Dogs not very deep?
Domesticated dogs: No better than wolves when reading human clues?
That's what this article from NewScientist.com says.
Dogs are no better than wolves at picking up on human cues. That's the conclusion of animal psychologists who have compared the ability of the wolves and dogs to understand human hand signals.
When tasked with choosing between two paint cans based on a trainer's hand signal, tamed wolves actually proved more adept at picking the right can.
This casts doubt on the idea that domestication some 15,000 years ago imbued dogs with a window into the human mind, says Clive Wynne, an animal psychologist at the University of Florida in Gainesville.
And then Wynne says this: "Any idiot can tame a dog."
Now that hurts.
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About the Bloggers
Daily Breeze reporter Donna Littlejohn has shared her homes with a succession of wonderful, funny, and occasionally difficult canines -- Muffin, Fritz, Ellie, Mercy, Pilgrim and now Cowboy, an Australian shepherd-border collie, and Tess, a border collie. From strong-willed terriers to weirdly obsessed Australian shepherds, they've invaded her world with boundless energy, wet noses, muddy paws and soggy tennis balls. But they've really brought so much more than that -- like laughter and joy, some unexpected life lessons, and more than a few tears along the way.
E-mail Donna at donna.littlejohn@dailybreeze.com.
Josh Grossberg grew up with the usual array of animals: goldfish, dogs, hamsters, parakeets and turtles. He now owns the loudest dog in the South Bay(Video: Rocket the Dog) and is the least popular person on his block. He spends his free time in dog parks, pet shops and always has an extra plastic bag in his pocket just in case. He also has a cat.
E-mail Josh at josh.grossberg@dailybreeze.com.
it is not an unusual training method to add hand movements to your voice commands ....I trained my shepard that way and it really helped when he was deaf in his old age.
Good point, and there there are other behavioralists who disagree. Like lots of things that claim 'studies show...' it depends on which study.
This research seemed to find that dogs respond to your hand movements, they pick up what to do (like fetch the ball when you get ready to throw it) by what your hands and arms are doing.
I am questioning that !
what about the saying : * if you feel powerful try to order somebody elses dog around *