Who cares if dogs aren't exceptional? At least they're better than humans
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
I don’t care if science says my dog is dumb, because I already know that she is. She’s afraid of paper bags, for Pete's sake. She’s snapped her nose in a mouse trap more than once. She runs from her leash no matter how badly she wants to go outside.
Fans of man’s best friend, though, erupted in fury over a study published recently in the journal " Learning & Behavior " that said that dogs aren’t “exceptional” when it comes to intelligence and cognition. The study’s authors looked at existing research in order to compare dogs' smarts with those of other animals in three categories: Being mostly carnivorous, hunting socially and being domesticable. In those contexts, there’s not enough scientific evidence to suggest that a champion herding dog’s spacial awareness is more extraordinary than a homing pigeon’s ability to navigate long distances.
As Dr. Stephen Lea, one of the study’s authors, told the New York Times , “almost everything a dog claimed to do, other animals could do too.” After reading paper after paper that claimed that dogs had extraordinary abilities, “It made me quite wary that dogs were special.”
But anyone who has ever spent time with a dog — or a cat or a bird or a miniature pig — knows that intelligence isn’t why animals inspire compassion and love in humans. It’s their big, limpid eyes, their derpy tongues, and the obvious joy they take in chasing a toy around for hours at a time. And, as anyone who has ever gone on a date with a person claiming to be a “ sapiosexual ” or tried to get kisses from a cat can attest, selecting companions based exclusively on how smart they seemingly are is a surefire way to get clawed in the face.
Furthermore, while it’s interesting that the authors of the paper were able to show clearly that dogs don’t necessarily possess skills that similar animals lack, that should inspire more love for creatures of all kinds, regardless of their intelligence.
And yet, corporate farming operations torture thousands of animals on a daily basis, pumping chickens, turkeys, pigs and cows full of antibiotics and hormones while starving them of space and light. And the vast majority of Americans don't have a problem eating any of the above even as they attribute more complex intelligence and emotions to their pets.
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I've been a pet owner my whole life. Dogs or cats, there is something more to them than science can measure.
What are your feelings about your furry friends? Do you agree with the author?
I'm a dog person. I like them better than most humans.
Well, I like animals better than most people. They are loyal and not two-faced.
Same with me. Sometimes I get treated better by them. Dogs and cats in many ways are more intelligent than humans. They do not kill or maim for sport, cruelty, politics or revenge the way humans do. In the wild, animals kill only to survive and eat only what they need to survive. With domesticated ones, you take good care of them and they will take good care of you. I have three dogs and two cats.
Well, dogs can roam in packs and kill indiscriminately. It's like they join gangs.
Cats can be mean and vindictive. I swear, mine tried to trip me several times. He use to love laying on a chair and wait until I walk by and stick out his claws to grab my leg. Not to mention waking up in the middle of the night with him sitting on my chest staring at me.
Though he was very loving at dinner time.
LOL.. Yep That'd be kinda spooky. I'd be wondering WTF it was thinking.
Cats like dogs can do a lot of damage if they intend to. Most animals can.
US too.
Though he was very loving at dinner time.
LOL Aren't we all....
I wondered that plenty of times. All said and done he was a good cat. Very much a mind of his own.
He lived to be 18.
I had a cat like that a few years ago. I gave it to my brother-in-law. I don't think he has forgiven me yet!
I'm a cat person, have three of them right now. They've been with me through thick and thin. I don't know if mine are different than most but I'd swear we have "conversations" and they always agree with me! How can you not return the unconditional love?
I have a new "grandpup" that I'm really looking forward to spending more time with and getting to know. He's quite the character!
Well, I guess I am more a cat person, too. Wally would be offended if I say anything else.
But I love beagles!
LOL, great photo.
I think most people who have pets, do.
Dogs rule and cats drool.......
Hey! I'm telling Wally!
Sassy in Homeward Bound! Loved that movie!
I'd rather live with an animal that another human in my home. They are gentler, more understanding and they don't use, break or lose my stuff when I'm not around.
I have a pack of Chows that I live with and they never talk back to me, but as typical chows they unfortunately also dont mind me worth a shit either. It's kinda a two way street. lol
Chows are also a great judge of humans, if and when I have someone around that my dogs dont like, I figure there is a reason. Which has turned out to be true more than once.
Another bonus is salespeople don't hang around my door with 5 chows staring thru the picture window next to the front door long.
Chows are very loyal to their owners, hence why you have no salespeople bugging you.
LOL .. I've heard that all my life, "Chows are loyal to their masters !" As a chow chow owner let me let you in on a secret, The reality is, Chows are loyal to their food source.
Salespeople dont stick around probably because they are afraid those monsters will come right thru that picture window after their ass. And I dont blame em !
lol
LOL, now i remember your Chows,
I think I told you a story about Woofer once.
Lol I love pets but they most definitely break stuff, no maliciously of course but they do it.
LOL, I stand corrected, they sure can.
When I read your post instantly a thought of an incident popped to mind, I had agreed to help a friend and drop off his rent check as he had to be admitted to the hospital suddenly, that night I woke up about 2 am to find the check shredded and partially eaten by one of my monsters.
yep pets can certainly cause ya problems !
PS: I had laid his check right where I lay all MY important papers but I guess because it wasn't my scent on it the little monster figured in wasn't mine and in their home so ... It must be theirs.
What a headache !
Lol pets are funny, my old cat used to get the greatest joy out of jumping up on the DVD shelf and one at a time pushing them off the shelf and onto the floor.
LOL.. Yeah that could be quite the mess depending on the size of your DVD collection and your cats desire for its own fun.
I can see a mountain of DVDs scattered all over the floor. LOL But, Perhaps it had one particular DVD it was searching for, cause I've see people do about the same thing.
Thanks for the chuckle !
You said an animal, does that mean you'd live with one of these?
LOL... I doubt where I live I'd have room for a rhino. Don't they need lots of room to roam ?
Yep, and, you wouldn't have to worry about trimming your hedges or, cutting your grass either. LOL and, your neighbors wouldn't be playing their music too loud when they drove by your home, according to the video.
Well that's not a concern now, I live in the middle of a desert there is no grass to mow or hedges to trim. As far as the loud music.. that's a deal killer. I play the drums along with rock music cranking on the stereo in my home, I dont need my walls destroyed so yep I guess living with a rhino for me is out of the question.
Thanks for pointing that out, I'd have hated to have found out by trying it .
lol
I used to be a dog person, but since I owned a cat, (well, the cat adopted me as their human), I am a cat person. Low maintenance, don't bark, no drool, I don't have to take them for walks and no land mines in the yard.
I think the greatest thing pets give us is compassion. I can be in a total shit mood and my cats don't care, they treat me the same way, jump in my lap and fall asleep. Let me tell you, waking up on a cold morning covered in cats is a very nice feeling, (until I try to move, then Kit-Kat gets cranky).
I keep saying I am going to write an article about my cats, but never find the time. But I will give a short one here.
Wife and I went shopping and out in front of the store was a mother, father, 2 kids and a cat in a box. Wife and I are suckers for hard luck cases but I resisted and went in the store. My wife went to talk to them. In the interests of brevity... The guy was in the Army and had been transfered here from North Carolina. Just before he was transfered, they had adopted a kitten. Well, when they got here, they found that they couldn't keep the kitten in the apartment they had. Wife took the kitten and gave the family our address so they could come and visit. They did stop by a few weeks later to see Kit-Kat, (who has grown into a very svelte 23 pound cat). The little girl...6? 7 years old? Cried when she saw him. They stayed for a few hours and I found that the guy was being deployed to Afghanistan in a week. I wished him well and he and his family left. Almost two years later, the wife came back with the kids to see Kit-Kat again. The little girls eyes lit up and she and Kit-Kat played with the laser pointer. Wife made coffee and we sat at the table to chit chat. I asked her where her husband was... She didn't say anything, just sat there and cried.
So Kit-Kat, to me, is a very special cat.
Nice story, thanks for sharing!
A very touching story. Glad you shared it with us.
May you and Kit-Kat have many happy years together.
Behold, the mighty Kit Kat in his natural environment....sleeping on his monkey blanket.
Lol, nothing does laid back and relax like a cat .....
Great story.
Though having been a dog person my daughters cats became my best buds too.
I had a female tabby named Kit-Kat, a stray that just showed up on the porch one day and decided that this is where she wanted to live. Huge personality. My wife didn't really ever bond with her but she was totally my girl. My dogs and other cats didn't take long to learn that she wasn't to be trifled with if she didn't want their attention. I've had dogs and cats around the house my whole life and have been lucky to not have had any that I disliked but there's only a handful that can make me still mist up after all these years when I think of them, she is at the top of the list. That was a good story, thank you.
Excellent post Greg. Cats can and will defend themselves quite well.
I'm a both person, dogs and cats. Both are nice in their own way. It's really fun to watch the dynamics when you have both at the same time. However i am sans either right now. The last one just took the stuffin out of me too much when she went to doggie heaven and i haven't been able to get another one as of yet.
Some day though ......
You should share your love with another dog or cat ( or both) when you have healed.
Sorry for the loss of your beloved doggy.
I will but it just seems to get tougher each time you lose one .....
I've had six dogs in my life. The last one I had , Dugan, was the first one that would actually fetch a stick if I threw it. The others would go after balls but not sticks. I was finally impressed.
I think people like dogs more because dogs are easier to relate to.
John,
If you have never had a cat, you wouldn't know which are easier to relate to.
I have had both and they are both easy to relate to. And btw, Wally always played fetch.
ok
I love cats. unfortunately so would my 5 chows. I also like my home, I dont want it destroyed. So...at this time I have No kitty.
lol
I've seen that video of Wally playing fetch!
Here's a good cat story.
Couple cats ago i got one from my GF's grandfather when he passed away. No one in her family wanted it and they were going to take it to the pound so big old softy me took her. Actually more out of respect for her grandfather than anything. He and i really hit it off. No one in his family had gone into military after him so he loved the Marine that might be joining his family. He was one of the last real Cavalrymen, as in he actually rode real horses when he was in the Army. Anyway he was a great guy and quite the character. He named the cat 88 so he wouldn't have to guess when people asked him how old his cat was. Classic for him.
So i bring the cat home, about 200 miles from where he lived and made sure to keep her in my house for the first couple weeks so she knew this was her new home. After couple weeks i let her out and watched her closely so she didn't boogie walk about to find her first home. She seemed fine so i went about yard work or something. It wasn't five minutes later she comes prancing up with a Bluejay in her mouth. She was a hunter .... big time.
I knew then and there we were going to get along just fine.
Sparty, here's a cat story for you, A few years back I had a cat named Shadow, black as coal and, long haired, green eyes and, a special personality, he would fetch me nice presents like half eaten mice and, living birds that I would turn down of course but, the best story I have of him is when Shadow met my father-in-laws chow mix for the first time.
We had just moved to California to take care of my wife Gloria's father and, we decided to stay with him until we could get a place near enough to him to make daily trips to check on him, his chow was aggressive towards cats so, he was made to stay outside, I felt bad about that so, I took the chore of feeding him and, making sure he had plenty of water and, a shady spot in the backyard. One day Shadow got out in the front yard and, I didn't think anything of it until I saw the chow out front too, I thought "Oh shit, cat for dinner". I got outside just in time to see Shadow raise up on his hind legs and, sit with his front paws raised in front of him like a gunslinger, I swear when I saw that I heard the music from a Clint Eastwood western in my head, the chow moved forward with head down and, his nose at the point and, that was when Shadow struck, four times across that nose and, the fight was over, the chow never did try to come close to Shadow again.
Lol nice.
We had a black cat growing up that used to beat up neighborhood dogs. The nose shot gets em every time, no matter how big the dog. He was king of our neighborhood.
He was a cool cat and i can honestly say we never had a bad cat. I've met a few bad ones at friends houses but we were lucky to never get one like that.
I was worried when we got Jack, we still had Shadow at the time and, had gotten another black cat I called Magic, they were almost twins, Magic had gold eyes though but, as Jack grew into an adult dog he accepted the cats, he would be laying there and, they, the cats, would play with his tail as he moved it for them, if they got too frisky with the play he'd tell them and, they would stop for a minute. None of the three ever fought with each other and, Jack never got a "muzzle massage".
I'm a dog person, though I enjoy cats also-at my lady friend's house she has 2. And her daughter, who is away at college, has 4.....and they all hang with me when I'm visiting.
I was working on the docks at the lake house and Rainy decided to supervise this weekend.....
Kind of looks like she's saying i need scratching more than the dock needs sanding.....
Yep
More like, "Hey dad, I have this spot behind my ear that needs attention and, then my belly needs attention too."
SHe has this spot right on the spine, middle of the back that she can't get at.....start scratching that and her legs go out from under her and she just gets into ecstatic mode.......
In her Duty as Chief Navigator
I know the spot you're talking about, I have a friend who has a Pit and, that is a spot none of them can get but, if you get it for them, they are your friends for life. Jack never navigated for me, he seemed to think I knew were I was going or, he was thinking, "Dad never listens to me so, fuck it, I'll take a nap."
Great discussion. The relationship between humans and animals goes back thousands of years.
Recently I was going through some old, unopened 35mm pictures.
Found some of my Sammy. Pronounced Sam-a-yed NOT SAMoid. His dad was half arctic wolf. Except for dogs and cats, any animal he saw outside was food. Yes, food.
I think most animals sensed this too. He could snag a bird out of the air. He loved fowl. Grab him, open his mouth and nothing but feathers, with a look of "what's up with you"?
He was a good guy. Always the optimistic and friendly guy, anyone invited in the house was a guest and friend. Anyone greeted outside was a guest and friend. Anyone stopped, was "dead meat". Mr Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.
Damn, I forgot how big he was. Now I remember why I gave him the nickname "Wide Burke", from a Carol Bunette skit. "Dougly" Do Right was the other one. Not only was he massive and could move like a bolt of lightening he had a huge coat of fur too during the winter. Had to drag him in at night on the coldest nights, while he would flop down and lay in his side. I AINT GOIN IN THERE!!!
Need to scan some photos.
It was dogs domesticated humans and not the other way around...
I think so.
You got that right
I have had Dobermans for almost 40 years, my late wife gave me a Doberman when we first meet. She said the dog told her I was OK.
I have learned much from my dogs