How do dogs think
Discussion
Bit of an odd subject but I was sat in a café the other day, next to the café is a small supermarket and up walks this girl with a dog which, at this point it’s not showing any emotion.
The girl popped in the supermarket and reappeared with one of those tennis ball throwers which the dog now sees and is jumping up and down with joy which got me thinking……
I’m intrigued as to how dog’s think, is there a “doggie language” they think in or is it some kind of good/not so good/bad portions of their brain that associates its feeling to?
It’s easy to tell when a dogs happy by its facial expressions, waging of the tail etc does all of these just happen like a human smiling?
If it's not feeling well you can tell.
But then you see a dog frowning, possibly because it’s having new experience and does yet know if it’s good/not so good/bad. Are feelings finally stored away in the correct part of the brain and how doe it know where it’s stored?
What are dogs dreams like, just like humans with images/memories that rarely make sense,do they know this?
Looking at the photo’s of dog’s watching TV, do they get pleasure from it.
When they wake up from an afternoon snooze and look around the room what’s going through their brains?
As I said at the start, bit of a strange post, possibly it’s my subconscious telling me that I’ll be reincarnated as a dog, I wonder if I get to chose which breed……now let me think..
The girl popped in the supermarket and reappeared with one of those tennis ball throwers which the dog now sees and is jumping up and down with joy which got me thinking……
I’m intrigued as to how dog’s think, is there a “doggie language” they think in or is it some kind of good/not so good/bad portions of their brain that associates its feeling to?
It’s easy to tell when a dogs happy by its facial expressions, waging of the tail etc does all of these just happen like a human smiling?
If it's not feeling well you can tell.
But then you see a dog frowning, possibly because it’s having new experience and does yet know if it’s good/not so good/bad. Are feelings finally stored away in the correct part of the brain and how doe it know where it’s stored?
What are dogs dreams like, just like humans with images/memories that rarely make sense,do they know this?
Looking at the photo’s of dog’s watching TV, do they get pleasure from it.
When they wake up from an afternoon snooze and look around the room what’s going through their brains?
As I said at the start, bit of a strange post, possibly it’s my subconscious telling me that I’ll be reincarnated as a dog, I wonder if I get to chose which breed……now let me think..
lancslad58 said:
Bit of an odd subject but I was sat in a café the other day, next to the café is a small supermarket and up walks this girl with a dog which, at this point it’s not showing any emotion.
The girl popped in the supermarket and reappeared with one of those tennis ball throwers which the dog now sees and is jumping up and down with joy which got me thinking……
I’m intrigued as to how dog’s think, is there a “doggie language” they think in or is it some kind of good/not so good/bad portions of their brain that associates its feeling to?
It’s easy to tell when a dogs happy by its facial expressions, waging of the tail etc does all of these just happen like a human smiling?
If it's not feeling well you can tell.
But then you see a dog frowning, possibly because it’s having new experience and does yet know if it’s good/not so good/bad. Are feelings finally stored away in the correct part of the brain and how doe it know where it’s stored?
What are dogs dreams like, just like humans with images/memories that rarely make sense,do they know this?
Looking at the photo’s of dog’s watching TV, do they get pleasure from it.
When they wake up from an afternoon snooze and look around the room what’s going through their brains?
As I said at the start, bit of a strange post, possibly it’s my subconscious telling me that I’ll be reincarnated as a dog, I wonder if I get to chose which breed……now let me think..
Do you have a dog? Not sure from the above. Dogs don’t smile, so be careful in gauging if a dog is happy by that. They make faces which sometimes look like a smile, but it’s not a smile. The girl popped in the supermarket and reappeared with one of those tennis ball throwers which the dog now sees and is jumping up and down with joy which got me thinking……
I’m intrigued as to how dog’s think, is there a “doggie language” they think in or is it some kind of good/not so good/bad portions of their brain that associates its feeling to?
It’s easy to tell when a dogs happy by its facial expressions, waging of the tail etc does all of these just happen like a human smiling?
If it's not feeling well you can tell.
But then you see a dog frowning, possibly because it’s having new experience and does yet know if it’s good/not so good/bad. Are feelings finally stored away in the correct part of the brain and how doe it know where it’s stored?
What are dogs dreams like, just like humans with images/memories that rarely make sense,do they know this?
Looking at the photo’s of dog’s watching TV, do they get pleasure from it.
When they wake up from an afternoon snooze and look around the room what’s going through their brains?
As I said at the start, bit of a strange post, possibly it’s my subconscious telling me that I’ll be reincarnated as a dog, I wonder if I get to chose which breed……now let me think..
I believe they communicate a lot more than we realise. My dog will use very subtle eye/head movements, to answer a general question. Most people would not see these unless they are very attentive.
Like “where’s your ball”….. he clearly doesn’t understand the sentence, but he does know what you are talking about. If my dog is looking at me, and his ball is perhaps stuck under a chair, and he can’t get at it, he cries for my attention…. Then you ask that question, and his eyes will very quickly, and quite subtly, dart to show you where it is, tiny movement to indicate. As they don’t generally show the whites of their eyes, it can be hard to see….. (did you know that humans are the only mammal that shows a large portion of the eyeballs that are white? ).
I have no idea of the psychology of dogs but the joy they get from even the most mundane things is infectious. If I’m ever in a bad mood I take the dogs for a walk or sit on the sofa with them and they snap me out of it. They’re wonderful creatures in that sense.
I did read that domesticated dogs have evolved to do puppy eyes because it elicits a response from humans. Wolves apparently can’t manage the same range of facial expressions.
On the topic of watching TV one of ours gets engrossed. They do seem to think it’s real though, they still get funny about other dogs on there, weirdly including cartoon dogs.
I did read that domesticated dogs have evolved to do puppy eyes because it elicits a response from humans. Wolves apparently can’t manage the same range of facial expressions.
On the topic of watching TV one of ours gets engrossed. They do seem to think it’s real though, they still get funny about other dogs on there, weirdly including cartoon dogs.
I think dogs live principally 'in the moment'
For example:
Wake up - need wee
Have wee - what's that smell
What's that noise - recognise that voice - go there
Wag tail - have pat
Bored - find bed lay down
What's that noise - recognise that voice - have breakfast
What's that - recognise that object - lead - get excited walk
Walking - what's that smell
Walking - what's that smell
Walking - another dag - what's that smell
Walking - oh back home
Bored - find fed lay down
And so on and on.
I don't think they really want or miss things unless you remind them, e.g. walking past the biscuit box etc.
They feel detachment however I don't think they fully understand it, rather when they see you again, they remember very briefly your smell and associate it with walks and biscuits and get very excited, then forget and return to 'bored and bed' phase.
That's why they're so loving and easy to please and all the better for it!
For example:
Wake up - need wee
Have wee - what's that smell
What's that noise - recognise that voice - go there
Wag tail - have pat
Bored - find bed lay down
What's that noise - recognise that voice - have breakfast
What's that - recognise that object - lead - get excited walk
Walking - what's that smell
Walking - what's that smell
Walking - another dag - what's that smell
Walking - oh back home
Bored - find fed lay down
And so on and on.
I don't think they really want or miss things unless you remind them, e.g. walking past the biscuit box etc.
They feel detachment however I don't think they fully understand it, rather when they see you again, they remember very briefly your smell and associate it with walks and biscuits and get very excited, then forget and return to 'bored and bed' phase.
That's why they're so loving and easy to please and all the better for it!
Last week the OH took the dog out into the garden and walked to the edge of the woods, but wouldn't go in as she didn't have her boots on. She stopped, the dog stopped. Dog looked at her shoes, then at her in a disapproving way, then back at her shoes, then sat down. He then refused to move until she relented, went back in the house and put on her wellies. Makes you wonder who is training whom?
I think the above is very simplistic. I may be wrong but ours does seem to recognise a small number of words, some of which are pretty similar.
As an example, if you ask where his bowl is he will actively leave the room and run around the house to find his food bowl and bring it to you. He does appear to differentiate between bowl, ball and bone for example
He's a spaniel, so in some ways I think he's pretty clever. Although if you ask what he's thinking I think the standard spaniel answer is "not very much" as they're complete idiots.
I would say he recognises routine, and he definitely remembers things as if you take him out just after he's found something of interest in the house - once you return home he will bolt straight for the source of the interesting smell (as an example).
He also reacts to next door's Grandkids visiting by standing at the back door if he hears their voices through the wall. He's probably linking this to food though as they just tend to pass him biscuits through the fence
As an example, if you ask where his bowl is he will actively leave the room and run around the house to find his food bowl and bring it to you. He does appear to differentiate between bowl, ball and bone for example
He's a spaniel, so in some ways I think he's pretty clever. Although if you ask what he's thinking I think the standard spaniel answer is "not very much" as they're complete idiots.
I would say he recognises routine, and he definitely remembers things as if you take him out just after he's found something of interest in the house - once you return home he will bolt straight for the source of the interesting smell (as an example).
He also reacts to next door's Grandkids visiting by standing at the back door if he hears their voices through the wall. He's probably linking this to food though as they just tend to pass him biscuits through the fence
dundarach said:
I think dogs live principally 'in the moment'
For example:
Wake up - need wee
Have wee - what's that smell
What's that noise - recognise that voice - go there
Wag tail - have pat
Bored - find bed lay down
What's that noise - recognise that voice - have breakfast
What's that - recognise that object - lead - get excited walk
Walking - what's that smell
Walking - what's that smell
Walking - another dag - what's that smell
Walking - oh back home
Bored - find fed lay down
And so on and on.
I don't think they really want or miss things unless you remind them, e.g. walking past the biscuit box etc.
They feel detachment however I don't think they fully understand it, rather when they see you again, they remember very briefly your smell and associate it with walks and biscuits and get very excited, then forget and return to 'bored and bed' phase.
That's why they're so loving and easy to please and all the better for it!
I don't think they live for the moment..... For example:
Wake up - need wee
Have wee - what's that smell
What's that noise - recognise that voice - go there
Wag tail - have pat
Bored - find bed lay down
What's that noise - recognise that voice - have breakfast
What's that - recognise that object - lead - get excited walk
Walking - what's that smell
Walking - what's that smell
Walking - another dag - what's that smell
Walking - oh back home
Bored - find fed lay down
And so on and on.
I don't think they really want or miss things unless you remind them, e.g. walking past the biscuit box etc.
They feel detachment however I don't think they fully understand it, rather when they see you again, they remember very briefly your smell and associate it with walks and biscuits and get very excited, then forget and return to 'bored and bed' phase.
That's why they're so loving and easy to please and all the better for it!
Our Golden Doodles are very communicative..... they 'talk' to us asking us to do things for them! They know when tea time is and they know when they want us to go to bed. One of them will sit and start grumbling at us and look at the stairs. She knows what she wants and she tells us
As far as the telly is concerned, they all watch it. I did hear somewhere that they never used to be able to see old CRT based TV's because the refresh rate of the screen made it impossible to decipher. With modern LCD panels with 100mhz plus refresh rates, they now see what we see (but in there doggy way!)
super7 said:
I don't think they live for the moment.....
Our Golden Doodles are very communicative..... they 'talk' to us asking us to do things for them! They know when tea time is and they know when they want us to go to bed. One of them will sit and start grumbling at us and look at the stairs. She knows what she wants and she tells us
As far as the telly is concerned, they all watch it. I did hear somewhere that they never used to be able to see old CRT based TV's because the refresh rate of the screen made it impossible to decipher. With modern LCD panels with 100mhz plus refresh rates, they now see what we see (but in there doggy way!)
Yes mine does that, she loves the telly.Our Golden Doodles are very communicative..... they 'talk' to us asking us to do things for them! They know when tea time is and they know when they want us to go to bed. One of them will sit and start grumbling at us and look at the stairs. She knows what she wants and she tells us
As far as the telly is concerned, they all watch it. I did hear somewhere that they never used to be able to see old CRT based TV's because the refresh rate of the screen made it impossible to decipher. With modern LCD panels with 100mhz plus refresh rates, they now see what we see (but in there doggy way!)
However I don't think they think to themselves 'I'm bored of the food I'm eating' or 'What am I doing later' for example.
I think they think - I'm hungry, I enjoy a walk, I enjoy a cuddle, I don't enjoy a bath etc.
I think their thought processes are entirely focused around direct emotional responses good and bad.
I don't think a dog could rationalise dieting or building a pile of sticks or even using a stick as a tool. The idea that a dog might think, if I use this stick to fish out that biscuit I don't believe is something they can consider.
Rather they go: Biscuit smell, locate biscuit, can't get biscuit, bark and shout, still can't get biscuit, get angry etc.
Communication isn't thinking (I don't think), nor is memory it's just linking experiences together.
(That said, she has me well trained!)
super7 said:
I don't think they live for the moment.....
Our Golden Doodles are very communicative..... they 'talk' to us asking us to do things for them! They know when tea time is and they know when they want us to go to bed. One of them will sit and start grumbling at us and look at the stairs. She knows what she wants and she tells us
As far as the telly is concerned, they all watch it. I did hear somewhere that they never used to be able to see old CRT based TV's because the refresh rate of the screen made it impossible to decipher. With modern LCD panels with 100mhz plus refresh rates, they now see what we see (but in there doggy way!)
There’s a tV show/cartoon that is allegedly designed to appeal to digs because it’s filmed entirely in blues and yellows, which dog eyes see properly apparently. Our Golden Doodles are very communicative..... they 'talk' to us asking us to do things for them! They know when tea time is and they know when they want us to go to bed. One of them will sit and start grumbling at us and look at the stairs. She knows what she wants and she tells us
As far as the telly is concerned, they all watch it. I did hear somewhere that they never used to be able to see old CRT based TV's because the refresh rate of the screen made it impossible to decipher. With modern LCD panels with 100mhz plus refresh rates, they now see what we see (but in there doggy way!)
Yes LCD much easier to see too. My dog will often lunge at let’s say a squirrel on the tele programme and then try to look behind it to see where it’s gone. But often, also totally ignores such things.
Thanks everybody on your insight into a dogs world, most illuminting and amusing.
TTMonkey
You are correct in your assumption about dog ownership, perhaps smile is the wrong word but I think I got my meaning across, that “happy look”.
I would very much like to have a dog but I live in flat with communal gardens, not all people like dogs, and there are occasions when I’d be out for say four to five hours at a time so wouldn’t want to leave it on its own for such a long time.
LimaDelta
That’s brilliant! I bet she doesn't make that mistake again.
TTMonkey
You are correct in your assumption about dog ownership, perhaps smile is the wrong word but I think I got my meaning across, that “happy look”.
I would very much like to have a dog but I live in flat with communal gardens, not all people like dogs, and there are occasions when I’d be out for say four to five hours at a time so wouldn’t want to leave it on its own for such a long time.
LimaDelta
That’s brilliant! I bet she doesn't make that mistake again.
Edited by lancslad58 on Thursday 12th October 17:29
dundarach said:
I think dogs live principally 'in the moment'
For example:
Wake up - need wee
Have wee - what's that smell
What's that noise - recognise that voice - go there
Wag tail - have pat
Bored - find bed lay down
What's that noise - recognise that voice - have breakfast
What's that - recognise that object - lead - get excited walk
Walking - what's that smell
Walking - what's that smell
Walking - another dag - what's that smell
Walking - oh back home
Bored - find fed lay down
And so on and on.
I don't think they really want or miss things unless you remind them, e.g. walking past the biscuit box etc.
They feel detachment however I don't think they fully understand it, rather when they see you again, they remember very briefly your smell and associate it with walks and biscuits and get very excited, then forget and return to 'bored and bed' phase.
That's why they're so loving and easy to please and all the better for it!
Pretty much this. Ours would be walking for 10 hours a day if he could and we had the time or energy to do it. I walk 60 km a week and I don’t do all his walks. For example:
Wake up - need wee
Have wee - what's that smell
What's that noise - recognise that voice - go there
Wag tail - have pat
Bored - find bed lay down
What's that noise - recognise that voice - have breakfast
What's that - recognise that object - lead - get excited walk
Walking - what's that smell
Walking - what's that smell
Walking - another dag - what's that smell
Walking - oh back home
Bored - find fed lay down
And so on and on.
I don't think they really want or miss things unless you remind them, e.g. walking past the biscuit box etc.
They feel detachment however I don't think they fully understand it, rather when they see you again, they remember very briefly your smell and associate it with walks and biscuits and get very excited, then forget and return to 'bored and bed' phase.
That's why they're so loving and easy to please and all the better for it!
colin_p said:
A couple of old adages;
If a dog;
Cannot shag it or eat it, then they piss on it.
Lock your dog and wife / girlfriend in the car boot for an hour. Guess which one will be pleased to see you and not hold a grudge.
My car boot isn’t big enough, so tend to use the cupboard under the stairs. Same overall affect though. If a dog;
Cannot shag it or eat it, then they piss on it.
Lock your dog and wife / girlfriend in the car boot for an hour. Guess which one will be pleased to see you and not hold a grudge.
HTH.
super7 said:
As far as the telly is concerned, they all watch it. I did hear somewhere that they never used to be able to see old CRT based TV's because the refresh rate of the screen made it impossible to decipher. With modern LCD panels with 100mhz plus refresh rates, they now see what we see (but in there doggy way!)
Do dogs have poor eyesight generally. I often see dogs when I am out walking and it appears they hear me, freeze and stare towards me. Its like they heard something but can't see what caused the noise. Cotty said:
super7 said:
As far as the telly is concerned, they all watch it. I did hear somewhere that they never used to be able to see old CRT based TV's because the refresh rate of the screen made it impossible to decipher. With modern LCD panels with 100mhz plus refresh rates, they now see what we see (but in there doggy way!)
Do dogs have poor eyesight generally. I often see dogs when I am out walking and it appears they hear me, freeze and stare towards me. Its like they heard something but can't see what caused the noise. BoRED S2upid said:
Yeah I think so hearing and smell at 11 sight right down there IMO.
Dogs are near sighted I believe. Very good at detecting motion, better night vision than us and better peripheral vision but not great at judging distance. Must be interesting moving at the pace a greyhound can when you can’t really see with much clarity beyond ~10m away.BoRED S2upid said:
Cotty said:
super7 said:
As far as the telly is concerned, they all watch it. I did hear somewhere that they never used to be able to see old CRT based TV's because the refresh rate of the screen made it impossible to decipher. With modern LCD panels with 100mhz plus refresh rates, they now see what we see (but in there doggy way!)
Do dogs have poor eyesight generally. I often see dogs when I am out walking and it appears they hear me, freeze and stare towards me. Its like they heard something but can't see what caused the noise. My Collie cross can spot a deer from a lon long way away. But he won't watch telly, even when I put a utube up of squirrels.
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