'What Makes A Dog A Dog?': A Book Review

'If it was born a dog, then it is a dog.'

I am pleased to announce my first exclusive book review for Genspect. This time, they asked me to read What Makes A Dog A Dog? by Dr. Tal Croitoru.

My niece identified as a dog when she was six years old. Every day after school, she would get on all fours in the living room of the family apartment and emit a sharp, barking yap.

Her brother, who was in pre-kindergarten and susceptible to contagion, identified as a dog to join in her game.

Both children would become humans to eat, for their parents had a rule against animals at the dinner table, but then they would often become animals once more after eating, sometimes until bed. Their play would only stop for quarrels over what a dog should do or say in that moment, if a dog or a cat was having their particular adventure. If they could not agree on what that was, they could bark at each other for half an hour.

It all stopped as soon as they moved out of an apartment into a house with room to adopt family pets. Instead of making up animal a…