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When did dogs become our best friends?

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Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#131

Post by imzadi »

CalRobert wrote: post #78
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.

Sadly it's OK to kill bicyclists in the US. I moved to the Netherlands to avoid jokes about murdering me and my children at standups. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/opinion/sunday/is-it-ok-t...

I've long believed that riding a bike should require a license and that cycling laws need to be part of getting licenses for both the cyclist and drivers. Part of the problem is, most people don't actually know the laws for operating a bicycle, including most cyclists. I know this is an unpopular opinion.

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#132

Post by bagels »

sib wrote: post #101
prmoustache wrote: post #51

As a cyclist, I can't say dogs are my best friends. OTOH I have had great bonds with some cats.

Bikers gotta watch out for the cats as well! https://www.kuow.org/stories/cougar-attack-washington-state-...

Deadly and non-deadly mountain lion attacks are rare, but dog attacks are not rare.

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#133

Post by bagels »

Unfrozen0688 wrote: post #56
prmoustache wrote: post #51

As a cyclist, I can't say dogs are my best friends. OTOH I have had great bonds with some cats.

You have stray dogs where you live or what? Cant say cycling has affected my views on dogs.

I've been bitten by off leash dogs in California. They often give chase and try to attack your legs or bike wheels causing a crash.

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#135

Post by vkou »

IncreasePosts wrote: post #110
sph wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do primates in the wild keep pets? I know some captive gorillas had cats.

Baboons have been observed to capture puppies from feral dogs and integrate them into their troop.

It's been observed by one television documentary that, among other things, included a dog with a collar in one of these shots (with no explanation for the context).

There's no peer-reviewed scientific research describing this phenomena. Or even any attempt at gathering any data with something resembling scientific rigor.

A simpler explanation is that these dogs and baboons are just... Living side-by-side in a garbage dump. And that the film-makers just didn't include any footage that didn't fit their narrative.

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#137

Post by hsjsbeebue »

temporarely wrote: post #24
sph wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I strongly agree and it's apparent not everybody shares this opinion. I grew up in the countryside in the middle of nowhere, my dog used to have an enormous backyard to run in, and was cheeky enough to have made a hole in the fence when that time of the year came and he really wanted to leave for a couple days at a time, either to sire some puppies, or to roll around in horse dung. We used a leash whenever we took hi…

> Cats on the other hand are much more like humans - cat's dig urbanism, can hang out at a cafe for hours, sit on a couch watching the tube all day, they happily adapt.. So that' why we say "there's a cool cat" but you never hear anything about "cool dogs". So your theory is correct in my opinion: dogs are good rural friends and cats are good urban friends. There is also the matter of dog poop. Has anyone every compl…

Small dogs can do OK in your typical suburban block. (Block as in land for single dwelling). They need walks though yes.

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#138

Post by [deleted] »

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).

[deleted]

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#139

Post by chasd00 »

klyrs wrote: post #99
alistairSH wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Cycling in rural Virginia/West Virginia has this risk as well. 99% of pooches just want to run along and make noise, but 1/100 wants flesh. The solution - never be the slowest in the group!

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

i was walking my two dogs Sunday before last and was jumped by pitbulls roaming the neighborhood. A passing Dominos delivery driver pretty much saved the lives of both my dogs. I got him to role down his window and literally threw one of my dogs through it, then when the other one got separated for a min she literally jumped through the open window too. I jumped in and paid the driver $20 to take me home, the pits chased the car for maybe a block.

I have a pistol and was thinking about carrying it but that means every time i take my dogs for a walk i have to get it out of the safe and put it back in the safe. I have kids so can't just hang a holster with the leashes. Too much hassle and I know i'll eventually stop taking it with me. What i ended up doing was getting bear spray that can attach to the leashes. Now I can't forget to take protection with me when taking the dogs out because it's physically attached to the leash.

edit: this happened in Dallas TX

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#140

Post by vkou »

xandrius wrote: post #119
vkou wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My bar for low-trust is 'Should I expect to have to bribe public and private officials to get them to perform their duties, most of the time'? The US is relatively high trust in this space. And I don't know of many countries that will pass the bike test. Certainly, nowhere in Europe would. Maybe we could try a different test - how afraid is the society of itself. Count how often you see cops, how well-armed they are,…

For me the test is: if possible, would an individual skip paying the ticket for a public transport if they know almost nobody will check? It's so trivial and yet it shows how much the society cares about its own systems functioning properly or not.

That's a better test. There are a lot of places with 95%+ fare compliance where I wouldn't leave my bike unlocked for an instant.

It only takes one asshole out of thousands to steal a bike, and every society has at least one asshole.

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