The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog

In this celebrated work, a renowned psychiatrist and the coauthor of the #1 New York Times bestseller What Happened to You? reveals how trauma affects children—and outlines the path to recovery.

“Transforms horrifying childhood traumatic experiences into opportunities for profound change and resilience.”―Psychology Today

How does trauma affect developing children—and how can we help them recover?

Child psychiatrist Dr. Bruce D. Perry has helped children faced with unimaginable horror: genocide survivors, murder witnesses, kidnapped teenagers, and victims of family violence. In the classic The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog, now fully revised and updated throughout, Dr. Perry and acclaimed science journalist Maia Szalavitz tell stories of trauma and transformation and share lessons of courage, humanity, and hope.

Combining unforgettable case histories with compassionate strategies for treatment, Perry and Szalavitz explain how extreme stress can impact the brain—and share the effort to create ways to ease the pains of childhood trauma to help restore healthier development. They show how understanding more about the workings of the brain—and the power of love—can help heal the most wounded children.

• “With humility, compassion, and strong science, The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog transforms horrifying childhood traumatic experiences into opportunities for profound change and resilience.”
  Psychology Today
• “A powerful read for anyone seeking to understand the resilience of the human spirit.”
  Times Now
• “In beautifully written, fascinating accounts of experiences working with emotionally stunted and traumatized children, child psychiatrist Perry educates readers about how early-life stress and violence affects the developing brain. He offers simple yet vivid illustrations of the stress response and the brain’s mechanisms with facts and images that crystallize in the mind without being too detailed or confusing.”
  Publishers Weekly
• “Perry has learned a thing or two about how not to raise a prospective sociopath. Here he shares the stories of several children he has encountered in his decades as a child psychiatrist and expert on childhood trauma . . . . He makes a powerful case for early intervention for disruptive children to prevent adult sociopathy.”
  Booklist
• “Readable, informative about the workings of language, memory, trust, and choice, and ultimately optimistic—while critical of a society that exudes violence and ignores prevention—this book demands and deserves attention from parents, educators, policymakers, courts, and therapists. Highly recommended.”
  Library Journal (starred review)
• “The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog is Bruce Perry’s finest achievement… It gives us the opportunity to unlock the deepest mystery of our species: why some children turn out to be heroes and others to be predatory sociopaths. Anyone who wants to understand childhood trauma and its heartbreaking consequences must read this book.”
  Andrew Vachss, best-selling author of Mask Market, founder of PROTECT: The National Association to Protect Children
• “I have never encountered a child advocate with a better mind, a bigger heart, or a more generous spirit than Bruce Perry. This book captures the essence of his insights and the heroism of his actions on behalf of children who have encountered the dark side of human experience.”
  James Garbarino, Ph.D., author of Lost Boys: Why Our Sons Turn Violent and How We Can Save Them
• “In this harrowing but profoundly humane book, Perry and Szalavitz provide an all too timely, utterly engrossing account of traumatized children’s lives… Once I opened it, I could not put it down.”
  Sarah Blaffer Hrdy, author of Mother Nature: Maternal Instincts and How They Shape the Human Species
• “Filled with compassionate, caring stories by a wise healer and scientist, this book will appeal to all who are interested in understanding how children heal.”
  Lynn Ponton, M.D., author of The Romance of Risk
• “For many years, Bruce Perry’s work has been deserving of our highest praise. This book is his crowning achievement, the ultimate combination of science and humanity.”
  Joel A. Dvoskin, PhD, University of Arizona College of Medecine, former president, American Psychology-Law Societ
• "Fascinating and upbeat...Dr. Perry is both a world-class creative scientist and a compassionate therapist."
  Mary Pipher, Ph.D., author of Reviving Ophelia and Letters to a Young Therapist