Dogs are gentle too!
BUMP for MORE New Monthly Donors!
Posted on 02/07/2013 8:02:45 PM PST by Altariel
Just about every dog owner is convinced their dog is a genius. For a long time, scientists did not take their pronouncements particularly seriously, but new research suggests that canines are indeed quite bright, and in some ways unique. Brian Hare, an associate professor in the Department of Evolutionary Anthropology and the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke University, is one of the leading figures in the quest to understand what dogs know. The founder of the Duke Canine Cognition Center, Hare has now written a book, “The Genius of Dogs,” with his wife, the journalist Vanessa Woods. Hare answered questions from Mind Matters editor Gareth Cook.
(Excerpt) Read more at scientificamerican.com ...
Had a 3/4 wolf 1/4 Shepard mix. Our games were complex. Every now and then I’d “cheat.” She’d just sit and glare at me until I “uncheated.” But she’d do the same thing, and I’d glare until she tucked tail and “uncheated.” Was actually part of the rules. BTW not all wolf mixes are mean - she was VERY tolerant of ear and tail tugging by friends’ kids. And not all are skittish. Only time she was scary mean was when a bad dog threatened me. Bad move. If not for me calling my wolf off, that dog would have been DEAD.
I’m convinced that a lot of this was a result of all the time I spent with her. That dog was as smart as a 6 to 7 year old. Easily.
I miss her.
It must be my night for synchronicity...I used to go with a guy who was the lead guitar for a band named Hat Trick.
;D
A Dog ‘’Says wow, you take me in ,give shelter and feed me , you must be a god’’. A cat say’s “You take me in, give me shelter and feed me, I must be a god’’.
My son used to love those. When he was about 8 years old, he called them a “bitchin’ frizzy”. He thought it was a pretty cool name. :=) We tried to correct him to no avail.
LOL, they will fit right in.
My guy, now gone, when he started losing his hearing, learned without much prompting subtle hand signals.
A friend of mine had a wolf pack.
When her bitch had pups, she took the human kids into the den she’d dug in the backyard, too.
When the little boy would crawl out and climb on top of the den mound, the bitch would go and fetch him back.
[he suffered that but drew the line at her attempts to make him nurse]
The neighbors called child services on the woman but after they came out, they were totally amazed and on board with it all.
They told the nosy neighbor to shut up.
She never spent a second worrying where her kids were or if they were okay.
Her kids were literally raised by wolves and they’re really great adults now.
Dogs have owners, cats have staff.
Caesar, and now Sasha and Ruby, all “good natured” friendly dogs.
But just as with people, there is a wide range when it comes to cognitive abilities of our canine companions.
LOL!
So one morning I overslept and was rushing around like an idiot thinking I could get to work on time and got the routine “out of order”.
Making the bed was the last of my worries...but there the cockpoo was..pulling the sheets up and trying her best to tuck them under the pillows with her paws.
True story. Poor girl would have a hard time in my current no structured environment.
So one morning I overslept and was rushing around like an idiot thinking I could get to work on time and got the routine “out of order”.
Making the bed was the last of my worries...but there the cockpoo was..pulling the sheets up and trying her best to tuck them under the pillows with her paws.
True story. Poor girl would have a hard time in my current no structured environment.
That is excellent.
I train with simultaneous hand signals from the get-go...just in case.
Ping—I think you will enjoy this thread.
Knew it was your post when I saw the pic. We lost our male Belgian Tervuren “Larsen” last fall to gastric torsion at only age 6. In December we got a male tri-colored rough collie. He seems really smart and is learning everything much faster than previous dogs. We have spiral stairs to the downstairs which has a doggie door into an external dog house and another doggie door to the fenced area in the back yard (about 1/4 acre fenced). He (Rocky) learned the spiral stairs and the doggie doors in two days at only about 12 weeks old and has been totally house trained since he learned to go outside by himself. I will post pics soon.
Sort of.
My Ibizan Hounds are the most “untrainable” dogs I’ve ever had...however, if I were stranded in the wilderness with no food, they’re the dogs I’d want with me.
They run down, kill and return food to their owner because it is their nature.
They are brilliant at it, especially in a pack.
The Dobermann is the exact opposite.
He does have a high prey drive but lacks the speed of the Ibizans since his ‘prey’ was intended to be relatively slow humans rather than gazelles.
Which one is “smarter”?
Neither.
“Dog intelligence” is an artificial construct centered around the dog’s ability to follow arbitrary commands given by people rather than rating them on their nascent ability to perform the tasks for which they were created.
They are equally brilliant at the tasks for which they were bred and born.
Odin is a bit special because the Ibizans ‘raised’ him.
He understands how to hunt with their pack and has mastered the ‘unusual’ kill technique of Sight Hounds.
Instead of coming up under the throat like most dogs do, he comes down from above, in order to instantly snap a neck as they do.
The upside to that is not ever worrying much if another dog ever tries to attack him.
If some dog ducks to low to go for his throat, he’s just going to feel happy that they so cheerfully offered him the back of their neck.
[it looks scary but that is also how they all play-fight together]
Dogs are obviously capable of natural adaptive behavior far beyond what they were ‘bred for’.
All dogs are miracles.
Consider the simple fact that they have managed to learn a *lot* of our words [in unlimited languages, no less] yet we have yet to truly learn a single one of theirs.
:)
Feeding a grain-free diet greatly reduces the risk of torsion or bloat.
My guys all eat grain-free.
A good test is the ‘soak test’.
Take your dry food and add an equal amount of water to it and let it sit for a couple hours.
If the level of food in the bowl does not rise beyond its original level, it is good.
If it puffs up or becomes blobs of mush, toss it out.
Carbs ferment.
Soy and corn are the worst offenders.
dogs, cats and rabbits have average intelligence levels of between 5-7 year olds. so your estimate is right on.
some of course are far smarter. buddy of mine had a dog that he said knew about 900 words, could understand complete sentences. i loved that dog.
Our Chow can be the MASCOT. She is as dumb as a Box of Barbara Boxers, unless food is involved of course.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.