Post by karlsie on Apr 13, 2011 3:39:41 GMT -5
I've known dogs to do some pretty strange things, often times with no prompting from their owners at all. I once had a dog that would fetch his leash when he wanted to go for a walk, and open the cupboard door for his biscuits, which i thought was clever but not overly unusual. Most of the dogs i've owned figured out pretty quickly that i can't hear very well and would let me know in one form or another when someone was at the door.
Then there was Chompers. He was the first dog to make me think that dogs had minds very much like children. He liked to watch television, specifically shows that had other dogs in it; but he always became worried when he thought the dog on T.V. was showing poor behavior. He tried to pull the offending dog off the screen, and when that didn't work, went around to the back of the T.V. to see if he could locate the culprit there. While it was hilarious to watch, i also thought that was kind of clever, something a small child might rationalize.
But now, i have Dylan, and Dylan has a dolly.
Okay, it's a mammoth, missing its eyeballs and with chewed up tusks. Apparently these alterations were necessary for safety's sake. Now that the mammoth can do no harm, Dylan takes it everywhere with him. He often leaves it to stand guard over my sister's room, suspiciously filled with cats. By stand; i mean literally. He doesn't just plop it down. He stands it up. He also puts it to bed, covers it with a blanket, and shares his stolen ice cream cups with it. Well, he licks the cup out first, but then he offers the empty container to the mammoth, actually placing it's trunk inside it, than sitting back like he's waiting for it to finish eating.
Scientists say that because of the long association between dog and man, and the extreme genetic manipulation passed on through centuries of selective breeding, the mutual communication has become so instinctive, it isn't even thought about. Casual pedestrians when approached and asked to listen to recordings of dog barks were able to easily identify when the bark was distressed, a bark from confinement, an excited bark or just an attention getting one. Dogs, for their part, are the only animals that correctly understands the meaning of pointing. You point to a dish of food, he knows it's okay to eat it. You point to a spot in the room and he knows that's where he's supposed to sit. Not even chimpanzees were able to learn this. Again and again, chimpanzees were experimented with, by laying out three overturned cups. Two were empty. One held the treat. The trainer would point to the cup with the treat, but the chimpanzee always ignored the signal and picked up the cups randomly. It never learned the trainer was pointing at the cup with the treat.
The scientists say that it's because of this centuries old relationship, dogs have acquired many human like characteristics, which is what makes them trainable in a number of capacities; hunting, pulling, guiding, seeing eye, etc., but really Dylan. A dolly?
Then there was Chompers. He was the first dog to make me think that dogs had minds very much like children. He liked to watch television, specifically shows that had other dogs in it; but he always became worried when he thought the dog on T.V. was showing poor behavior. He tried to pull the offending dog off the screen, and when that didn't work, went around to the back of the T.V. to see if he could locate the culprit there. While it was hilarious to watch, i also thought that was kind of clever, something a small child might rationalize.
But now, i have Dylan, and Dylan has a dolly.
Okay, it's a mammoth, missing its eyeballs and with chewed up tusks. Apparently these alterations were necessary for safety's sake. Now that the mammoth can do no harm, Dylan takes it everywhere with him. He often leaves it to stand guard over my sister's room, suspiciously filled with cats. By stand; i mean literally. He doesn't just plop it down. He stands it up. He also puts it to bed, covers it with a blanket, and shares his stolen ice cream cups with it. Well, he licks the cup out first, but then he offers the empty container to the mammoth, actually placing it's trunk inside it, than sitting back like he's waiting for it to finish eating.
Scientists say that because of the long association between dog and man, and the extreme genetic manipulation passed on through centuries of selective breeding, the mutual communication has become so instinctive, it isn't even thought about. Casual pedestrians when approached and asked to listen to recordings of dog barks were able to easily identify when the bark was distressed, a bark from confinement, an excited bark or just an attention getting one. Dogs, for their part, are the only animals that correctly understands the meaning of pointing. You point to a dish of food, he knows it's okay to eat it. You point to a spot in the room and he knows that's where he's supposed to sit. Not even chimpanzees were able to learn this. Again and again, chimpanzees were experimented with, by laying out three overturned cups. Two were empty. One held the treat. The trainer would point to the cup with the treat, but the chimpanzee always ignored the signal and picked up the cups randomly. It never learned the trainer was pointing at the cup with the treat.
The scientists say that it's because of this centuries old relationship, dogs have acquired many human like characteristics, which is what makes them trainable in a number of capacities; hunting, pulling, guiding, seeing eye, etc., but really Dylan. A dolly?
