Of interest to dog owners

I stumbled upon an interview in Scientific American about a massive web-based study involving dogs. The site is http://www.dognition.com

The idea is to gather data from hundreds of thousands or even millions of dogs. That's a very good idea, and one that would interest many dog owners. The problem is there's a fee to join the study (usually it's the other way around). I've got nothing against making a profit, and the product sold does seem interesting enough to pay for. Not to mention there's clearly been money spent on the website. But I wonder how that will affect the data.

Still, if I still had a dog, I'd seriously consider it.

It's cool, but I'm not going to spend $60 for someone to tell me what I already know, that my dog is really stupid. She's a good dog, but really dumb.

I know commenting on dogs is as bad as commenting on kids, so I won't.

All three dogs I've owned were rather smart in some ways. But even the dumbest dogs perform intellectual feats well beyond most other animals. For example, dogs can understand pointing, to the extent some of them can even be taught to point. No other animal does that. It doens't seem like much, but it indicates how closely dogs have been integrated with humans.

What I'd like to see is a similar study with cats. I know cats aren't exactly social, so determining things about them is harder.

I know what you're saying, I just like calling my dog dumb. In truth, dogs have desires, and how smart they are is really measured by how much they get what they want. Lilly likes to lay in the sun, and everything is geared to getting that. Our last bulldog loved to play and go for walks, and everything was focused on that; the day she died, at an old age, she played tug of war first.

I e read a couple books about that stuff, the one I liked most was Understanding Emotions in Your Dog. Good topic.

Quote: Mosca

I know what you're saying, I just like calling my dog dumb. In truth, dogs have desires, and how smart they are is really measured by how much they get what they want.

In part, yes. I also notice whether they can learn things that are not so obvious, or whether they can figure things out.

I like to tell a story about my first dog, Fuzz, and how she once snatched the TV's ultrasonic remote and tried to bury it in the back yard. The thing is the sound made by the remote bothered her, as her ears would twitch whenever I used it. One time I was switching between to channels a lot, and it really seemed to bug her. Evidently she identified the source of the annoying noise and tried to get rid of it.

More later.

Quote: Nareed

In part, yes. I also notice whether they can learn things that are not so obvious, or whether they can figure things out.

I like to tell a story about my first dog, Fuzz, and how she once snatched the TV's ultrasonic remote and tried to bury it in the back yard. The thing is the sound made by the remote bothered her, as her ears would twitch whenever I used it. One time I was switching between to channels a lot, and it really seemed to bug her. Evidently she identified the source of the annoying noise and tried to get rid of it.

More later.

Haha, that's funny!

Quote: Mosca

Haha, that's funny!

Oh, you shuould ahve seen how she approached the problem!

First she sat next to me on the couch (all my dogs are always allowed on the furniture). She dind't do that often, and when she did she would lie there and I'd pet her. This time she sat. She kept looking at me, as if expecting something. I did notice her ears twitching, but I dind't wonder why she'd get so clsoe to the remote if it bothered her.

The moment I put the remote down during a commercial break and got up (I forget what for), she pounced on it and ran down the stairs. Of course I ran after her, but four legs do make for much faster running.

I don't think little Fuzz planned anything. She just got close to the offending artifact and waited for a chance. For all I know, she wanted some petting and then turned on the remote because it spoiled her mood. Who knows. But it was very clever either way.

Of course, in some other ways she wasn't so bright. She was a tiny poodle thoroughly unconscious of her small size. She was very agressive with other dogs and with people, and things, that annoyed her. She never once bit me, but she growled at me on occassion. From time to time, when she would get upset and growl, I'd run away and let her chase me into a corner. I'm sure that did wonders for her superiority complex :) Her daughter, Daisy, whom we kept, was thoroughly dominated into being the most passive dog I ever knew.

Oh, she never again tried to burty the remote, but she did gnaw on it incenssantly if she found half a chance.