Q&A with Alexandra Horowitz

Bark editor-in-chief Claudia Kawczynska in conversation with one of dogdom’s groundbreaking authors and researchers

Bark: One of the themes in your new book, Our Dogs, Ourselves, is what you call the contradictory ways we live with dogs. What do you attribute that to?

Alexandra Horowitz: I do see a lot of contradiction in how we live with dogs. While some things have changed in the last decade or so, most of this contradiction has been with us from the get-go, only varying a little in content. Ten thousand years ago, we weren’t buying clothing (property) for our dogs (who are also property), as we are now. But those ancient humans were likely [both] keeping dogs close as pets and, at times, consuming them. We have this kind of contradiction in our dealings with lots of non-human animals, I think. With dogs, the instances are more complex because our dealings with them are manifold, and they are so interwoven in our lives.

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