelligence School and Russian language training and was detailed to the CIA in 1956. He remained with the CIA and continued in the Naval Reserve until 1972, when he retired as a Lieutenant Commander. He earned two battle stars in Korea and holds the Navy Commendation medal. His 17 years with the CIA were spent almost entirely in Soviet counter-espionage operations. He was stationed for lengthy periods in Berlin, Paris, Kinshasa (Zaire) and Vietnam.

For many years Donald Morris was also a foreign affairs columnist for the Houston Post. In 1989 he formed the Trident Syndicate and published a weekly newsletter on current events and foreign affairs. He died in 2002.