The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog
Child psychiatrist Bruce Perry collects ten of the most difficult cases from his career and uses each to teach how a developing brain responds to terror, neglect, and disrupted attachment. The title patient was a boy raised in a dog cage with almost no human contact. Other chapters cover the Branch Davidian children Perry advised on after Waco, a girl whose mother was killed in front of her, and children who survived ritual abuse. Perry pairs every case with the brain-science framework his ChildTrauma Academy has built, showing what kinds of patient, sensory-led treatment can repair what early trauma broke.
Where The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog keeps showing up
One of our editors' lists features this novel.
What you might want to know about The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
A child psychiatrist walks through ten cases from his career, including the boy raised in a dog cage, to show how early trauma shapes the developing brain.
Yes. The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog is Bruce Perry's nonfiction book of clinical case studies from his work with traumatized children, co-written with journalist Maia Szalavitz. The book is widely cited in trauma-informed practice.
Reading order does not matter. Both books address childhood trauma but from different angles. Bruce Perry focuses on developmental neurobiology and case work; Bessel van der Kolk surveys the field more broadly. Many readers find them complementary.
The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog was written by Bruce D. Perry, published in 2006 by Basic Books.
The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog is 448 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog takes most readers 7 to 10 hours to finish.
The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog is a standalone novel by Bruce D. Perry, not part of a series.
The Boy Who Was Raised as a Dog is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
