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Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

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Re: Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

#51

Post by mschuster91 »

NetOpWibby wrote: post #21
hermitdev wrote: post #5

In my experience, the dogs ive been around dont generally look sad. The totality of their facial expressions show their emotion. Ive a one year old pup, border collie/labrador mix. I can take a quick glance at his face and know exactly how he's feeling. Probably 80% of the time, its pure joy. Happy to run around, chew on toys, jump on the furniture and try and play (unrequitedly) with our cats. About another 10%, he'…

Damn, I cannot wait to have a dog.

Think about a cat instead ;)

Seriously, dogs are a shitload of work and especially, no matter how fucked the weather outside is, you gotta take the dog to walks so that the dog can take a dump. In addition, many of the larger breeds are working dogs which means that they require massive amounts of attention and daily exercise so they don't literally go mad. Please do proper research upon the characteristics of your desired breed, and don't take in a rescue dog as your first dog either. Rescue dogs can and will have psychological issues.

Re: Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

#52

Post by matwood »

mschuster91 wrote: post #51
NetOpWibby wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Damn, I cannot wait to have a dog.

Think about a cat instead ;) Seriously, dogs are a shitload of work and especially, no matter how fucked the weather outside is, you gotta take the dog to walks so that the dog can take a dump. In addition, many of the larger breeds are working dogs which means that they require massive amounts of attention and daily exercise so they don't literally go mad. Please do proper research upon the characteristics of your d…

I've had cats over the years, and currently have 1 cat and 3 dogs (my wife is part of a dog rescue). While cats are easier, IMO they do not give the same emotional reward that dogs give.

You are absolutely right about understanding the breed and the work a dog requires. It makes my wife and I sad whenever we see someone get a 'cute' working dog puppy that requires proper exercise, and then barely letting it outside 2x/day.

Any dog can have psychological issues, so all dogs should be trained. I highly recommend taking a training class with any new dog. The basics are easy, and generally work.

EDIT I wanted to also add that insurance is a good thing to have with a dog. I never want to be in the vet and have to make a medical decision based on cost. My 2 year old dog had to have back surgery and the vet explained that many people just put the dog down when this injury happens even though it's completely fixable and recoverable otherwise.

Re: Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

#53

Post by ubercow13 »

Shivetya wrote: post #50
Joakal wrote: post #26

This is a good opportunity to educate the general [HN] community about dogs: 1. They can only see blue/yellow. Not like humans' RGB. 2. They are short sighted. For far away objects, their sight is like a T-Rex, they can see moving objects, not stationary objects. Remain still, and they can't see you. Then again, they can smell you, especially if it's downwind. 3. Their flicker fusion threshold is higher than humans.…

So, is fluorescent lighting in an area with dogs would be bad, or not? Is there method to determine which type of lighting is best? I expect even LED bulbs could flicker based on quality of the line. Am I wrong in assuming incandescent bulbs would be better

LEDs can be very bad, depending on the circuitry, to the extent that it's uncomfortable for peoples. Incandescent bulbs won't flicker.

Re: Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

#54

Post by [deleted] »

matwood wrote: post #52
mschuster91 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Think about a cat instead ;) Seriously, dogs are a shitload of work and especially, no matter how fucked the weather outside is, you gotta take the dog to walks so that the dog can take a dump. In addition, many of the larger breeds are working dogs which means that they require massive amounts of attention and daily exercise so they don't literally go mad. Please do proper research upon the characteristics of your d…

I've had cats over the years, and currently have 1 cat and 3 dogs (my wife is part of a dog rescue). While cats are easier, IMO they do not give the same emotional reward that dogs give. You are absolutely right about understanding the breed and the work a dog requires. It makes my wife and I sad whenever we see someone get a 'cute' working dog puppy that requires proper exercise, and then barely letting it outside 2…

[deleted]

Re: Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

#55

Post by barry-cotter »

solidsnack9000 wrote: post #24
barry-cotter wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'd be very surprised if Chihuahuas and Great Danes literally have all the same bits. Canines are the most morphologically diverse animal, surpassing even humans. If there aren’t dog breeds that all have or lack a particular muscle, type of hair or bone I’ll be very surprised. Poodles have webbed feet for one, or just consider how some breeds have floppy and others pointed ears. It’s reasonably likely the muscles tha…

Did a cursory search and it seems to be common wisdom that all dog breeds have the same number of bones and muscles. While there are many differences between breeds and individual dogs, there are also common factors that link them together. For example, all breeds have an excellent sense of smell and hearing and have the same number of bones which are tied together by the same number of muscles, tendons and ligaments…

I’m sure 99% or more of muscles and bones are shared across the various dog breeds but humans have about as much genetic diversity as the average chimpanzee troupe and we have differences in our musculature. For dogs to be more uniform than humans given the speed and vigour of selection seems unlikely. Some breeds should lack vestigial muscles and others have them by more or less random chance.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/91022/5-muscles-you-might-be-...

Re: Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

#56

Post by quietbritishjim »

viscanti wrote: post #35
hoseja wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What else is selective breeding than evolution where fitness is strongly influenced by a hairless ape?

The article mentions that the trait is observable at only 4 weeks old. It might not be crazy to think that Humans are more likely to select the puppies that demonstrate the trait. It might not be "natural" selection, but if Humans are making a substantial amount of the breeding decisions for dogs then it could still be a form of evolution.

Indeed, selective breeding is sometimes called "artificial selection" as a mirror to the term "natural selection". Both are types of evolution.

Re: Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

#57

Post by b_tterc_p »

Joakal wrote: post #26

This is a good opportunity to educate the general [HN] community about dogs: 1. They can only see blue/yellow. Not like humans' RGB. 2. They are short sighted. For far away objects, their sight is like a T-Rex, they can see moving objects, not stationary objects. Remain still, and they can't see you. Then again, they can smell you, especially if it's downwind. 3. Their flicker fusion threshold is higher than humans.…

I don’t think T-Rexes actually suffered from that problem.

Re: Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

#58

Post by Insanity »

b_tterc_p wrote: post #57
Joakal wrote: post #26

This is a good opportunity to educate the general [HN] community about dogs: 1. They can only see blue/yellow. Not like humans' RGB. 2. They are short sighted. For far away objects, their sight is like a T-Rex, they can see moving objects, not stationary objects. Remain still, and they can't see you. Then again, they can smell you, especially if it's downwind. 3. Their flicker fusion threshold is higher than humans.…

I don’t think T-Rexes actually suffered from that problem.

I think that was a "myth" indeed. But the OPs point is still valid. :)

Re: Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

#59

Post by bitcurious »

ubercow13 wrote: post #53
Shivetya wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, is fluorescent lighting in an area with dogs would be bad, or not? Is there method to determine which type of lighting is best? I expect even LED bulbs could flicker based on quality of the line. Am I wrong in assuming incandescent bulbs would be better

LEDs can be very bad, depending on the circuitry, to the extent that it's uncomfortable for peoples. Incandescent bulbs won't flicker.

Incandescent bulbs flicker at the rate of the AC current, but the flickering is brighter/dimmer rather than on/off because they stay radiant while hot and cool slowly.

Re: Dogs’ Eyes Have Changed Since Humans Befriended Them

#60

Post by Frondo »

miahi wrote: post #34
Joakal wrote: post #26

This is a good opportunity to educate the general [HN] community about dogs: 1. They can only see blue/yellow. Not like humans' RGB. 2. They are short sighted. For far away objects, their sight is like a T-Rex, they can see moving objects, not stationary objects. Remain still, and they can't see you. Then again, they can smell you, especially if it's downwind. 3. Their flicker fusion threshold is higher than humans.…

3. The flicker fusion issue mostly applies to cathode ray displays and moving pictures. Many LCDs use flickering light (PWM) for backlight, but usually at more than 200Hz. Better LCDs use linear current sources for backlight, so there's no flicker at all. An LCD should be fine even for dogs when static images are displayed.

Cheap LED bulbs actually flicker significantly, which I realized when I filmed using my camera's "slow motion" capture at 240 frames per second.

In our bedroom, I put in some LEDs, not realizing there could possibly be a difference between cheap and expensive ones. One night I filmed my cat doing something dumb in slow motion, and when I looked at the playback the whole room was strobing.

It was pretty wild. I might even still have the video, and could see about posting it somewhere.

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