National Geographic Explorer: Science of Dogs (2007)
The dog is the ultimate human creation. With 400 breeds and counting, the dog is more varied in size and behavior than any other species on the planet. National Geographic looks at man's evolutionary manipulation of dogs' appearance, talents and temperament - and the accelerating efforts to create breeds to suit our needs (more than 80 percent of today's breeds did not exist 150 years ago). From desirable traits like supersensitive hearing and smell to the unintended consequences of genetic diseases, learn how nature and man have partnered to deliberately create new and specialized versions of man's best friend.
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Don't Believe the Hype
Instead, you get a movie that's enjoyable enough, but leaves you feeling like it could have been much, much more.
This is ultimately a movie about the very bad things that can happen when we don't address our unease, when we just try to brush it off, whether that's to fit in or to preserve our self-image.
A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.
I found "Science of Dogs" to be a very fascinating show--perhaps because I have dogs. It's NOT a show about how cute or nice dogs are but about their genetic malleability and how easily mankind has manipulated these creatures into many amazing types in a very short period of time. For example, according to the show, about 80% of the recognized breeds were developed in the last 150 years! The pitfalls and benefits of this as well as how SOME of this research can help understand human genetics is the main focus of the show. The show manages to be very interesting, scientifically important and entertaining--no small task! Well worth your time and very educational. In fact, I could see this film being used with teens to teach them about genetics, diversity and many other topics.By the way, if you enjoy this also try to find the "Nova" episode "Dogs Decoded". It's quite similar but its study on the genetics of foxes is really, really interesting.