I'm always interested in "all things dog," and a month ago, I received a fascinating email from history of science writer Richard Sugg, author of Dogsygen: Celebrating the Secret Lives of Dogs, in which he celebrates the secret lives, loves, adventures, heroisms, and genius of dogs, along with homing across vast distances.

Richard's email got me thinking once again about homing and the cognitive capacities on which it likely is based and what we know and don't know about this fascinating and well-documented behavior. Dogs display amazing homing abilities, and there are some very interesting stories of long-distance homing, but it’s not clear what cues they use. Some suggest that dogs use scent or the earth’s electromagnetic field. Among the classic stories is one about a dog named Bobbie who disappeared during a car trip in 1923 and six months later found his way home, traveling on foot from Indiana to Oregon, a trip of around 2,500 miles. Richard also wonders about the strong emotional connection that might drive homing, a topic that has received little attention.

Marc Bekoff: How and why did you become interested in dogs who find their way home and travel long distances to do so?

Richard Sugg: In 2016, when compiling my collection of animal stories, I found a number of dog homing journeys in Victorian newspapers. When I told my mother about these, she recalled how their dog Pat had done the same in her childhood. I then started to wonder how common this was.

MB: How do your interests in animals relate to your background and general areas of interest?

RS: I've always loved animals, since the hamsters and pet cat and dog we had as children. And since studying at the University of........

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