Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

When did dogs become our best friends?

atlasobscura.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

121–130 of 244 posts

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#121

Post by bitxbitxbitcoin »

sph wrote: post #116
8338550bff96 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've made this argument many times and it always raises eyebrows and induces shrugs. We as a species co-evolved with some animals and not others. Our partnership with extends deep into the mists of pre-history. We and they have co-evolved to an extent to be better companions. Eating a dog is a profound betrayal unlike that of eating a horse. Come at me

I am OK with some cultures not eating some meats: pork for the muslims or jews, horse for some Western countries, sometimes rabbit. Where I'm from (Italy) we eat both horse and rabbits. But I too draw the line at eating dogs and cats, except during extreme survival situations where it's eat your pet (or fellow human) to avoid starvation. I feel eating canids and felids as taboo as eating a primate, or eating a human.

Just as there are places where eating canids and felids is not taboo - so too are there places where eating a primate is not taboo. A larger geography by far as far as I know.

By this argument and amount of places (not people), eating a primate might be less taboo than eating a canid or felid?

As an American, I feel the same cultural taboos and they’ve kept me from eating some things but I’ve been reconsidering. Horse and rabbit were delicious.

What about coyote or mountain lion though? Those are still but seldom eaten in America mostly by hunters.

Some people draw the line at not eating predators not because of cultural taboo but because of bio accumulation issues.

Fascinating ethnobiology and moral boundary discussion.

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#122

Post by Sprocklem »

antisthenes wrote: post #63
JohnBooty wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I generally agree that cities and apartments aren't great places for dogs. But a lot of dogs are rescues, and a lot of breeds are quite happy in apartments. There are also a lot of mitigations possible. There are dog walkers and dog sitters who come by and walk the dogs during the daytime. You can have multiple dogs that keep each other company. Etc. based on the number of dogs locked away in apartments all day barki…

> While I generally don't think we should be breeding dogs at all What do you mean by this? If we don't breed dogs, in about 15 years or so, there will be no dogs left at all.

I can't speak for GP, but I personally find it kind of fucked up that we selectively breed a lot of dogs for certain asthetic traits at the expense of their health. I assume they meant this brand of artificial selection rather than letting dogs reproduce at all.

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#123

Post by Jrjrir48 »

baal80spam wrote: post #117
Jrjrir48 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do hiking, the same. Pepper spray, knife etc are illegal here. I carry air horn for quick deployment, and petards (very small explosives). Saved my ass twice! Once I was surrounded by pack of four large dogs!

Wait, what? What country is a self-defense item like a pepper spray illegal in?

Most EU, some US states, some places have age limits...

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#124

Post by pmart123 »

lukan wrote: post #111
8338550bff96 wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've made this argument many times and it always raises eyebrows and induces shrugs. We as a species co-evolved with some animals and not others. Our partnership with extends deep into the mists of pre-history. We and they have co-evolved to an extent to be better companions. Eating a dog is a profound betrayal unlike that of eating a horse. Come at me

Compagnions and friends? Maybe when we were nomads and the dogs roamed around freely around the tribe. But most dogs today are locked in, most of the time and when they get outside, they are on a leash. Totally dependant on their human masters. I don't think I would describe that relationship as a partnership. Then there is the concept of breeding them, to establish certain "cute" traits, but cause great pain and mis…

There are still many instances where this partnership is the case though. Search and rescue, avalanche rescue, herding, security and law enforcement, disability assistance, bomb/drug detection, hunting, etc. A lot of the companion dogs are useless for these roles, but many popular breeds could perform these tasks if given the training. On the west coast, people generally seem much more active with their dogs imo.

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#125

Post by decafninja »

globular-toast wrote: post #86
empyrrhicist wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The cyclist hate is really demoralizing sometimes. Like, I'm out here trying to enjoy life and be healthy and people think it's funny to joke about murdering me.

Cars ruined cycling. The only way to avoid cars is to use a car yourself. The problem is then you need to do pointless supplementary exercise lest you become an incapable blob like they are. Driving to the gym it is then.

Maybe this is just me, but combining exercise with commute has never been practical for me. I still cycle to work, but I don't do it for exercise, only because it happens to be the fastest method in my present circumstances.

But still using it as an example, on my way to work I take the easiest, least hilly route to avoid any sweating as possible. On the way back, I take the most downhill route possible because I still want to wear the same pieces of clothing (say, a jacket) without having to wash it daily. In short, I don't go all out. Result - I don't lose weight at all nor has my physical fitness improved much.

Versus if I engaged in "pointless supplementary exercise", I do go all out, and after 30 minutes I'm all drenched in sweat.

My present circumstances don't allow it, but I imagine if I could drive the same distance to work, I would save about 30-60 minutes which I could in theory use to engage in an all-out workout.

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#126

Post by imzadi »

nervousvarun wrote: post #66
hasty_pudding wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The founding fathers would think that allowing the government to have a database on ANYTHING is a bad idea. Plus dog poop is ecologically good for the environment and fertilizes nature.

Apparently, dog poop is not an effective fertilizer and is considered harmful for grass? Was news to me as a dog owner who allows our dog to do her business in the back yard (but would never allow it on a public walkway/area). https://lawnlove.com/blog/is-dog-poop-bad-for-grass/

I think any poop from a carnivore is bad for grass, and everything else. You can compost it and it will be usable after about 1.5 years.

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#127

Post by imzadi »

magicalhippo wrote: post #89

Reminded me of the experiment to domesticate silver foxes[1]. Apparently they got quite tame foxes in just 30 generations. Interestingly, while they were selected purely for lack of aggression towards humans they started to develop dog-like physical traits. Hasn't been replicated yet, and doubtfully will, but interesting. [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domesticated_silver_fox

It's interesting, though, because anyone who has ever owned a cat knows that they are only barely domesticated. It might be something in the canine brain that makes it easy to domesticate them.

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#128

Post by partiallypro »

Ancient Romans and Greeks would write things about their dogs and have custom grave stones made, one of my favorites reads:

"My eyes were wet with tears, our little dog, when I bore thee (to the grave)... So, Patricus, never again shall thou give me a thousand kisses. Never canst thou be contentedly in my lap. In sadness have I buried thee, and thou deservist. In a resting place of marble, I have put thee for all time by the side of my shade. In thy qualities, sagacious thou wert like a human being. Ah, me! What a loved companion have we lost!"

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#129

Post by abid786 »

baal80spam wrote: post #117
Jrjrir48 wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do hiking, the same. Pepper spray, knife etc are illegal here. I carry air horn for quick deployment, and petards (very small explosives). Saved my ass twice! Once I was surrounded by pack of four large dogs!

Wait, what? What country is a self-defense item like a pepper spray illegal in?

You’re not allowed to carry pepper spray in Canada for self defence purposes

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#130

Post by aeyes »

alistairSH wrote: post #106
klyrs wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When in Rome... open/constitutional carry, stand your ground?

Open carry is legal in both states. But I want nothing to do with owning/carrying guns. And haven't ever felt the need - most dogs give up chase once you pass their property. And I've only had a dog get my back tire once, and never flesh (though it does happen).

If there is more than one dog then you are almost always in big trouble.

I got bitten on a bike before, we have lots of aggressive stray dogs here. Even running routes have to be carefully planned to avoid the dogs.

Post reply on HN