What the Dog Knows by Cat Warren is written for a specific crowd:  a crowd of dog lovers. That is a definite prerequisite to enjoying this book. If you have a dog who you are just bonkers about, this book is for you, or if you have some sort of connection to working dogs. Warren writes about her experiences with her working dog, Solo, whom she trained to be a cadaver dog. Warren is an excellent writer, with a background in teaching creative nonfiction and science journalism; then she is a dog-handler “on the side”–although cadaver dogs seem to be her real passion.

This book is funny and fun, but also extremely instructive. Readers will learn much about cadaver dogs and everything pertaining to it, and will find themselves captivated the entire time. Don’t be surprised if by the end of the book you are slightly tempted to be a cadaver dog handler. Warren shows the hard things of the job, but also manages to make this type of volunteer work seem quite alluring.

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  1 religious exclamation; 8 mild obscenities; 2 religious profanities; 5 derogatory names; 12 scatological words; 5 anatomical terms.

Violence/Gore:  A puppy bites a person on the hand (a small bite); a couple of pages of history on dogs eating dead bodies, not graphic; a couple of stories are told in which dead bodies are found (not graphic but a bit disturbing); a serial murder case is described with gruesome but factual details, a couple of pages; a case is mentioned where a man raped and buried a college student; a murder case is discussed without gruesome details; a gruesome murder is described in factual details, a couple paragraphs; a collapse of a building is described in which it killed and injured almost 30 people; pieces of cadaver are briefly described a couple of times; a gruesome scene is briefly described, including a piece of a child’s body; a violent scene is portrayed, some gruesome details with life-threatening injuries, no deaths; a dead body is mentioned; a dead body is briefly described; several raped and murder crimes are briefly mentioned; murder/rape cases are briefly discussed in a presentation; different types of damage to corpses is briefly described and listed; throughout the book, different human body parts are found in relation to training, or in relation to different cases; several pages of a story about serial rapes and murders, not graphic; a paragraph about a bunch of unarmed military men who were killed; a killed military member’s remains are mentioned, not graphic; a dog is mentioned to have bitten his handler at least a hundred times; a dog searches for soldiers whose bodies were destroyed by IEDs; it is described how working dogs are sometimes targeted by Taliban and others; several people are killed when military members attempt to recover two dead paratroopers; an IED is said to have killed a person and severely injured a dog; many people are said to have disappeared in a natural disaster.

Sex/Nudity:  A dog’s sexual behavior is mentioned a couple of times; a reproductive organ is mentioned in passing; prostitution is mentioned.

Mature Subject Matter:

Death, murder, war, death of family member, rape, death and murder of children, illegal drugs, prostitution.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

There is discussion about working dogs who find illegal drugs.