Product Description The award-winning Nature series is the longest-running weekly natural history series on television. Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham narrates this epic story of the remarkable and enduring relationship between dogs and humans, and why dogs have earned a unique and fundamental place in the human heart. More than 750 million of us share our lives with dogs. We love and cherish them. But this most adored of animal companions was once the wild and savage wolf. How did this astonishing transformation take place? In spectacular location footage, Nature shows how indispensable certain breeds have been to their people, from the Arctics native Inuit and their sled dogs to desert dwelling Jordanians and the speedy saluki. Review [This program] is laden with loquacious dog people, lovely scenery from the Scottish Highlands to the jungles of Papua New Guinea and plenty of frisky puppies.... The words in Dogs should scare us into outrage, but its pictures tell a cuddlier story. --New York Times P.when('A').execute(function(A) { A.on('a:expander:toggle_description:toggle:collapse', function(data) { window.scroll(0, data.expander.$expander[0].offsetTop-100); }); }); About the Actor F. Murray Abraham is an Oscar-winning actor known for films like Amadeus, Finding Forrester, Mighty Aphrodite, Inside Llewyn Davis and Grand Budapest Hotel. SYNOPSIS - Born on October 24, 1939, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, of Syrian and Italian ancestry, Abraham went on to attend the University of Texas at Austin. He moved to New York City to pursue acting, studying under Uta Hagen, and developed a stage career with Off-Broadway productions. He later added the F to the beginning of his stage name in honor of his father, Frederick, and because he felt his birth name was not distinctive enough. Abraham landed small parts for TV and on the big screen, appearing in a variety of films during the 1970s, including Serpico (1973), The Sunshine Boys (1975), All the Presidents Men (1976), The Ritz (1976) and The Big Fix (1978). He was also noted for being one of the Fruit of the Loom men in the brands series of television commercials. Abraham continued his screen work into the next decade, landing a part in 1983s Scarface. He simultaneously did filming in Prague, portraying noted Italian composer Antonio Salieri in the 1984 feature Amadeus Abrahams gripping performance earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor, as well as a Golden Globe and BAFTA Award. He continued his prolific output over the ensuing years, with roles in films across various genres. He co-starred with Sean Connery and Christian Slater in another period film, The Name of the Rose (1986), and a few years later made an appearance as a prosecuting attorney in The Bonfire of the Vanities (1990). In 1991 he played crime boss Arnold Rothstein in Mobsters. By the mid-1990s, Abraham could be seen in a TV adaptation of the Jules Verne classic Journey to the Center of the Earth (1993) and co-starred with Mira Sorvino and Helena Bonham Carter in Woody Allens Mighty Aphrodite (1995), in which he led the films chorus. 1995 also saw Abraham play gangster Al Capone in both Dillinger and Capone and Baby Face Nelson, and the actor ventured further into sci-fi with roles in Guillermo Del Toros Mimic (1997), which also featured Sorvino, as well as 1998s Star Trek: Insurrection. See more
J**.
Planet of the Dogs
The first time I watched this program, I was amazed at all the interesting facts I hadn't known about my three mutts, and I enjoyed the photography of dogs working and frolicking and just being dogs in such a wide variety of ways. The second time I watched, I paid closer attention, and the importance of what these scientists were saying struck me. If the reasoned speculation of this documentary is true (much of it is yet unproven) humans owe a debt of gratitude to dogs for enabling our entire culture.Dogs were the first animals to be domesticated, and they domesticated themselves. It wasn't our doing. Of course, the wolves who chose to live near, and then with humans didn't consciously choose to create a new species, but the domestication of the dog led to all sorts of other advancements. Dogs improved our ability to hunt, using their superior senses of smell and hearing. Dogs guarded our homes. Dogs helped us domesticate other animals, such as sheep and goats. The abilities of dogs permitted us to live in harsh environments, such as the Arctic, where we could not have survived alone. And all along the way, they have been loving companions, members of our families.The importance of this documentary is hard to overstate. First, if you take away the domestication of the dog, then we would still be hunter-gatherers, probably less than a hundred million in population, and just another insignificant animal on the planet. ( As would be the wolf.) The knowledge contained in all the books on Amazon would not have been obtained if not for the success and lifestyle changes granted to us by our association with dogs. The co-evolution of two species has made all this possible. Homo sapiens cannot be rightly said to be a species in and of itself; it is a member of a species complex including Canis lupus familiaris, as well as cows, pigs, chickens, wheat, corn, etc.The second important implication to take away from this documentary is: considering how critical the dog has been to our entire way of life, what other species might we associate with to our mutual advantage? We are currently driving species to extinction faster than we can even identify and catologue them. What fantastic advances in knowledge and culture might we be denying ourselves by blindly marginalizing and destroying other species?Most people who watch this documentary may not be as awestruck as I have been by the magnitude of its implications. The documentary itself is not making these far-reaching claims, merely suggesting them. Even if you are just looking for some entertainment, you should find this program highly enjoyable. It contains excellent photography and travels all around the world as it explores the ordinary and extraordinary dog.
S**N
Excellent documentary for preteen-adult
Great video and fast delivery. Thanks! I plan to give it my 12 year old grandson. He loves dogs!
L**N
Informational, Two Parts
After watching in entirety and some parts twice, I have both positive and negative feelings about this video:I learned a lot and it made me think about things never thought of before; I was able to see some types of dogs never knew about (hairless, desert hunters) and I enjoyed the graphics demonstrating dog moving (spine features, heart, etc.). But, it has only two parts and is rather short and was a little expensive in retrospect - more like something the library should have (I will probably donate to) and finally, much of the information presented is opinion-only.
K**N
Enjoyable and interesting
Liked learning the insights shared on this presentation about how dogs became man's best friend. One thing I think was not discussed was if/how dogs could have come from foxes and coyotes as well as wolves. Wolves and coyotes have inter bred and produce fertile offspring.
C**A
Nice video for dog fans
This is an interesting video, in two parts (one disk). There's a certain amount of fluff, but the visuals were fun, and I learned some things. There are no special features or extras included, but the DVD played smoothly. I liked the story of the family with the dog who would alert to their son's impending seizures, and the difference this had made for the boy. The demonstration of the dogs who could sniff out cancer cells in a test tube was amazing, and gives a person some hope.
Z**A
An Excellent Review of Dogs Around The World
Dogs originated in Asia and are now found all over the world. We learn from sheepherders that they couldn't do their work without their dogs and from owners of sled dogs in the Arctic who totally rely on their dogs. Doctors rely on the reliability of the sense of smell of dogs to detect cancer and type 1 diabetes in their patients.Unfortunately, many dogs have to be killed because they were trained to be vicious.
J**Y
This is a classic.
A very interesting and compelling theory is proposed that dogs were instrumental in advancing the human race beyond our hunter and gatherer stage of development. It almost makes you wonder how we could be where we are without them. The intelligence of border collies and the amazing stamina of huskies shows just how exceptional the species can be. It is really quite humbling. Recommended for all humans.
L**.
Fantastic Show
I saw this program on PBS last night and first thing this morning looked it up and purchased it here. My husband and I both really enjoyed the in depth look at the Dog's history in society and many of the different view points of evolution. Really a great show, one of the best I've seen in a long time, and the only I've felt was worth purchasing to watch again.
F**D
Okay, not great.
Not as good as I'd hoped.
M**S
Five Stars
Absolutely fascinating video!
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