Experimental Insanity

Sick, Stupid, Sad

Puppies killed with fireworks.

On a different topic about dogs, a study shows that dogs have evolved to understand people in a way wolves can't. Dogs can pick up on subtle visible cues given off by humans. They can read our eyes to know where we are looking. Dogs raised without humans still exhibit this trait while wolves raised around humans do not. Dogs and humans have lived and worked together for so long that its become a genetic trait.

I've always known dogs could sense our emotions and understand them. I believe some dogs that have a strong bond with thier owners can pick up on emotions that are not outwardly visible to people, maybe it's thier 6th sense at work. Another study shows that dogs can sense siezures in epileptic people.
I had a dog that understood the game Hide 'N Go Seek. The dog knew the names of my friends even though I never trained her to learn their names. She picked up on each friends name on her own. She also knew I was looking for something or someone just by observing my behavior. I would say "go find Jimmy" and even though I never tried to train her for this, she just knew what I meant. She would sniff out Jimmy and ignore any or my other friends. If I said "go find Bruce" she would find Bruce instead of Jimmy. Now that I think of it, she might have learned this trick so easily because its an adaptation of the game "hunt the cat". In this game, I'm armed with a squirt gun and the dog and I would hunt down my sisters cat. The dog knew the cats name and understood it was a hunt. She would lead me to the cat and I would blast it with the squirt gun.

I wonder if pampered decadent doggies could ever survive if left to thier own devices. Without a human to care for it could little FiFi survive on her own or with a pack of other stray dogs? I think dogs who live their life in complete dependence of humans, physically, mentally and emotionally are doomed in a world without humans. It's the old Nature VS Nurture debate. How much does nurture impact a dogs ability to funtion in the wild?

When my dog from above had puppies we used to take them to a field and play. Over time the puppies would get all spread out and as the puppies got further and further away in different directions I could sense the anxiety and worry in their Mom. She would look at me all pleading, wanting me to gather up her puppies. If I didn't she would make a weak attempt to pick up a puppy by the neck but she would be unsure of herself and not do it. Then she would look at me all pleading as if she were saying "you are the human, take charge and help me out".