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When did dogs become our best friends?

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Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#161

Post by leosanchez »

mckn1ght wrote: post #142
bitxbitxbitcoin wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. Hors…

And then you have a ton of people that eat beef all the time, vs a ton of people that revere cows; in certain places you can be imprisoned or lynched for slaughtering one, google "cow vigilantism". It always interests me to consider just how relative taboos can be.

> in certain places you can be imprisoned or lynched for slaughtering one

Only one country isn't it ?

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#162

Post by empyrrhicist »

stef25 wrote: post #156
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.

I have no hate towards them, what I said what tongue in cheeck. After relying on two wheels (motorbike mainly) for about 10 years, I get the cyclists viewpoint. It's certainly not cool to joke about murdering anyone, cyclist or not. It's just that ... they do tend to flaunt the rules here in Brussels. It's partly clear why (losing momentum on a bicycle sucks) but also extremely stupid to throw yourself (and your two…

I get annoyed at cyclists who ride irresponsibly too - I also live in a place where people HATE cyclists beyond any and all reason, and in general I think we're all being failed by our infrastructure first and foremost.

You didn't joke about killing cyclists, but that's where the culture is where I'm from, so I'm touchy about it.

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#163

Post by canjobear »

imzadi wrote: post #127
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.

Cats aren't as deeply domesticated as dogs but there's clearly been some breeding effect which you see when you compare a housecat against a true wildcat (felis silvestris). The main thing is that housecats are comfortable around humans as long as they're exposed to humans within a critical age window, even if they were born in the wild to a feral cat. In contrast, wildcats never become comfortable around humans and are effectively always feral.

Housecats also have a number of behaviors that seem only distantly related to things that would be useful in the wild, such as meowing for attention. Another weird behavior is when cats line up dead mice outside their owner's bedroom door like a present. There's clearly some relationship that they understand between themselves and their owner.

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#164

Post by nradov »

llamaimperative wrote: post #141
nradov wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hardly anyone in NYC would comply with such a law. They would just ignore it. The city could perhaps require DNA testing by animal shelters and legitimate breeders within it's borders. But many dogs come from elsewhere, or from backyard breeders who don't care about laws.

Dogs in NYC are already required to wear tags with their rabies vaccination statuses and IDs. That also isn't really checked, but it absolutely could be by simply stopping people walking their dogs and requesting to see their ID tag.

"Your papers, please."

Come on, you can't be serious. Police and code enforcement officers aren't going to stop random dog walkers on the street to demand DNA test results. Real Americans don't tolerate that kind of government overreach, and the authorities already didn't even have time to investigate actual crimes.

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#165

Post by westmeal »

partiallypro wrote: post #128

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 tim…

Damn he must've been the goodest boy of all time, rest in peace Patricus.

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#166

Post by ethanbond »

nradov wrote: post #164
llamaimperative wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dogs in NYC are already required to wear tags with their rabies vaccination statuses and IDs. That also isn't really checked, but it absolutely could be by simply stopping people walking their dogs and requesting to see their ID tag.

"Your papers, please." Come on, you can't be serious. Police and code enforcement officers aren't going to stop random dog walkers on the street to demand DNA test results. Real Americans don't tolerate that kind of government overreach, and the authorities already didn't even have time to investigate actual crimes.

"Demand DNA test results" == "check that they have a specific tag on their collar"

I didn't say they are going to, and you didn't say they wouldn't. You said they couldn't (because people "would just ignore it") and I said they absolutely could. Which is true.

Re "Real Americans", get a grip.

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#167

Post by xandrius »

gadders wrote: post #150
xandrius wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good point. I really don't think a country can switch side (high to low and viceversa) within a short timespan, maybe not even within a generation. So, if you want to solve the issue, you use the methods which work in the affected area. In high trust, as long as the thing is seeing benefitting most, it is often followed. In low trust, breaking a rule is often seen as a sign of independence and generally being cool, s…

The UK has gone from high to low in a generation. People no longer (for instance) leave their children (or even their dogs) outside shops whilst they go inside.

So you're saying that in the 70/80s people trusted each other much more?

I'm not sure specifically about kids and dogs but I'm not quite sure that was the case then, given the extremely huge heterogeneous society that was already back then. What do you think?

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#168

Post by xandrius »

vkou wrote: post #140
xandrius wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Any example?

Also high trust != absolutely no crime ever

It's the difference between getting your bike stolen because of a random asshole and knowing your bike will be stolen by someone (also arguably an asshole).

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#169

Post by westmeal »

Jrjrir48 wrote: post #102
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.

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!

No offense but why do you care what the law says when you're by yourself in the middle of the wilderness?

Re: When did dogs become our best friends?

#170

Post by hasty_pudding »

CalRobert wrote: post #77
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.

Dog poop can blind children and is horrible for the environment. https://www.cdc.gov/parasites/toxocariasis/ https://www.popsci.com/environment/dog-poop-pollution/

DONT EAT THE POOP.

and you won't get that disease.

Problem solved.

And dont let your kids eat any animal poop

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