THE STORM is approaching! And after yesterday’s blog, you know that’s serious!

Today’s blog is all about how I created a “dog’s eye view” of the world for the series. Because I was writing from the point of view of a dog, I knew that some aspects of my writing were going to have to change, but the more research I did, the more I realized that not only my writing, but my entire worldview needed to shift to even begin the process of creating a dog’s perspective on the world.

The first and perhaps biggest change that I had to make was that I had to learn to “see” the world nose-first, meaning I had to think about everything from a scent perspective. Try it yourself—smell your way around your house or room. Try to imagine everything from a scent-first point of view. It’s super hard, but when you do it, the spaces around you change dramatically. Suddenly, your laundry hamper or stinky gym shoes or the garbage is the most interesting thing in the room. Gross, but true.

This is how dogs sense the world—smell-first. Dogs smell MILLIONS of times better than human beings. That’s right, millions. They can smell trace amounts of sugar dissolved in the equivalent of swimming pools of water. They can smell when someone is about to have a seizure. They can smell the difference between one petal of a rose from another because a bee landed on one and left a dusting of pollen. One author posits that they can smell the time of day. How awesome would that be? But what a different way of experiencing the world from our own! For most of us humans, our primary way of experiencing the world is through sight. This bias is evident even in the way we talk about things. When you agree with someone, you might respond, “I totally see what you’re saying, dude.” Would a dog woof, “I totallysmell you, dog”?

Dogs can also (obviously) see, but they see differently than we do. They see a slightly muted color spectrum because of how their eyes are structured. Dogs’ eyes only pick up blue and greenish-yellow light, so they only see a color when it is in the range of blue or green. They also see “faster” than we humans do, which is why they can catch a whizzing Frisbee mid-air.

All of this research into how dogs sense the world changed how I wrote my scenes. When I thought about my main character, Shep, interacting with other dogs, I had to think about how he would smell them first, and then see them. What would he be able to tell from the other dog’s smell? I decided that he would be able to tell a lot about him or her—that she was a girldog, that she was a young dog, etc.

Through my research, and using some common sense, I knew that dogs communicate not only through barks and growls, but also through their body language. For example, once Shep saw this girldog, he would notice more than just whether there was a smile on her snout. He would see how the other dog held her tail—was it up and wagging, friendly, or flat and rigid, or between her legs, showing fear? He would notice how the dog held her ears, whether she was crouched down or standing proud.

On the subject of communication, I wanted to capture on the page a uniquely doggy kind of language, a dog-dialect. The book is written from a third-person close point of view, meaning that I tell the story from over Shep’s shoulder. The reader hears his thoughts and the story is told in his voice. I thought of what human words Shep might understand—Go, Car, Walk, etc.—words my own dogs understand. I also thought of how Shep might describe human things that he didn’t know the human words for—what would he call the vacuum cleaner? The refrigerator? A television? What kinds of metaphors would a dog use? Shep might compare something he really liked to a big bowl of kibble with gravy or a squeaky toy. How might he describe something he didn’t like?

Sometimes I had to depart slightly from the dog’s eye view of the world. For example, even though dogs live in a smell-first world, us human readers need some visual details to picture a setting. And so I describe certain locations as a human might experience them—I say what Shep sees around the room, give details of colors he might not really be able to sense. I also made some assumptions in writing the book, like that dogs would know what glass and plastic were. All of these choices required me to balance the authenticity of the “dog’s eye view” against what would best serve the story, and ultimately the reader.

As you can tell, I really got into all this dog research. It’s fascinating! If you’re interested in learning more about how dogs sense the world, check out Alexandra Horowitz’s amazing book, Inside of a Dog. She does a great job of talking about complex science in an easy-to-understand way. Or watch the great NOVA special,Dogs Decoded. You’ll never see your dog the same way again!

Check back in tomorrow for details about my contest! You could win a signed copy ofThe Storm, a signed advance copy of The Pack, and a series bookmark! Huzzah!

23 Responses to “Creating a Dog’s Eye View of the World”

  1. Alyssa

    Dear Ms. Dayna,

    I want to thank you for taking the time to Skype us! It was so fun. I learned about how dogs only see certain colors and how they smell like 100,000 times better than us! I have to say that my favorite character was Shep. He is loving, caring, and tough at the same time! I love your book. I will try to read the rest of the series! Again, thanks so much!!

    Reply
  2. katie

    Hello ms. dayna. Im from olh/sls and i just wanted to thank you for Skyping with us. After school I was watching a movie about a dog named Hachiko.THey did what you said about dogs seeing only certain colors. When they changed the camera to make it look like the dogwas seeing, it was black and white. I thought it was cool! Thanks again for skyping and thanks for the bookmarks! I enjoyed the skype!

    Reply
  3. Tori

    May 18, 2012

    Dear Ms.Dayna,

    Hi ! It’s Tori from Our Lady of Hope/St. Luke School. We Skyped with you the 17th of May. I would like to say ” Thank You ! ” for taking youre time to Skype with us.

    I really liked that you listened to everyone’s questions and answerd them well with a full answer and reason. I loved the book even if it was a little confusing. I still loved it . I can’t wait to read the others! Thank You !

    Sincerely,
    Tori

    Reply
  4. Heather

    Dear Ms.Dayna,

    Thank you oh so very much for Skyping with us. I learned that dogs don’t see all the colors that we humans see and that they can smell a lot of things from really far away. My favorite character was Higgins because he sounds so cute and I love little dogs. I also liked learning about how you set up the plot for the third book by making the chart with all the sticky notes. My dog is a Yorkie. I love him a lot so it was easy to write from his point of view. His name is Hagrid like the giant from Harry Potter.My dog is a Yorkie, so he is a very tiny dog. But the name goes to his little doggie head and he thinks he is a huge dog again. I would like to say thank you for Skyping and sending us autographed book marks.

    Reply
  5. Balal

    Dear Ms.Dayna,

    My name is Balal. Thank you for the Skype. Sadly, I wasn’t there for it . But I still like the book. My favorite dog in the story is Shep. He is brave and cool! I liked how he saves all the dogs. Thank again for the Skype visit.

    Reply
  6. Carmen

    Dear Ms. Lorentz,

    I’m so happy to have read your book. I want to read your
    2nd and 3rd books!!!

    Thank you Ms. Lorentz, very much for Skyping with our
    class and teaching us about dogs, man’s best friends.

    My dog, Frizbee, gets himself into so much trouble, just
    like Frizzle and always stands up to bigger dogs. Sure enough
    Frizbee, too, would probably get killed.

    Thank you for the bookmarks, they are FANTASTIC!!!!!

    My favorite dog would have to be Callie because she’s a very happy, cute, energetic, dog!!!

    Reply
  7. Sydney

    Dear Ms.Dayna,

    Thank you for visiting our school over Skype. I really enjoyed it. When the class had to write an essay about our pets point of view, I chose my fish only to find my fish Flubby upside down .So I wrote my essay in memory of him. I have a question for you. Which 3 dogs in your book do you like the best and why?

    Reply
    • Dayna

      Hi Sydney,

      Oh dear, I can’t choose favorites! 🙂 But I’ll tell you why I especially love three dogs in the series. The first is Frizzle. I love him because he is based on my best buddy Peter and he was so much fun to write. I love every line of dialogue he barks! The second is Oscar because his story surprised me. As I was writing, he became more and more integral to the plot and he grew and changed, and changed every dog around him in the process, especially Shep. The third is Fuzz, who shows up in The Pack. It was so much fun to write from the point of view of a cat living with a pack of dogs, especially for a dyed-in-the-fur dog person like me:)

      Reply
  8. Elizabeth

    Dear Ms. Dayna,

    Thank you video chatting with us on Skype. It was so cool! I learned a lot about dogs, your dogs, your inspiration for “The Storm”, and how to write from a dog’s point of view. My favorite dog is Callie. She is kind, resourceful, thoughtful, and brave. Thanks again for taking the time to Skype us. I look forward to reading the other two books in the series.

    Reply
  9. Emma

    Dear Mrs Lorentz,

    Thank you so much for taking your time to Skype us and taking your time to indivisually sign all of the bookmarks! That was very kind of you, and I will always kee[ that bookmark. It is very special!

    I learned so much about writing books and how you wrote “Storm Dogs”! My favorite character is Shep, because he is sp loyal, helpful, and and he really tries hard to help others. I can’t wait to read the second book!

    Reply
  10. Rose

    Mrs Lorentz,
    Thank you for Skyping with my class. We loved it. I learned that dogs are always nose first and see different colors than we humans do. I liked the character Callie. She seems brave, fun, and adventurous, kind of like me and my pet. Your book was wonderful and I plan on reading the rest of th series. Thank you so much!!!!!

    Reply
  11. Kristina

    Dear Mrs. Dayna Lorentz,

    Thank you for Skyping with us. That was a different experience for us! Thank you for answering my questions about “a couple kibbles short of a full meal” and for saying we could e-mail you our stories. I have a schnauzer named Greta who is fun and playful. She is curious and at tmes OVERWHELMING!! Anyway, thanks again! I cannot wait to see what you will write next!

    P.S I am overwhelmed that you had a schnauzer in the book!!! I LOVE SCHNAUZERS!!

    Reply
  12. Annie

    Dear Mrs Dayna,
    Thank you for Skyping with us. It was really cool to Skype with a great author like you! It was really awesome to learn how you came up with writing the books from a dog’s point of view. In the book, my favorite dog was Frizzle, I love how he was so brave and tried to protect the pack from the wild dogs. Now, I’m reading the second book in the series “The Pack.” So far, it’s great! I can’t wait to finish and read the third book “The Return.” Again thank you!

    Reply
  13. Maggie

    Dear Mrs. Dayna,
    Thank you so much for Skyping with us. I learned a lot. Also, thank you for answering my question about writing. I was in shock that I was getting writing pointers from a real author of an awesome book series. I have to say my favorite character would have to be Oscar, probably because I have a dachshund named Sophie. She has a personality mix of both Oscar and Frizzle because she always wants her mommy and acts like a tough cookie whenever she sees a dog, big or small. Sophie always goes nuts when she sees someone unless she knows them or they are a child. Well, thanks again for the Skyping with us, answering my question, and sending us signed bookmarks. I loved all of it.

    Reply
  14. Shannen

    Dear Mrs. Dayna,
    Thank you so much for the Skype visit and autographed bookmarks! I thought that dogs only see black and white, so thank you for showing us that color chart, too. I have a Boxer named Lillie, and she is really funny. One time, I set a lemon on the floor. She licked it and then she started barking at it. It was really funny. What do you think she would call a lemon? Again, thank you so much!

    Reply
    • Dayna

      Hi Shannen,

      A lemon, eh? What do YOU think she would call it? 🙂 I bet a lemon smells bitter and fruity to a dog, and the dog would be able to see its bright yellow skin. I bet Lillie was surprised that when she licked the lemon, it rolled a little, maybe it seemed to move on its own? DId she think it was a new toy and wanted you to play with her? Did she think it was a strange animal invading her home? You decide!

      Reply
  15. Nora

    Dear Ms. Dayna,
    Thank you for Skyping with us yesterday. I had a lot of fun learning that dogs see with their noses! My favorite character was Shep, because he reminded me of my dog, Jack. They are both loving, caring, and strong dogs. The only difference is that Shep is a German Sheppard and Jack is a Chow-Lab mix. Thank you so much for talking to us yesterday an d reading this comment!

    Reply
  16. Ashley

    Dear Ms. Dayna,
    Thamk you so much for the Skype. I really like the book and I am now reading, “The Pack.” My favorite characters are Callie and Shep. They are both loving, brave, and caring. You really en coraged me to write my own book about my dog Biscuit, he’s a beagle. I might add a wolf or two in the book because they are my favorite animal. My dog reminds me of a wolf because he barks and howls. Thank you so much.

    Reply
  17. Mollie

    Dear Mrs. Dayna,
    Thank you for Skyping with us! I really enjoyed it. I love the “Dogs of the Drowned City” series. My favorite characters are Shep and Callie, because they are nice, caring, thoughtful, protective, and brave dogs. I thought the facts about the eyesight without color and sense of smell were cool! I thought the way you set up a board with sticky notes was a smart and good idea. I also want to thank you for the autographed bookmarks. I hope you become more and more successful in your writing skills in the future!

    Reply
  18. karly

    Dear Mrs. Dayna Lorentz,

    I want to thank you for talking to our class on skype. I was not able to see it, but I heard it was very fun. I didn’t make it because I broke my ankle on Friday and it started hurting again yesterday. I really wish I could have made it though. I really loved the book. Shep reminded me of my dog, Jack, because he is funloving, kind hearted, and tough when he needs to be. Thanks again, and sorry I couldn’t make it.

    Reply
  19. Jazmyne

    Thanks all lot for Skyping with my class and me! I hope you enjoyed Skyping with my class, as we enjoyed Skyping with you! I learned a lot from this experience like, when the huricane came, you weren’t allowed to bring any pets. I also learned that dogs explore the world with their noses, unlike humans who explore the world with all five of our senses.
    My favorite character was Shep because Shep was brave enough to realize fighting other dogs isn’t a good thing. So all throughout Shep’s life, he’s trying to fight his instinct to be mean and vicious. Also, Shep has a kind heart because he is willing to risk his own life for the other dogs. By the way, thanks again for the adventure of Skyping with an author and for individually signing the bookmarks for us. That meant a lot! 🙂

    Reply
  20. Caitlyn

    Dear Mrs Dayna,
    Thank you so much for Skyping with us! It was a really fun experience. I have four pets, two kittens and two dogs. My kittens are eleven months old. They turn twelve months on June 6th. My beagle is very plump. He is five years old. He turns six in July. We also have a little medium sized puppy who we think is about two years old, but we are not sure because we rescued him from the Maryland SPCA. Our kittens were rescued from BARCS Animal Shelter. I loved your book “Storm”. It was neat because it is different from other dog books. My favorite charecter was Shep because even though he was a fight dog, he resisted the urge to kill. I really liked the bookmarks that you signed. Thank you for signing them indivually. Thank You again for Skyping with us.

    Reply
  21. Andrew

    I think the book was absolutely amazing! I don’t have a pet, but I used to have a fish. I think it got a freshwater parasite that we didn’t know about until it’s gills started to get some sort of golden gunk around the gills. I loved the book and I couldn’t help but sing after reading a chapter because it was a stellar read. I usually don’t like reading but this was far past divine! I liked Cheese (I like to call him Chez because it sounds funny) because he’s a cute dog sort of like a person named “Crazy Barks” from a video game I used to play before I lost it.

    Reply

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