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tygger said:
What better way to ensure the survival of your species than to align yourself and gain favor with the most dominant species on the planet? After all, most dogs in todays world do NOT even work. Yet they quickly gain a sacred place in the hearts of their owners and become as loved as children. I suppose their "job," is to respond to our behavior in order to be taken care of and loved.
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Dogs are superior to humans in a number of ways- hearing, smell, speed, natural weapons, traction, balance, placement of vital organs to be protected from attack, all-weather coat, and often superior fighting instincts etc. We have bigger brains(a biggie) and opposable thumbs.
Some dogs, of course, function as only as companions but other dogs provide services from watch/guard dog, drug & bomb dogs, hospital companions, seeing-eye-dogs, rodent-catching, sheep & cattle herding, goose driving, earthquake sniffers, hunting & tracking, and many more. Truly a relationship in which two species have joined forces to work as one.
In return, the dogs recieve food, housing, heat in the winter, medical care, flea/tick control services, companionship from an always interesting species, and probably a longer life span. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
It is hard to quantify a dog's intelligence vs human but I would guess that many dogs understand some subtleties about human emotional makeup that most humans are unware of. And much of the intricate scents that characterize those human emotions. My Chesapeake has an ability to figure out spatial problems in a way that is truly amazing. I'll bet there are many different types of intelligence in the different lifeforms that surely have to inhabit the many different corners of the universe.
tygger said:
What better way to ensure the survival of your species than to align yourself and gain favor with the most dominant species on the planet? After all, most dogs in todays world do NOT even work. Yet they quickly gain a sacred place in the hearts of their owners and become as loved as children. I suppose their "job," is to respond to our behavior in order to be taken care of and loved.
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Dogs are superior to humans in a number of ways- hearing, smell, speed, natural weapons, traction, balance, placement of vital organs to be protected from attack, all-weather coat, and often superior fighting instincts etc. We have bigger brains(a biggie) and opposable thumbs.
Some dogs, of course, function as only as companions but other dogs provide services from watch/guard dog, drug & bomb dogs, hospital companions, seeing-eye-dogs, rodent-catching, sheep & cattle herding, goose driving, earthquake sniffers, hunting & tracking, and many more. Truly a relationship in which two species have joined forces to work as one.
In return, the dogs recieve food, housing, heat in the winter, medical care, flea/tick control services, companionship from an always interesting species, and probably a longer life span. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif
It is hard to quantify a dog's intelligence vs human but I would guess that many dogs understand some subtleties about human emotional makeup that most humans are unware of. And much of the intricate scents that characterize those human emotions. My Chesapeake has an ability to figure out spatial problems in a way that is truly amazing. I'll bet there are many different types of intelligence in the different lifeforms that surely have to inhabit the many different corners of the universe.