Dogs understand human perspective, say researchers

Originally posted by GrandStrategy
Not really understanding the resentment for scientists. We can't just take peoples perceptions as facts, there has to be scientific research to prove it, no matter how obvious you might think it is.

Lots of things are "obvious" that turn out be complete crap when tested scientifically.

to be fair i resent them being smart enough to get a grant to do something they already know the outcome of.

im kinda jealous i didnt think of it (:

reply to post by TheToastmanCometh

...and here's the mug shot of the culprit.



Dogs, you gotta love them. I know our golden retriever provides us with constant laughs and helps us break up the stress of our daily busy routine.

I think most dog owners knew this without reading the results of this research. We had another golden retriever we called Brandy which we trained to never jump up and put her paws on the kitchen counter, nor was she ever allowed to lie on the sofa. One day both my wife and I came home from work. I cooked up some chicken wings, but later my wife and I decided we would rather go out to eat. The wings were still hot so we left them on a dish on the kitchen counter.

When we got back home, I noticed all the chicken wings were gone except there was one left. I asked my wife if she ate the chicken wings and she said no. It seems brandy licked up all the evidence of the mess she made, and was considerate enough to leave us one wing. Who knows what else she was up to while we were away at work. I wouldn't be surprised if she sprawled out on the sofa lying on her back eating those wings.

reply to post by okamitengu

Agreed on dreaming. Who hasn't seen their dog deep in REM sleep, kicking its paws and moving its jaws as though chasing a rabbit in a field?

Those are the best.

I definitely believe that dogs understand a lot more then people think they do. Dogs have been mans best friend for eons, we have a connection with them a strong bond.

OMG. I loved reading this post. My dog Pooky is a three and half year old Maltese cross Pomeranian. She's got a Jack Russell look and is conditioned to mine and my boyfriends behavior. She's not desexed, and has never had puppies.
I had been with my boyfriend for five years before we got her and I remember the day. It was a simple ad in the paper saying "Maltese Cross Puppies $250 *Some rich Area"
I'm not sure why he agreed that day but as soon as he did we got in the car and went to the house. The married couple with kids told us that they had been breeders for some time and introduced us to the parents who were spitting images of their puppies. We had a choice between an all black fluffy male or a white with brown spot female. I immediately knew who Pooky was.

She has little yelping dreams where she must be barking at another dog or something because she makes the cutest little barking sounds.
She watches tv and runs after all different types of animals. Anything that has four legs and kinda resembles a dog she likes.
Anyway, she's such a little baby dog and if you wanna know more about her you can check out her facebook page. It's not too hard to find. She accepts everybody.

Dogs are awesome. I haven't had a dog since my collie died. He had this ingrained need to nip us if we ran around..
So do you know what he started doing? Whenever someone started to run he would first get excited and then stop and look around. He would find the nearest stick or toy and put it in his mouth, then he would just ram us with that instead of biting.

He also knew different peoples names.. Where's Joe? He'd look around the room and count people with his nose.. "Where is Joe? Berrrr?" Haha.. The Look on his face one day when I walked in the kitchen to see the whole floor white with paw prints all over.. His face was completely powdered up.. He looked so guilty that I couldn't get mad at him.. didn't want to hurt his feelings..

My cat I have now thinks he's a dog.. He never had a mommy cat, so he almost died. We rescued him, so he was never very cat like. He only recently figured out that his burying instinct was meant to be inside the litter box for it to work.. Little goofer.

He has a bunch of different meows. He only meows to talk actual words. He doesn't ask for food, and he knows a bunch of words.. He even knows sentences. He has a favorite song.. It was his bedtime song when he was weeks old.. "Falling Slowly". Whenever I play that he smiles at me. He really loves music. Has good taste too.

I talk to him all the time, and he talks back which is probably the main reason he knows how to talk so well. If I could understand his meows in more detail we could have full blown conversations. It ends up I am better at talking and he is better at hearing.

The funniest thing is that we have an extra "office" that we told him was his room. He waited till he thought we were not looking and he sat there all happy smiling at it. I hung up all our artwork in there and he'll spend hours staring at each picture separately. Do you like the art? "Yes " hahaha

He likes to be near me, but he's not a clingy cat. He's more like a party cat. He's gotta be where all the people are. Especially if we play loud music. He likes to lay on the couch where he has his back up against me and his arm and head wrapped over my girl's leg. He used to only be able to sleep if he was touching both of us.


It sucks when he gets in trouble though.. He gets back at me, usually right away, and he is a fast flying ninja kitty, woah.. When I had to teach him not to get on tables we had a couch backed up to the kitchen table (college living haha).. He would sit on the back of the couch and reach his paw at the table and stare up at me.. "I'm not touching it.. hehe" Hey man don't touch the table.. "I'm so cwose look.. But I'm not touching it.. heh "
Funny little dude..

My girlfriend was sick the other day and he kept asking me if she was ok.. And he knows when she's getting off work everyday too.

I could go on and on and on...
But, I'll leave yall with this:




Can't wait to get a doggy friend for him.. I already tested him and he loves dogs and hates cats, so we're all good to go.

Dogs are the BEST.

Originally posted by Dustytoad
He also knew different peoples names.. Where's Joe? He'd look around the room and count people with his nose.. "Where is Joe? Berrrr?" Haha.. Dogs are the BEST.

edit on 2/12/2013 by Dustytoad because: (no reason given)

Pooky does this as well...!

To train a dog to know "Where's such and such" all you have to do is ask them where such and such is just before the dog knows they are there. I did it most nights just before Billy got home. Now whenever I say "where's billy?" she points me in the direction of where he is. As she gets older she's not so interested and is like "He's just over there, you know where he is" Haha dumb humans

Animals are more intelligent than anyone has ever given them credit for.

Also... this thread made me really want to go out and get a puppy for some reason.

Not surprised.. the only thing that is annoying is that funding goes towards studies like this, which seems obvious

My dog was always this way.. he was extremely intelligent and very aware. I never trained him to be but he just always was! he would never jump on the couch unless he was invited up, he wouldn't enter any of the bedrooms unless he was asked him, he wouldn't enter the kitchen either unless invited.. he even knew how to play hide n seek! .. he would stay right there while you could go hide, then when you told him to go he would seek you out and then HE would go hide.. he truly was a remarkable pet.. it was only at night where he'd roam freely .. you could only tell by the jingling on his collar that he was lurking about.

He was a Portuguese Water Dog for those who were wondering, they are known for their intelligence and amazing temperament, also seemed to be quite empathetic with human emotion

reply to post by squarehead666


No problem, someone I grew up with has a few lurchers and hunt's with them nearly every weekend, though I don't agree with his method he uses I do love his dogs, It's actually quite amazing how they are so placid and peaceful when not hunting

reply to post by Bedlam


Thanks for that advice It will come in very handy as I plan on doing some mash's soon, My dog has actually developed tastes for beers/ales he won't touch the likes of Guiness or pilsners but does love the lighter beers and ales such as tennants or carling. I guess that's a good thing, and I have noticed that dogs love hops when brewing last year, this time round I'll be very careful not to let the runt anywhere near the kegs/hops. Thanks again for that advice.

reply to post by HelenConway


Yeah they don't half like to run , the ones that nearly licked me to death were both rejects that did not run the right way and one of them was nearly beaten to death she'd hide every time someone shouted too, in the end though they got rescued and found a loving home thanks to the RSPCA
I'd be very proud to have a certified race dog do you know what his race name was? and also when your dog runs in his circles would you say they are roughly the same size as what a dog track would be?

As for dogs having emotions I can attest to that dogs can actually get depressed too, again I'd suggest watching the youtube video squarehead666 posted it has excellent research on dogs and explains why they are the way they are

Russian Silver Fox Experiments

I never heard of these experiments before watching that show, it's amazing how over selective breeding and time they have basically evolved fox's to dog's in a matter of 50 years

reply to post by okamitengu


Dogs dream?

Dogs and humans have been living together for 15,000 years -- a long time to get used to each other. Behavioural biologists at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig are investigating how well the animals have adapted to humans. They discovered that dogs are frequently better at understanding human gestures than other animal species. For example, dogs understand referential gestures, such as pointing, and realise they can get away with doing something forbidden when their owners just happen to be looking elsewhere.

Dogs are one of the few animals that can pass the pointing test. Chimpanzees even can't. Doesn't this prove they can understand the human perspective?

A great thread - thanks all.

My dog, trickster, worrier, compassionate, happy, loving creature has brought much happiness into my life.

Here she is waiting...watching...

When my parents leave and I have to watch the dogs (there is 4 of them) they start acting all crazy and rambunctious because they know I don't care. Like kids do to substitute teachers who are cool. lol

If they can understand the concept of different personalities and allowable behavior with different humans then they have to understand the human perspective.

Originally posted by Wide-Eyes
reply to post by okamitengu

 

Dogs dream?

That's not a dream......that's a grand mal seizure....

That vid you posted was not funny, the dog was terrified and confused, plus that look liked it hurt.

I have loved this thread!

We is smartr dan you fink!

reply to post by WaterBottle


I agree
how awful are those videos.
My other greyhound died from a brain tumour last year - despite daily radiotherapy for a month at the best vet hospital in England
Very very sad - taht dog probably has a tumour

reply to post by WaterBottle


I was seriously not aware of such a condition. I love dogs and would not have posted such a video if I had been aware of the circumstances.

However, I have seen cats and dogs dream in not so extreme circumstances. I would bet that all mammals dream.

Please pardon my ignorance to the nature of the video I posted.

reply to post by Wide-Eyes


it is fine what is sad is that that dogs 'mummy' felt it ok to post online ... poor baby

reply to post by Wide-Eyes


I wasn't trying to diss you or anything. I know a lot of people wouldn't know what they are looking at. I just felt bad for the dog knowing what was wrong with it.