Pets on the Couch

Neurotic Dogs, Compulsive Cats, Anxious Birds, and the New Science of Animal Psychiatry

By: Nicholas Dodman DVM

Narrated by: James Langton

Length: 8 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

The pioneering veterinarian and author of the New York Times best seller The Dog Who Loved Too Much recounts his uniquely entertaining - and poignant - stories of treating animals for all-too-human problems, as he reveals his amazing breakthroughs with the new science of One Medicine. The Oliver Sacks of animal brains, Dr. Nicholas Dodman is an internationally renowned veterinarian and research scientist who wrote one of the first popular books to recognize the complex emotional lives of dogs, and to reveal innovative ways to help them, including with Puppy Prozac. Now Dr. Dodman once again breaks new ground with the practice of One Medicine, the profound recognition that humans and other animals share the same neurochemistry, and that our minds and emotions work in similar ways.

Racehorses with Tourette's syndrome, spinning dogs with epilepsy, cats with obsessive-compulsive disorder, feather-plucking parrots with anxiety, and a diffident bull terrier with autism - these astonishing cases were all helped by One Medicine, which emphasizes the similarities, rather than differences, between animals and humans. Inspiring, sometimes heartbreaking, and utterly fascinating, Pets on the Couch demonstrates how what we share with our animals can only lead us to a greater appreciation for them - and for our mutual bonds.

©2016 Nicholas Dodman (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

As a psychotherapist...

What did you love best about Pets on the Couch?

As a psychotherapist, I can't look at animal behavior the same way. This book is very though provoking.

A must read BEFORE adopting a new pet!

Not only immensely informative and heart-warming but James Langton, the narrator, made the story come alive holding my attention throughout the whole audiobook!

Fascinating look into Animal Behavior.

This book provides good insights into animal behavior, and worthwhile reading for all pet lovers.

Great book on pets

Nice insight into mental health of pets really enjoyed thanks to the author great job

Great book on animal behavior and the newest medical information

DR Dodman has raised the bar once again ! The information about pharmaceutical in this book are amazing !

Great Read! But Beware of Outdated Training Advice

This is an excellent dive into the complex emotional lives of animals, the use of One Medicine in both humans and animals, and mental illnesses many animals suffer with that are similar to ours.

The medical information is great, but the training advice is grossly outdated. Concepts like the alpha theory and dominance training have been debunked for a long time, and it's unfortunate that this advice is given in the book.

Despite this, I still found a lot of value on the medical side of things and recommend it as long as you ignore the outdated training.

The narrator was easy to listen to and made it enjoyable.

A great book for all animal owners!

Where does Pets on the Couch rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Dr. Dodman takes clinical information and makes it relevant to the everyday animal owner. His guidance is applicable to every animal owner - this book should be required reading for grade school children. This book can change the way animals are treated and raised - this book gives people the ability to learn about their pets - learn how behaviors maybe medical or could be reactions to the owners behavior. "Empathy helps where judgement fails" and "one-medicine" are threads throughout this book. In the end - humans aren't that different from "animals." In some cases, the animals are actually smarter!

What was one of the most memorable moments of Pets on the Couch?

The stories and analysis of anxiety disorders... we have a rescue dog. Probably 2 years old when we saved him from euthanasia in a Texas animal control. The dog was pathetic. Skinny. Anxious. Absolutely a wonderful dog. He does have anxiety - specifically when separated from his person. But they are minor - this book taught us how to watch his behavior and provide him support to make his life better. Which in turn - makes our life better.

What does James Langton bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

James Langton has a wonderful voice. His inflection is perfect to support the nuances of the stories.

If you could give Pets on the Couch a new subtitle, what would it be?

What you need to know to actually be smarter than your animals!

Fun and inspiring for any pet lover

This is a delightful book written by a specialist in animal behavior. Nicholas Dodman is a veterinarian who immigrated from the UK and is now doing research at Tufts University.

He talks in the book about the difficulty of working with other scientists due to a bias that makes them refuse to concede consciousness to animals. The resistance to "anthropomorphizing" animals, he says, began with Descartes and continues throughout medical communities and even with some fellow veterinarians.

Dodman takes tremendous care to make his case that evolution preserves successful adaptations in animals and carries them forward, so that a dog's brain, though smaller, looks nearly identical to a human brain, and that a multitude of animals have similar organ structures to humans. He says he argues for a deeper understanding of our pets (and the animals we breed for farming) not to diminish human beings but to exalt the other species.

Dodman then takes various case studies showing why drugs used in humans (and tested in other animals beforehand) can be effective in pets who exhibit anxiety, PTSD, hyperactive disorder, and even Alzheimer's. He explains what drugs seem to be effective in helping aggressive animals and those suffering separation anxiety, and even details some herbal remedies that seem to work well. He also details work he's done with Temple Grandin. 

He includes stories of mostly successful treatments for everything from birds to horses, and talks about proper nutrition and exercise as part of treatments. Some of the ailments are surprising, such as some behaviors being associated with seizure disorders or hypothyroidism.

The book is interesting and inspiring. Dodson obviously loves the work he's in and his animal patients and writes with real heart keeping technical talk to the bare minimum. Worthwhile for any pet owner, but particularly valuable for anyone who has a problem pet with plenty of ideas to discuss with your own veterinarian.

The Oliver Sacks of Vets! Brilliant!

Beyond the realm of the unsound and deeply disturbed, "Pets on the Couch" provides fascinating and loving stories of the animals who share their lives with us. Their struggles and ultimately, their salvation.
Here are the dogs of war, home now and suffering PTSD as surely as any marine who worked alongside them; horses with Tourette syndrome, helped and now wonderful examples to children that differences shouldn't be scary; animals with OCD, explosive aggression, pathological fear, epilepsy, even autism. These are the things that would have been an animal's death sentence in the past.
Now they can be treated. The science that's always used them as test subjects can now be used to ease their suffering, treat their seizures, provide that window of stabilization where behavior modification can then be used to show them that life can be safe, good, filled with love and fun.
This isn't just a series of anecdotes, though there are many examples to go along with each illness. Dodman is a dedicated man who uses PET/CT scans, advanced MRIs, plunges into genetic testing to find that autism in humans, and the similar in animals can be traced back to a faulty piece of X chromosome.
But while he values research and science, he preaches common sense and empathy overall. Your dog is not barking ALL day long to drive you nuts; perhaps she was deprived of socialization in her early months, was mistreated, has fears that would drive the normal person to bark all day long were they in her paws.
The narration is wonderful, reflects the warmth and humor in the text, makes the research riveting. I laughed and smiled a lot through the whole audiobook and listened to it in a single day.
I suppose I was looking for my cat, Thoreau's, problem to be described, diagnosed, and fixed. He has it in for my brother, gets majorly aggressive, and I was hoping there'd be an easy fix. Alas! In this case, there is no magic pill, no easy way out.
I guess I'll just have to get another brother...

Animals have feelings too

Having been raised on a farm my earliest experiences were with all sorts of animals. I recognized in all creatures fear love pain need for approval and reward. A need to feel safe and nurtured. There was communication going both ways continually. So it is refreshing to listen to a research professional verify what was obvious to me from a very early age that we are more alike to other vertebrates than we are different.