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The Brilliance of the Dog Mind
Scientific American ^ | February 5, 2013 | Gareth Cook

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 ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: dog; doggieping; dogs; poodle
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Ha...our lab/aussie mix thinks the same about the cat box....I’ve had to barricade it. But, I have to admit, our cat eats PRIMO food...(no grain)...so, she probably thinks it is good. (Yuck)


41 posted on 02/07/2013 10:27:28 PM PST by goodnesswins (R.I.P. Doherty, Smith, Stevens, Woods.)
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To: cripplecreek
We lost our Belgian Tervuren "Larsen" last fall to gastric torsion at only age 6. RIP Larsen. He got on two bears up to no good that were messing with our house. One was about 60 lbs and the second was about 250 lbs. He came close to getting buttage as both were running and jumped over the railing on our deck. I had a shotgun as backup, but did not want to hurt the bears if it was not necessary.

RIP Larsen.

Larsen on his throne

Rocky puppy photos:

Photobucket >p> Photobucket

42 posted on 02/07/2013 10:27:40 PM PST by MtnClimber (I did not vote for 0bama, someone else did that!)
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To: Salamander

>”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”<

Was he Cheap?

(groan)


43 posted on 02/07/2013 10:34:19 PM PST by Kickass Conservative (I only Fear a Government that doesn't Fear me.)
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To: Altariel

We did not get our current doggie (lab/aussie pound dog) until she was about 2 years old, 10 years ago. What has been amazing is that she has kept learning....I thought dogs had to be taught things in the first few years or it was a lost cause. But, she learns new words, especially around food, of course...ie treat, happy hour, yogurt. She and I have done about 10,000 miles of power walking in the past 10 years....and the first day I got her I would say, “left” or “right” for every turn. She knows and follows that, when she WANTS to. Not looking forward to losing her. She has been the best.


44 posted on 02/07/2013 10:40:58 PM PST by goodnesswins (R.I.P. Doherty, Smith, Stevens, Woods.)
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To: Salamander

Nice bike. Scary dog. What cemetery are you in ?


45 posted on 02/07/2013 10:56:07 PM PST by PLMerite (Shut the Beyotch Down! Burn, baby, burn!)
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To: Altariel

Folks mistake smart for being able to pick up commands. It reminds me of a story about ants. A dead ant gives out a smell of formic acid. The ant colony would diligently bury an ant that smelt of formic acid. Folks thought of this to mean ants know death and could comprehend the attendant diseases that would spread in the colony due to a dead body. But when the scientists poured formic acid on live ants, the other ants would carry them off to the grave and bury them kicking and screaming! Smart should be exclusively reserved for acts show the ability to put two things together to arrive at a conclusion. For dogs I prefer easily trainable.


46 posted on 02/07/2013 11:08:03 PM PST by raj bhatia
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To: Altariel

Ok, i swear this is true. Tonight i was in my jaccuzzi, after my 3rd whiskey and water. It was dark outside and the moon wasn’t out. It was dark and the stars were amazing.
So I look over at the patio and see my dog Charlie sitting there, looking straight up at the stars just like i was.

That dog is flat smart.


47 posted on 02/07/2013 11:35:36 PM PST by DesertRhino (I was standing with a rifle, waiting for soviet paratroopers, but communists just ran for office.)
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To: raj bhatia

Bullcrap. Tonight i was in my jaccuzzi, after my 3rd whiskey and water, drunk as a lord. It was dark outside and the moon wasn’t out. It was dark and the stars were freaking amazing.
So I look over at the patio and see my dog Charlie sitting there, looking straight up at the stars just like i was.
The dog was studying the stars. I saw it with my own eyes and almost couldn’t believe it myself.

That dog wasnt following any command. It was intelligent.


48 posted on 02/07/2013 11:41:52 PM PST by DesertRhino (I was standing with a rifle, waiting for soviet paratroopers, but communists just ran for office.)
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To: Kickass Conservative

Yeah and he had the sunglasses to prove it.

;D


49 posted on 02/08/2013 12:06:13 AM PST by Salamander (We're all kinds of animals comin' round here...occasional demons, too.)
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To: PLMerite
Rosehill.

One of my favorite places in the world.

50 posted on 02/08/2013 12:16:06 AM PST by Salamander (We're all kinds of animals comin' round here...occasional demons, too.)
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To: raj bhatia

“Smart should be exclusively reserved for acts show the ability to put two things together to arrive at a conclusion.”

In 1993, my woodstove backdrafted while I was asleep, filling the whole house with dense smoke.

I was out cold but my Ibizan Hound Minny ‘brought me back’ by jumping on my chest repeatedly.

I came to gagging and coughing and managed to get myself and the other dogs out into the subzero night where we huddled under a quilt until the house cleared out.

I got double pneumonia from smoke inhalation and severely bruised ribs but I’m alive.

[I pulled her out of the shelter -literally- 15 minutes before she was supposed to die]

That is proof of intention and intelligence.


51 posted on 02/08/2013 12:23:31 AM PST by Salamander (We're all kinds of animals comin' round here...occasional demons, too.)
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To: DesertRhino
;]

It's a fact that the compulsion to look where others are looking is a sign of sentient intelligence.

52 posted on 02/08/2013 12:30:44 AM PST by Salamander (We're all kinds of animals comin' round here...occasional demons, too.)
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To: DesertRhino

There’s a flipside to that.

Odin will be laying here beside me and then *suddenly* look up at the light on the wall over the sofa.

Naturally, I assume a spider or something is about to drop on my head so I’ll whip around and look up there, too.

There’s nothing there and when I look back at him, he’s ‘smiling’ and his nub is wagging a million miles a second...and then he snorts and ‘chuckles’.

He ‘plays jokes’ on me all the time.


53 posted on 02/08/2013 12:36:11 AM PST by Salamander (We're all kinds of animals comin' round here...occasional demons, too.)
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To: holdonnow

(( ping ))


54 posted on 02/08/2013 12:37:24 AM PST by Lancey Howard
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To: Rebel_Ace
He understood gestures, such as pointing, to direct his attention.

Apparently dogs are the only animals that understand what pointing means. Not even chimps get it.

And they don't need to be taught it, know it instinctively.

We've obviously been together for a long long time.

55 posted on 02/08/2013 12:49:56 AM PST by DManA
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To: Salamander

I had a dog I taught the old “poison” gag. You show them a dog biscuit and say POISON!. The dog looks it but won’t touch it. Took about 10 miniatures to teach that.

Then the DOG add a neat twist to the joke. No matter what I said or did he wouldn’t eat the biscuit until I nibbled a piece of it. Then he’d gobble it up. Like he didn’t trust me.


56 posted on 02/08/2013 12:57:25 AM PST by DManA
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To: Salamander

“Rosehill.
One of my favorite places in the world.”

Okay. I’ve never been to that one. I remember checking out your member page once and seeing a bunch of pictures I thought might have been Rock Creek Cemetery. I’ve been there a couple times to take pictures.


57 posted on 02/08/2013 1:26:33 AM PST by PLMerite (Shut the Beyotch Down! Burn, baby, burn!)
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To: Altariel
Just about every dog owner is convinced their dog is a genius.

Not mine. My dog is a dumb as a box of rocks.

When he is on his run he only knows how to go counter clockwise around the trees the run is strung between. Drives me nuts.

He rarely ever untangles himself. He just stands there and barks until I come and get him.

58 posted on 02/08/2013 1:40:27 AM PST by Pontiac (The welfare state must fail because it is contrary to human nature and diminishes the human spirit.)
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To: DManA

The perfect twist to that would have been to teach him to dramatically play dead immediately after eating it....;D

[the Dobe puppy sniffs everything hubby hands her but gobbles whatever snack I’m holding] LOL


59 posted on 02/08/2013 3:27:24 AM PST by Salamander (We're all kinds of animals comin' round here...occasional demons, too.)
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To: PLMerite

I’m what is gently termed a “taphophile”.

Where is Rock Creek and does it have any good statuary or extremely old stones?

I’ve photographed just about every interesting thing locally, even going into IR and UV just to break the monotony.

:)


60 posted on 02/08/2013 3:30:00 AM PST by Salamander (We're all kinds of animals comin' round here...occasional demons, too.)
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