About the Author

Cat Warren is a professor at North Carolina State University, where she teaches science journalism, editing, and creative nonfiction courses. Before starting her academic career, Warren worked for newspapers across the United States, reporting on crime, poverty, and politics, from California to Wyoming to Connecticut. Warren started training her young German shepherd, Solo, as a cadaver dog in 2004. She and Solo were called to search for the missing across North Carolina for a number of years. She lives in downtown Durham, North Carolina, with her husband, David Auerbach, a retired professor of philosophy at North Carolina State University, and their two German shepherds. Visit CatWarren.com.

Reviews

"What the Dog Knows is a fascinating, deeply reported journey into scent, death, forensics and the amazing things dogs can do with their noses: sniffing out graves, truffles, bedbugs, maybe even cancer. But it's also a moving story of how one woman transformed her troubled dog into a loving companion and an asset to society, all while stumbling on the beauty of life in their searches for death."--Rebecca Skloot, in the New York Times Book Review
"Just finished What the Dog Knows, Cat Warren's wonderful new book about the training of her cadaver dog, Solo. This is a real treat for serious dog people: informative, compelling, moving, sad, funny, the works. I loved it."--Carol Lea Benjamin, author of Dog Smart: The Art of Training Your Dog and Mother Knows Best: The Natural Way to Tr
"Move over CSI, and make way for Cat Warren and her forensic dog Solo to grab and keep your attention. What the Dog Knows is beautifully and compelling written--not only could I not put it down, I didn't want to."--Patricia B. McConnell, PhD, CAAB, author of The Other End of the Leash
"What the Dog Knows is a fascinating exploration into the minds and characters of some very special dogs. No one who cares about dogs should miss this smart, funny, and at times surprisingly moving book."--Spencer Quinn, author of Dog on It
"Working dogs, be they search and rescue, cadaver or explosive detection specialists, are--like their human partners--a breed apart. They inhabit a world of complete commitment, utter dedication, and extraordinarily rigorous training. What the Dog Knows is greatly enriched by author Cat Warren's own love of digging. She and Solo take us on some fascinating detours through history and phony-baloney claims en route to the science, wonder and awe that all rightly surround dogs' noses."--Sue Russell, author of Lethal Intent and The Illustrated Courtroom
"Warren writes . . . with the research-forward focus of an academic and the sweat-and-scabs storytelling of someone who has lived in the field. What the Dog Knows is an incredibly poignant book about dogs and people and how the lost can become found again."--Indy Week
"What the Dog Knows is first the story of the relationship between a hard-working cadaver dog and his human companion. But that deeply felt relationship opens the way to an exploration of the working dog world and in doing so becomes something more--a realization of the intelligence, determination, and decency of these animals, a story both wonderful and wise."--Deborah Blum, author of Love at Goon Park and The Poisoner's Handbook