[__ Science __ ] How Smart Is The Canine Brain?

[HeIsRisen2018]

Created and bred by man? There's that girl mindset, lol. You mean God created them and allowed us to interbreed them so that we could have different kinds with different characteristics, so everyone could have one that suits them? :wink

Yeah, that's what I was trying to get at it just came out wrong.

 

[Razeontherock]

I have a picture of one of our dogs, a lab/shep mix...standing in the corner like a child cuz he was bad!

There's an adorable video on YouTube, look up:

"Mad Malamute after bath won't look at me!"

 

[jasonc]

There's an adorable video on YouTube, look up:

"Mad Malamute after bath won't look at me!"

Huskies,like I said.mishka was favorite. Cheyenne pouted. She would lie on the ground if she wanted a longer walk and you didn't .she also would time you and slip off her collar then run.climb fences if fenced in.nobody cages me.

 

[Razeontherock]

She wore glasses and read Call of the Wild? Lol (that's a great book though)

 

[Luminous_Rose]

This raises a significant point. First, back to the OP:

we don't know. Canine intelligence varies, and individual behavior varies so widely as to be really amazing, as many stories here illustrate.

Now, in response to what I'm quoting here:

someone else said in a different thread that "it seems most people are either dog people or cat people." You and I illustrate that point. Ever since being laid open by a cat that gave all signs of being friendly when I was about 5, I've been leery of cats. Scarred for life, both literally and figuratively.

Which brings me to my point: the absolute worst thing to do around a dog is to be afraid. The saying goes "dogs can smell fear." The dog whisperer does a good job of bringing out the truth that the idea of dominance is pretty important in a dog's world. If it senses fear, it will naturally assert dominance, and see how far it can take that. Rarely does that turn into deliberately causing injury, but "escalating quickly" is what many breeds are selectively adapted for; as responders, not initiators.

So the primary key to understanding dogs is how to assert dominance without causing injury, or even being threatening. I suppose in simplest terms that could also apply to some basic parenting skills, at least while very young.

Now what you said here is not that you're afraid of dogs, but that you're nervous around them. To a dog, the difference between these two seems to be larger than it is to us! Nervousness is part of their repertoire, with nervous energy being pretty typical not only when meeting a new dog for the first time, but also when greeting dogs they've lived with their whole lives and only been apart from for like 15 minutes.

Nervousness and curiosity go together naturally for dogs. If you get the chance to watch them interact together see if you can detect this. Once you get a handle on how they express this with each other, try to recognize the same things in people who interact successfully with them. The keys are eye contact, body language, and tone of voice; with the actual words used being pretty far down on the totem pole. As humans we tend to place primary importance on word choice, whereas dogs use a different "vocabulary."

For us, nervousness and anxiety naturally go together. That's ok too! Dogs participate in anxiety, and recognize it as being distinct from fear. So we have acceptable "channels" to convert our fear around dogs to; nervousness and anxiety work well. If we verbalize this as we greet a dog, it's for our benefit while we "might as well be speaking Greek" to them. If you honestly process these emotions aloud, I bet you'll be able to see it on the dog's face that he understands you, and has some common ground. This will be due to your tone of voice and your body language. Meanwhile, you'll be "talking yourself down" from fear. And it'll work!

Even if you never deliberately choose to get "hands on" with a dog which does include at least being willing to get a bit messy, this info might help you navigate a tight spot you wish you weren't in.

"Asserting dominance" over a dog is as simple as 1) you're human, and 2) you're taller than the dog. No need to try to make yourself appear bigger than you are, dogs accept us as naturally being in charge. Our attention is equally as rewarding as food (speaking in general terms, of course)

Dogs are easy to understand. Cats? I've never had anybody able to explain them to me but they're easy to avoid, whereas dogs can press you into a confrontation.

My experiences with dogs growing up have not been the best. As a child, I was bitten by more dogs than I care to count. Thus, probably why as an adult it is different for me to become comfortable around dogs. If there are too many dogs in a room, I freeze up. I hate it when they jump on me or lick me because I am afraid they will bite.

I did not have any bad experiences with cats until I was a teen, but even that cat adored me over others. I get along well with aggressive and non-aggressive cats. I remember as a child stroking their soft fur, feeling and hearing their calming purr. They rubbed against me, sat in my lap, and were so relaxed.

I find cats easier to read than dogs. I full well know what a cat looks like before attacking. A dog feels unpredictable to me. I understand cat behavior better than dog behavior. This alone gives me more comfort when dealing with cats.

My husband is the dog whisperer type so he helps me out here. He understands where I come from.

I have to be around one dog quite often before I get used to that specific dog's behavior. Even if I do get used to the dog and comfortable even, when they give certain looks it worries me if they will bite.

Although I like both cats and dogs, I tend to lean more towards cats for reasons listed above.

 

[Luminous_Rose]

Alright, I'm a cat person as much as I'm a dog person and even I found that to be absolutely hilarious!












Really?? Hmm,.. part dog, part wolf,.. Was he related to this guy by any chance?

I highly doubt he was related to Balto o_o although Balto is great =D

 

[Razeontherock]

My experiences with dogs growing up have not been the best. As a child, I was bitten by more dogs than I care to count. Thus, probably why as an adult it is different for me to become comfortable around dogs.

Wow, I'm sorry you had to go through that!
I've never even seen a dog actually bite someone. They'll give a warning, a little nip that doesn't break skin. I have no idea how they can tell when to stop, but they're pretty good at it. Totally understandable you wouldn't trust any dog after that, much like me with cats. It was all purry and rubbing on me then WHAP! A trail of blood through the snow all the way home.

 

[HeIsRisen2018]

My experiences with dogs growing up have not been the best. As a child, I was bitten by more dogs than I care to count. Thus, probably why as an adult it is different for me to become comfortable around dogs. If there are too many dogs in a room, I freeze up. I hate it when they jump on me or lick me because I am afraid they will bite.

I did not have any bad experiences with cats until I was a teen, but even that cat adored me over others. I get along well with aggressive and non-aggressive cats. I remember as a child stroking their soft fur, feeling and hearing their calming purr. They rubbed against me, sat in my lap, and were so relaxed.

I find cats easier to read than dogs. I full well know what a cat looks like before attacking. A dog feels unpredictable to me. I understand cat behavior better than dog behavior. This alone gives me more comfort when dealing with cats.

My husband is the dog whisperer type so he helps me out here. He understands where I come from.

I have to be around one dog quite often before I get used to that specific dog's behavior. Even if I do get used to the dog and comfortable even, when they give certain looks it worries me if they will bite.

Although I like both cats and dogs, I tend to lean more towards cats for reasons listed above.

ROTFL!!! At first I thought that you were saying that your husband was The Dog Whisperer. I'm like what!? You're married to Cesar Millan!? Anyways Ray, I was going to go ahead and post the picture that you were looking for but it looks like we're having an image technical problem. :neutral

 

[HeIsRisen2018]

Wow, I'm sorry you had to go through that!
I've never even seen a dog actually bite someone. They'll give a warning, a little nip that doesn't break skin. I have no idea how they can tell when to stop, but they're pretty good at it. Totally understandable you wouldn't trust any dog after that, much like me with cats. It was all purry and rubbing on me then WHAP! A trail of blood through the snow all the way home.

Usually a dog growls before they bite somebody. I've only ever got growled at by a few dogs. Surprisingly none of them were Pitbulls despite the general negative reputation that they seem to have. I do have to agree with you about the cat thing though. I mean our cat can be all friendly and affectionate one moment and the next moment she attacks. Out of play of course but still.

 

[HeIsRisen2018]

Lol! It sounds like he's saying; "NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!"

 

[KevinK]

That's funny. We had a cat that we had to bathe (she had dermatitis). After the lake of fire she would perch on the top shelf and scold us.

 

[HeIsRisen2018]

Here's a very similar one except with a cat. LOL! Poor kitty, you can feel its pain LOL!

 

[evenifigoalone]

Some breeds are thought to be as intelligent as a three year old, like Poodles and Border Collies. I know someone who had a Poodle who, without any training, alerted her whenever the phone rang--even if it was at 3 am! (She wasn't too happy about that part.)

 

[HeIsRisen2018]

Alright my other picture was less than a meg apparently, so here's another picture for you instead Ray.

 

[Luminous_Rose]

Wow, I'm sorry you had to go through that!
I've never even seen a dog actually bite someone. They'll give a warning, a little nip that doesn't break skin. I have no idea how they can tell when to stop, but they're pretty good at it. Totally understandable you wouldn't trust any dog after that, much like me with cats. It was all purry and rubbing on me then WHAP! A trail of blood through the snow all the way home.

Yeah, doesn't make it easy. That's for sure.

 

[Luminous_Rose]

That's funny. We had a cat that we had to bathe (she had dermatitis). After the lake of fire she would perch on the top shelf and scold us.

Lol woe to anyone who must endure the results of a cat bath xD

I remember when we got a kitten, my grest aunt told me, "Never try to baptize a cat!" Apparently she had tried this as a kid and said it didn't work out so well.

I remember when we had to bathe our cat, she would never let us kids do it because she knew how most cats were about water. Our cat would act like she was letting you bathe her I guess hoping someone would let go because she would get all still and when the opportunity arose she would jump out of the bath. Never trust an angry cat being bathed.

Reminds me of another cat I had that would purr, rub against the door all calmly when she was in a kennel. I remember thinking, "Aw, so cute!" I would open it and I couldn't get her back in for another 15-20 minutes. The con artist! Lol

 

[Tessa]

One of our dogs hated being bathed. I used to take him in the woodland and he always managed to escape to the farm and roll in the cow droppings. Disgusting! I believe they do it to smell bigger than they really are. His reward was another bath.

 

[HeIsRisen2018]

One of our dogs hated being bathed. I used to take him in the woodland and he always managed to escape to the farm and roll in the cow droppings. Disgusting! I believe they do it to smell bigger than they really are. His reward was another bath.

Really?? That is disgusting! But sort of funny too I have to confess. I thought you told me that never had any dogs before though.

 

[jasonc]

My wife could bathe all her cats.she trained them since they were kittens. She used a wooden spoon for jake to latch on to.he liked it.

Cheyenne hated bathes,bella tolerates it.my first dog ferocious was all about bathes,swimming and getting wet.of there was any rain,water he would enjoy it.he would swim early in the morning and love to share his water with you

 

[evenifigoalone]

Wow, I'm sorry you had to go through that!
I've never even seen a dog actually bite someone. They'll give a warning, a little nip that doesn't break skin. I have no idea how they can tell when to stop, but they're pretty good at it. Totally understandable you wouldn't trust any dog after that, much like me with cats. It was all purry and rubbing on me then WHAP! A trail of blood through the snow all the way home.

Pro tip:
Never, ever, ever, EVER punish your dog for growing. You'll only teach them not to give a warning. Growling is good, it means they're giving you a chance to back off