Posted on 05/16/2009 4:22:51 PM PDT by JoeProBono
For centuries, humans have imagined they are the only animals with morals. But humans are not alone in the moral arena, a new breed of behavior experts says. Natural historian Jake Page said some scientists are acknowledging what pet owners have told their canines all along: "Good dog."
Dogs are full of natural goodness and have rich emotional lives, said animal behaviorist Marc Bekoff, professor emeritus at the University of Colorado, Boulder.
A dog's code of ethics is on display daily in parks, backyards and family rooms. "We're not trying to elevate animals," Bekoff said. "We're not trying to reduce humans. We're not saying we're better or worse or the same. We're saying we're not alone in having a nuanced moral system." Page, author of "Do Dogs Smile?," said biology no longer dismisses dogs and other animals as "furry automatons" driven by instinct and food. "People like Bekoff have figured out how to measure these things," Page said. "It's a whole new ballgame for studying dog personalities and emotions." Bekoff, co-author of "Wild Justice: The Moral Lives of Animals," spent thousands of hours observing coyotes, wolves and dogs. He analyzed videotapes frame by frame. The work convinced him these animals possess empathy and compassion, the emotions upon which moral sense is built. While much the same can be said of monkeys, wolves, elephants, dolphins, whales and other social animals, dogs are special cases; they share in human lives, he said. "Dogs know they are dependent. They learn to read us," Bekoff said.
"Dogs develop this great sense of trust. We're tightly linked, and there is something spiritual about that unity."
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
Thank you for the info on that book . I will seek it out . Gary doesn’t ship internationally and I am in Japan .
I’m with you !
” Is God bound by any rules that prevents him from recreating our beloved pet when we get to Heaven? Our little puny human minds could not even comprehend the wonders he has in-store for us. Having our beloved pet waging his tail for us as we enter the Kingdom is not beyond Gods power. “
Mega dittos !
What if it’s a pet you didn’t especially like but were morally stuck with, like an abusive Ex-husband’s smelly hunting dog? You got rid of him, but still cared for the dog because it wasn’t their fault your Ex was a jerk?
What if it’s the neighbor’s Pit Bull that killed your beloved kitty cat, but that neighbor really, REALLY loved his sadistic, evil, dangerous dog and believed that dog had a ‘soul’? Does THAT dog get into Heaven? And to what end? To chase the soul of YOUR beloved Kitty cat and torment HER for ALL of eternity? LOL!
What if MY idea of Heaven is the end of CATERING to the never-ending needs of pets and livestock? Maybe, to me, Heaven is a place where I don’t HAVE to milk cows, or I don’t HAVE to slop the hogs, or I don’t have to scatter corn & collect eggs, or I don’t HAVE to run the dogs 2x a day or I don’t have to lift yet ANOTHER cat turd out of the cat box or clean up the lawn with the Poop Shovel?
Hmmmmmm? Hmmmmmm? ;) LOL!
You’re barkin’ up the wrong tree if you think you’ll convince me that animals have souls and that they’re anything other than animals. Useful? Sure. Loving? You betcha! Souls? Nope.
(And many days, I wonder about the souls of the HUMANS I have contact with, LOL!)
(grin!) Cheers, mate!
We used to do a pretty fair bit of coon hunting here in Michigan. Sold the coons to an old Tennessean near Stockbridge.
True, but wild and domesticated beasts are quite different in temperament. I’ve come across wolves and coyotes out here and been glad I had my .45 with me, to protect both me and my little friend on the leash.
“Soul” is a loaded theological term, one that most people use without defining. I prefer to look at dogs as they relate to human civilization. Per Wiki, dogs were domesticated over 14,000 years ago. This is substantially before the rise of Sumer, before the Indus Valley Civilization, before Proto-Indo-European, before the domestication of cattle, even before Göbekli Tepe. Practically every hallmark of human civilization postdates the domestication of the canine. We grew up with them, and molded them masterfully into companions, even as they had some unmeasurable effect on us. Who knows? Dogs may even have been instrumental in moving us out of the stone age. That’s why I don’t trust any culture that doesn’t place a high value on dogs, and why I don’t get along with people who don’t like them. It’s like disdaining agriculture, or writing.
A dog’s sense of time is a little more complex than that. A year is seven dog years, and if you do the math, that means that a dog minute is about 8 or 9 seconds.
So, if you tell your dog to ‘wait a minute’, and about 8 or 9 seconds later he’s begging AGAIN, don’t yell at him - he waited a minute.
“I just wish people would adopt these wonderful creatures instead of buying dogs from breeders, pet stores etc. Just pull in to any vet parking lot and watch the horror as small puppy mill dogs go in and out of the vet, while the unwanted ones tremble as they wait to be put down. It`s a Holocaust!!!”
PETA and HSUS want you to use the words, “puppy mill” and “breeder” interchangeably. Congratulations on guzzling the kool aid. There are plenty of decent dog breeders who do genetic testing on their breeding stock, and who limit the number of litters they breed. Why, they even take dogs back if the owner doesn’t want them and they give money to make sure dogs of their breeds are rescued.
Go after the irresponsible pet owners who don’t spay and neuter, and who produce the mixed breeds that end up being euthanized in shelters. Go after the people who get a pup then get tired of it, dumping it in the shelter once it stops being a cute puppy. While you’re at it, go after the people who work all day, get a dog, then dump it when it ruins their house after being left alone day after day with no training.
Not everyone wants to adopt a shelter dog. Maybe they live in rental housing and must have a puppy that will mature under a size limit, maybe they want to go bird hunting with their dog, or perhaps they’ve always wanted to own a Bernese Mountain Dog. Such individuality doesn’t make them bad, and we as conservatives should not try to make them feel guilty for exercising freedom of choice.
Well said.
(That said; do we imagine a heaven without the beauties - gifts - of Nature? We could offer that 'trees, flowers et al do not have souls; but we certainly expect to enjoy these 'enhancements' in an afterlife. Seems reasonable - rational to believe in an enriched animal kingdom as well.)
Think whatever 'God' created; there is a sharing of DNA-like, God consciousness. . .and do not think it rejected or ignored post mortem.
Probably a bit more complicated than that; or more simple; but in a 'few words or less' it works for me. And perhaps, it might work for others who question. And if there is 'NO Question' and it works for 'others'; that is fine too.
We will all figure it out; in the 'sweet by and by'. . .or not-so-sweet; as the case may be/lol.
> I’ve known good dogs and bad dogs, but I’ve never known a bad cat.
There’s a large white Persian in my neighborhood called “Ghost Cat”. S/he hangs around at nite and attacks dogs when they are being walked by their masters. Absolutely fearless, even of German Shepherds.
Or if you really want bad cats, there are the Feral Cats. One or two generations into living in the bush, they are as lawless as bikers, except entirely without a biker’s redeeming qualities (of which there are many). Once they have gone feral, these cats double in size and weight, their snouts elongate and their eyes bulge out. People should not go near Feral Cats unarmed.
> Thats why I dont trust any culture that doesnt place a high value on dogs, and why I dont get along with people who dont like them. Its like disdaining agriculture, or writing.
Well said!
See my tagline... :-)
I want to hunt there at least once before my life is over.
If I had a lug nut for every woman who said that.....
If you come make sure to hunt in the southernmost two tiers of counties. There are a lot more deer up north but the big ones live down here and are corn fed.
“If I had a lug nut for every woman who said that...”
You’d have, what, two lug nuts? LOL!
Just kiddin’. I *heart* ya, Buddy.
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