Even cats aren't only in it for the food. Although they will eat you if you die and they have access to your corpse..
I think dogs will do this too.
What is a Dog?
21–30 of 47 posts
Re: What is a Dog?
#22Re: What is a Dog?
#23I'm not sure I fully agree with the article's takeaway that dogs are only in it for the food. It's a bit of a crude summary. In addition to food, humans provide shelter, protection, love, attention, play time, and companionship - I don't think food is the only driver of the relationship. My dog will hide behind me if he's scared, and enjoys attention from people he doesn't know - irrespective of whether they provide…
I completely disagree with the "motivated by food" theory. In my experience, dogs only want you to throw the ball.
Re: What is a Dog?
#24I'm not sure I fully agree with the article's takeaway that dogs are only in it for the food. It's a bit of a crude summary. In addition to food, humans provide shelter, protection, love, attention, play time, and companionship - I don't think food is the only driver of the relationship. My dog will hide behind me if he's scared, and enjoys attention from people he doesn't know - irrespective of whether they provide…
Any trainer can tell you some breeds just care more about food than others. My German Shepherd would do anything for a piece of chicken. He would suddenly seem to understand English. My boxer couldn’t care less for treats as a motivator - positive attention was the absolute only way to mold behavior. Having had the GSD first, it took some adjustment for me to learn to train a dog that just didn’t care about food. The…
What you're saying is also confirmed by research recently cited in the excellent book The Domestic Dog (and may also be driven by in-breed variance): https://www.amazon.com/Domestic-Dog-Evolution-Behavior-Inter...
Great read for people looking for a more rigorous treatment of dog behavior and psychology.
Re: What is a Dog?
#25Even cats aren't only in it for the food. Although they will eat you if you die and they have access to your corpse..
I think dogs will do this too.
But there is also the possibility that your dog will guard your corpse and not let strangers or other animals near it (like Talero). And a lesser possibility that your dog will guard your grave until it dies [0].
Cats? They'll sit on your corpse to interview servants to replace you.
Re: What is a Dog?
#26I'm not sure I fully agree with the article's takeaway that dogs are only in it for the food. It's a bit of a crude summary. In addition to food, humans provide shelter, protection, love, attention, play time, and companionship - I don't think food is the only driver of the relationship. My dog will hide behind me if he's scared, and enjoys attention from people he doesn't know - irrespective of whether they provide…
Any trainer can tell you some breeds just care more about food than others. My German Shepherd would do anything for a piece of chicken. He would suddenly seem to understand English. My boxer couldn’t care less for treats as a motivator - positive attention was the absolute only way to mold behavior. Having had the GSD first, it took some adjustment for me to learn to train a dog that just didn’t care about food. The…
Some dogs care more about food than others. There are lots of counterexamples.
I grew up with a boxer that was almost completely food motivated. The neighbor's GSD was almost completely play motivated, and would skip meals in the hopes that someone would just. throw. the. ball.
Your breeder's statement is like stereotyping human personalities by ethnicity or gender - something may show up strongly in the statistics, but it's a poor tool to apply when interacting with individuals.
Re: What is a Dog?
#27Re: What is a Dog?
#28Clearly the author is a cat person.
Re: What is a Dog?
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think dogs will do this too.
I'm done with it, what do I care? Although it is more traumatic for whoever has to deal with the body.
It's traumatic for the dog, too. Often, when someone with a dog is found dead, the dog will have bitten (or eaten) their face, in the hopes of waking up their owner.
> The dogs start biting and eating as a form of animal instinct. They notice you’re dead by your smell and lack of reaction, and they come and lick the unclothed areas to wake you up. If you’re dead and there’s no reaction, they switch and enter the next level—from licking to biting. That’s all. It is not a matter of hunger.
Quite sad, really.
Re: What is a Dog?
#30The argument against this article reminds me of the notoriously tear-jerking Futurama episode in which Fry tells his dog to wait outside the building for a moment. Fry accidentally cryogenically freezes himself while in the building and wakes up in the future, but his dog had waited there for his owner for the rest of his life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XECQApj9IJs