Why does your dog love you? (speculation)

I have a 120lb Bull Mastiff, she's a smart girl, and I was spending time with her tonight when a thought occurred to me, ever hear that song that says "We'd make great pets?". Day in and day out, I hear lot's of conspiracy theories. Are we good pets, maybe without even knowing it? I'm not going to say that we would be pets to some alien sci fi stuff, what about elites? If you want to extend that thought and combine it with the idea of us perhaps being around for a lot longer than modern science wants to recognize, maybe we are pets of a very old elite class. Perhaps a group that somehow survived one or more ELE and instead of raising mankind back from the dust had an agenda more like the groups in that Roger Zelanzy book, "Lord of Light". It sometimes amazes me how close sci fi can create a plausible explanation yet we read it as make believe.

Just a thought, and thank you Lucy (my wonderful girl) for making me branch out. It was less than 2 years ago when I would have laughed at most of the things I saw or read on ATS.

Thanks for making me ask questions.

reply to post by QuietSpeech


I was prepared to explain to you why my dog loves me.
Then I read your thread.

I can't place the name, but someone said of the human race that we need to get rid of our "worship" of Napoleon type figures (be they Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan, or whoever). He followed with "the reason dogs are so popular is because we've bred them to worship us as tho we are their Napoleon".
The short answer to your question is that over thousands of years, humans have genetically dominated any canine development to suit their needs. In the 20th/21st Century those needs include emotional support and self esteem support. And we have bred them to fit those needs as our ancestors bred them to fit their own needs (hunting, protection, sheparding, ratdogging, etc.)

reply to post by radosta


Exactly where I was going with this. How many people question why things are the way they are? I may be reaching but I feel like we are being bred, in a way that is specific. We are a group of doers who don't ask questions, throw in some conspiracy like fluoride, religion, mass media, *I'm an american* a house and family, these seem like limitations rather than dreams and goals. Can't we think bigger? Ask 10 children 5-10 what they would ask for as a wish....One of them is going to ask for world peace, another is going to ask for no more death/sickness. Try it for yourself, the older they get the longer those odds are. We lose our common sense and get programmed.

Man, you hit a chord with the Porno for Pyros reference. I do get what you are saying though I haven't read the literature to which you refer.

Interesting dog story: My little bro just moved about 5 hours from me. He left his dog with his pal, who has a nice ranchero and was supposed to take care of it. He lives some distance from my town.
I was sad that my bro decided not to take the family pet. We went through so much to nurse him through parvo and whatnot. He is a loyal good boy.

He escaped from the foster home and came back to my bro's old house which is now being rented out. We rescued him and tomorro we are driving him 5 hours back to his family.

It made me think hard. Buddy knew what had to be done. Is it instinctual? He put in the effort in his trek through the unforgiving Texas wasteland and went back home. Now he is being rewarded for his loyalty by being returned to his family instead of dealing with a new one.

It shows a level of forethought to me, or perhaps I'm just reading too far into it.

On with the rest of your thread, I don't think that we would make great pets. We have an underlying resentment for our masters and express no love for them. Our loyalty is based on pay, nothing more. That is why they would never warn us of being wiped off the planet in some cataclysmic event. They would allow it and start over.

This is surely the ultimate of a dogs love and loyalty............

news.ninemsn.com.au...

reply to post by QuietSpeech


I love dogs, but cats??
Those creatures are all for themselves..

What does a cat ever do in gratitude??

And we have 3 of the freeloaders.

t watch this video and you will see how we could be classed as pets..the story of your enslavement...

www.abovetopsecret.com...

peace

reply to post by hopenotfeariswhatweneed


After watching that, it just makes me feel that big business, controls it all. Money/Power/Wealth. It rolls back into that Roger Zelazny book "Lord of Light".

My dog loves me because I gave him a fresh, clean bowl of water when my neighbors left him to wander the neighborhood in the middle of July. After he was done drinking the entire bowl, I took him back to the neighbor's house. It wasn't an hour later that he broke out of the fence and came back to my house.

If the Earth's water is contaminated/undrinkable and some aliens landed and gave me fresh water to drink, I'd love them, too.

Originally posted by davethebear
This is surely the ultimate of a dogs love and loyalty............

news.ninemsn.com.au...

en.wikipedia.org...

Its not necessarily a one-off occurrence

I think dogs are bred for specific purposes, however, this does not explain the more in-depth qualities to them. Those are their own. I think they are just another example of a being shaped by this planet (with us as a very obvious part of that), like we are. They think, they feel, and they make decisions.

Surely, the food and water given has something to do with the affection. But that doesnt explain many, many things about tales of loyalty. Maybe its as simple as my dog loves me because I love them. Once again, that would not explain many things about tales of cruelty.

Perhaps humans would make good pets if the world that was offered to them by their "owners" was substantially better than what they live in now. The same usually applies to dogs anyway.

I am totally the opposite of what would be considered a 'good pet'. I question EVERYTHING and hate being told what to do.

Going back to your opening line about 'why does your dog love you', I have 2 that think they are human and follow me around like their real mother. I think they love me unconditionally because I take care of them, feed them, give them fresh clean water, play with them, talk to them, etc. I think animals that are treated well love their foster parents. (I try not to say 'owners' since we do more work for them than they do for us....ever seen a dog pick up after themselves???) Mistreated animals become scared, hostile/mean, and take a very long time to socialize with humans.

Lets hope that we are not faced with becoming 'pets' to someone/something else! If we are, lets hope they treat us well so that the transition is transparent to us!

Probably because I provide for all of his physical needs, food, water shelter. I also provide him with affection, exercise, and, though not enough, play. There is good evidence that man domesticated dogs over 100,000 years ago. Think about it, if true it means we have literally evolved together. In some sense it may be dogs love us because they have evolved to, and we them. Of course I like to think he loves me because we're buddies and we face the world together.

My furry companion:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/0cd88ed1f6ab.jpg[/atsimg]

reply to post by ScubaGirl


It's funny that you bring up "owners", I don't even refer to my dogs in that sense so I understand what you mean. But your comment about being a bad pet and questioning everything makes me wonder about the type of training we each receive. What works best on you, I'm sure it's different than what works on me. However what provides the most benefit when working with masses of people? It seems like there is always an exception.

reply to post by QuietSpeech


I totally agree with you....I have always been the 'exception'. What works for most does not work for me. I know this, my family is the same way, and we are all fine with that.

If we do become 'pets' maybe my family/friends and I will be the rogue pets that refuse to be tamed!

reply to post by QuietSpeech


Humans aren't pets. You are cattle being fattened up for the dinner table.

Fillet of Soul.......with a nice hot bowl of "speculation"

Agreed about the cattle. We are less pets than we are livestock. Consume. Consume. Consume. Obey. Obey. Obey.
"Pet" implies that the master has some form of affection toward his living property and the living property isn't necessarily required to perform something for the master, other than tricks. We are bred for a specific purpose, to provide the master class with money and comfort and power through our consumption and obedience.

reply to post by whaaa


Good point, if it comes down to it, that alone makes me almost want to be a pet. I need to go wash my hands now, I feel dirty.