Does my dog love me ?

[BioSci]

This is a story I've heard, but it's so remarkable I don't know whether to believe it. A bird (forget what kind) was unable to reach the water in a tall, thin container that was only half full. The bird put picked up stones and put them in the container until it could reach the water with it's beak. I'll have to try to verify that one.

See here: http://www.cell.com/current-biology/...2809%2901455-9

Crows are really quite intelligent - especially considering the size of their brains!

[TooMany]

See here: http://www.cell.com/current-biology/...2809%2901455-9

Crows are really quite intelligent - especially considering the size of their brains!

Holy crow! That is remarkable. My dog is definitely not that smart.

We live next to a park that is frequented by crows. People drop french fries, hot dogs and what not in the grass on weekends. Crows often visit our backyard birdbath and dip their finds in the water to soften them so they can eat them in smaller bites.

Seagulls have been widely observed to open clams by dropping them on a rock from a height. An interesting thing about bird intelligence versus mammal intelligence is that their brains are significantly different, which argues that there may be more than one way to evolve intelligence.

Sea otters use a stone on their chests while floating on their backs to crack clams, mussels and urchins. I wonder if they learn this trick, perhaps from other otters? It seems rather complex to be hard wired, certainly practice is required.

Bears can learn to ride a bicycle; that cannot be hard wired. What evolutionary purpose is there for a bear to have this ability? None, it's has the ability to learn this because it is intelligent. It's a trick that takes some practice even for humans.

[swampyankee]

That one, I think, was based on a Native American legend.

I think it's been demonstrated in a lab: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencete...ise-reach.html

So has tool use: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jF_0tZdbqo

[TooMany]

My wife just reminded me of an even better one. This was a crow or raven invention reported either in Science News or National Geographic (sorry for the uncertainties). Food was tied to a string but the string hung down through a portal too small for the bird to enter. The bird learned to raise the food by pulling on the string with it's beak and then holding the part of the string pulled up with it's foot. It had to repeat this several times in order to haul the food high enough to reach.

Wow!

Sorry if I'm wandering from the subject a bit.

[TooMany]

We basically agree. And trust me, I would love nothing more than to think that my dog understands me. She is my best friend. I just can't bring myself to believe that.

I'm sure she has some level of understanding.

[starcanuck64]

Some crows are capable of multi-stage tool use;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8631486.stm

The birds were presented with some out-of reach food; a long tool, which could be used to extract the food, but which was also out of reach, tucked behind the bars of a box; and a short tool, which could be used to extract the long tool, but which was attached to the end of a dangling piece of string tied to the crow's perch.

Here's another one on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofjo2...feature=fvwrel

next they'll be teaching them to play chess.

[Gillianren]

My roommate's cat just gave her a dirty look when the little red dot went away. I also seem to recall a seagull that was robbing a convenience store of Doritos or something, a while back.

[Trebuchet]

My cats love me. Or at least that's what they'd have me believe when it's treat time!

[starcanuck64]

I wonder how much language some dogs can comprehend.

On one occassion I was taking care of my brothers pets and needed to feed his dogs. The bag of dog food wasn't in its usual spot in a utility shed and I wasn't having any luck finding it anywhere else. I jokingly told one of the dogs, "Well unless you can tell me where the dog food is you're going hungry tonight". The dog immediately ran across the yard and began barking at a covered firewood box. Sure enough when I checked, the bag of dog food was in there.

[PetersCreek]

Raven intelligence is a part of Alaska Native lore for good reason. There's even evidence [media link] to suggest that they use gestures in communication. It's also interesting to watch them at play. When I worked in downtown Anchorage, I would sometimes see them pick up something...usually from a trash bin...and play a game of aerial catch with it.

[starcanuck64]

Backensto trapped ravens as part of her study from 2004 to 2006, but found that task extremely difficult after the first summer. Even ravens she had never witnessed, it seemed, knew who she was and what she was doing.

This suggests a fairly sophisticated level of communication.

Gesturing behavior among ravens is part of Inuit and Athabascan lore. Hunters have reported that ravens would call to hunters and dip their wings to point in the direction of distant game animals, knowing they would get a free meal if the hunter had a successful kill.

As does this.

[starcanuck64]

My cats love me. Or at least that's what they'd have me believe when it's treat time!

My brother also had a couple of cats. I was an equal opportunity treater so when the dogs got treats so did the cats. The dogs tended to grab food being offered them so I always repeated the "sit" command several times to make sure they calmed down before offering the dog biscuits, the cats sitting a few feet away watching and waiting for their turn. After a few days of this I laughed when I went over to give the cats their treats and they both sat down together, they'd obviously picked up on the routine.

[swampyankee]

There are reports of NYC pigeons walking (or hopping), waiting quietly until the next station stop, and walking out. When the door closed, the birds did not seem panicked, in that they did not fly all around the car, battering themselves against windows.

[primummobile]

I wonder how much language some dogs can comprehend.

On one occassion I was taking care of my brothers pets and needed to feed his dogs. The bag of dog food wasn't in its usual spot in a utility shed and I wasn't having any luck finding it anywhere else. I jokingly told one of the dogs, "Well unless you can tell me where the dog food is you're going hungry tonight". The dog immediately ran across the yard and began barking at a covered firewood box. Sure enough when I checked, the bag of dog food was in there.

My dog seems to know what I mean when I say certain things. I usually preface most things I ask her with, "Hey Molly, do you wanna..." At "Hey Molly" she always stops whatever she is doing and she looks at me with her ears perked. The weird thing is that she seems to understand different questions even when I phrase the question differently. Most of the time, I am asking her one of three questions: if she wants to go outside, if she wants to go for a walk, or if she wants to go for a ride. I phrase the questions many different ways, but she always reacts the same way. If I ask her if she wants to go outside she goes to the door that leads to her fenced-in area. When I ask her if she wants to go for a walk, she goes and stands where her leash is hanging. If I ask her if she wants to go for a ride, she gets very excited and goes straight to the door that leads to the garage.

She also brings me the appropriate dish when she wants food or water. She's half Boxer/half Lab and I'm not sure how intelligent those dogs are supposed to be, but she regularly amazes me with how intelligent she seems... especially when the rational part of my mind is trying to tell me that it is only conditioned behavior.

[Gillianren]

My cat has a vocabulary of perhaps a dozen words. He knows his name (well, nickname, actually; he long ago forgot his real name). He used to know the difference between "bath" and "shower." If I told him I was going to take a bath, he'd sit on the edge of the tub. If I told him I was going to take a shower, he'd sit on the edge of the sink. He was going to keep me company (and protect me from bathtub monsters) either way, but baths are longer and he can be right next to me. I can't even say the difference was that he was going to get wet sitting on the edge of the tub if I took a shower, because he still pretty much always dips his tail in my bathwater. And then is surprised when it gets wet. He's not a very smart cat.

[swampyankee]

I wonder how much language some dogs can comprehend.

On one occassion I was taking care of my brothers pets and needed to feed his dogs. The bag of dog food wasn't in its usual spot in a utility shed and I wasn't having any luck finding it anywhere else. I jokingly told one of the dogs, "Well unless you can tell me where the dog food is you're going hungry tonight". The dog immediately ran across the yard and began barking at a covered firewood box. Sure enough when I checked, the bag of dog food was in there.

I suspect the answer is "more than can be demonstrated in lab experiments," as lab dogs are likely to spend a lot less time with people, especially as puppies, as are pets. As for the dog food? The dog really didn't need to understand the entire sentence, just enough to identify the sound string "where the food is," especially if there was some sort of game/training activity where food was hidden in the firewood box. On the other hand, dogs have been shown (in well-controlled experiments published in reputable, refereed journals) to be able to individually identify something like a thousand distinct toys by name.

[starcanuck64]

I suspect the answer is "more than can be demonstrated in lab experiments," as lab dogs are likely to spend a lot less time with people, especially as puppies, as are pets. As for the dog food? The dog really didn't need to understand the entire sentence, just enough to identify the sound string "where the food is," especially if there was some sort of game/training activity where food was hidden in the firewood box. On the other hand, dogs have been shown (in well-controlled experiments published in reputable, refereed journals) to be able to individually identify something like a thousand distinct toys by name.

Amazing.

My partner at the time had a border collie which tends to be an intelligent breed. It had strong herding instincts and we bought her a bunch of colored tennis balls she would move around. It was possible to ask her to bring the red, yellow or green ball and she would.

[TooMany]

She also brings me the appropriate dish when she wants food or water. She's half Boxer/half Lab and I'm not sure how intelligent those dogs are supposed to be, but she regularly amazes me with how intelligent she seems... especially when the rational part of my mind is trying to tell me that it is only conditioned behavior.

Our toy poodle could sense when we were preparing for trip and would go into an annoying state of restlessness. The solution was to put the dog in the car and then finish packing. The dog was perfectly content to sit in the car because he was assured that he would not be left behind. This exhibits both intelligence and a desire to be included.

[TooMany]

My partner at the time had a border collie which tends to be an intelligent breed. It had strong herding instincts and we bought her a bunch of colored tennis balls she would move around. It was possible to ask her to bring the red, yellow or green ball and she would.

Those dogs are amazing. A neighbor has pair who love to play Frisbee. They do fantastic leaps to catch it. No one can convince me that they are not deliberately having fun. The dogs remind the owner when it's time to go play Frisbee. Regardless of which dog catches it, they both hold the Frisbee when they bring it back to the owner.

[primummobile]

Our toy poodle could sense when we were preparing for trip and would go into an annoying state of restlessness. The solution was to put the dog in the car and then finish packing. The dog was perfectly content to sit in the car because he was assured that he would not be left behind. This exhibits both intelligence and a desire to be included.

Funny. My dog does that too. She'll sit in the car forever if she thinks she is getting a ride somewhere. She also gets anxious when she knows we are leaving. She starts to get wound up when we turn a shower on, and by the time we are getting dressed she is a basket case.

[starcanuck64]

Those dogs are amazing. A neighbor has pair who love to play Frisbee. They do fantastic leaps to catch it. No one can convince me that they are not deliberately having fun. The dogs remind the owner when it's time to go play Frisbee. Regardless of which dog catches it, they both hold the Frisbee when they bring it back to the owner.

They really seem to love agility competitions too, they're amazing to watch going through the obstacle course as fast as they can.

On one occasion I saw my partners dog playing with a small bird that might have stunned itself by hitting a window. When I looked out the window onto the deck, the dog was nose to beak with the bird and was quietly watching it. Five minutes or so later I looked out and the dog was under a tree jumping up at a branch where the bird had flown to. If my girlfriend's Siberian Husky had been out, she would have eaten the bird.

[JCoyote]

To be honest, in my experience growing up the people most adamant about animals not having "real" emotions were religious. I think the idea that animals shared qualities they considered inherently "spiritual" was somehow inherently devaluing to their concept of a soul.

And indeed I would say our emotions are ridiculously complex in the grand scheme of things compared to other animals, but there is no reason to assume the feelings themselves are unique... they are just something else that has evolved over time. I would argue mammals in particular have developed social emotional relation to an extreme, and in many ways are so physiologically similar that likely all mammals have a similar emotional range (in context against insects, fish, which I have a feeling have much wider variation of emotional sets within their kingdoms).

[Jim]

I wonder how much language some dogs can comprehend. ...

I remember reading somewhere that the average dog can recognize between 100-150 words.

Cats can recognize more. They just choose to ignore them.

[starcanuck64]

I remember reading somewhere that the average dog can recognize between 100-150 words.

Cats can recognize more. They just choose to ignore them.

I did inadvertantly teach my brothers cats to sit, but based on their reluctance I'm guessing they found it kind of offensive to be asked.

[Gillianren]

D knows about a half-dozen commands. He doesn't always obey them, but he knows them. The one that is currently proving difficult is teaching him that he makes a better door than a window. He will stand directly between me and the TV at such a height that he blocks subtitles!