How do dogs think

[TwigtheWonderkid]

The Gauge said:

Some breeds are regarded as more intelligent than others, such as working breeds etc. I wonder if the less intelligent breeds are actually chuckling away at them, wondering why they are doing so much work for their human instead of being lazy like them.

Maybe the non working breeds are actually more intelligent for realising this? Or are they the social underclass similar to council dwelling idle dole cheat scum?

My friend's greyhound is as thick as mince, but my friend is convinced the dog is highly intelligent, because he refused to respond to any commands and just suits itself. I say it's badly trained, he says it's got a mind of its own and is making complex decisions about what it wants to do.

[durbster]

Until I got a dog I had no idea how expressive they were. We can definitely read what our dog needs a lot of the time, and expressions are a large part of that.

Apparently this is not coincidental and the muscles around the eyes of domesticated dogs are far better tuned to communicate with humans than those in wild dogs. This makes sense - the most expressive dogs would be the ones that are more likely to get what they need and therefore survive. There's a study about it here: https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.1820653...

I've also been impressed with their problem solving ability. I remember coming home once and I couldn't open the door because the dog's treat thing was jammed under it. She figured out what was going on straight away and moved the treat so we could open the door. I was impressed by that. She was able to recognise there was a problem and figure out the solution immediately.

I often wonder if dogs have some kind of a sense of humour. She does stuff that she seems to gain absolutely nothing from, other than our amusement. They are certainly playful so it's perhaps not a stretch.

[Jasandjules]

Thats What She Said said:

I remember seeing a programme on the TV a few years ago that covered this.

They were surmising that when the humans left the house their scent slowly dissapates. If they return to house at roughly the same time every day, the dog see's the pattern. So the dog knows that when the scent gets to a certain level, the human will return soon.

hmm, except I WFH but the dogs know when it is dinner time. They are standing staring at me about 10 minutes before 6pm and they will get quite harrumphy if they are not fed on time.......

[Sheets Tabuer]

I'd say the Mrs dog 95% of the time thinks about food, the other 5% it's asleep or having a pee.

[Roofless Toothless]

durbster said:

… I often wonder if dogs have some kind of a sense of humour ….

I am convinced dogs have a sense of humour in exactly the way that cats don’t.

[loquacious]

I have no idea how dogs think (pictures, some form of bark/growl language?) but I know they do think. I also know they have internal clocks that are far more accurate than ours (I swear mine can tell time, they always know when it's breakfast/dinner/ Jumbone time, and when it's time for a walk etc) and I also know that they know a lot of our words.

Bella (the black Lab) is still only young but she already knows a lot of words - get pink piggy - and off she goes and fetches her small plastic pink piggy, or - go get Oink piggy - and off she goes and fetches one of her (she's got two, spoiled rotten) teddy bear sized fluffy pink pigs with a squeaker inside that says... 'OINK'!

Phoebe, my beloved and much-missed old black Lab knew about 200 words, right up to the day she died, I could have better conversations with her than most humans! She even used to go for a wee on command and always in the gutter.

Chester (the fat Basset) is also clever, in his own way. I have never known a dog to be so stubborn or grumpy as he is. He's old now (nearly 13) and we have reached a form of accord, he does what he wants and I let him! He no longer likes going in the woods (Bella does) and |if I persuade him to go in, he exits at the first gap through the stream and back into the open. He is so predictable it's comical.

[Jasandjules]

Roofless Toothless said:

durbster said:

… I often wonder if dogs have some kind of a sense of humour ….

I am convinced dogs have a sense of humour in exactly the way that cats don’t.

I can tell you that one of mine delights in winding up one of the others. She literally winds him and lets him go, then waits for him to get into trouble.....

[Actual]

Regardless of morning events and timing of walks and earlier meals our Border Terrorist knows when it is 4pm dogs tea time to within 3 minutes daily.

[Mr. Potato Head]

Pieman68 said:

He's a spaniel, so in some ways I think he's pretty clever. Although if you ask what he's thinking I think the standard spaniel answer is "not very much" as they're complete idiots.

Having had three Springers these two seemingly contradictory statements made me laugh really hard.
God I miss them.

[dave123456]

I have this debate with my partner all the time, she seems convinced they have some fairly sophisticated thoughts, and are limited only by the inability to talk. I tried explaining it in computer game pixels.. so dog:



Human:



Obviously some humans may be nearer dogs

[Pizzaeatingking]

Love this, very much along the same lines I often ask my wife ‘don’t you think it’s strange how we keep animals as pets’. Particularly the cats and dogs, we share our houses with them, our sofa, our bedrooms, yet we can’t really talk to each other, we can’t explain our feelings to each other. Me and my dog Vinnie, we clearly still have this bond, I adore him and while I can’t say for sure, he seems pretty keen on me.

Similar to the OP’s thoughts, does he know what love is? Does he know that we love him? What’s he thinking when we’re out? Or when we go our in the car? Does he live in the moment and it’s just what he’s smelling or seeing right then? Or is he excited because he remembers the last time we went in the car he got to sniff lots of good stuff?

I’d love to know!

[ooo000ooo]

When you throw a ball and they bring it back so you throw it again, do they think “wtf I just brought that back, what are you doing you idiot?”

[Berger 3rd]

I often wonder this about my dogs, as I share custody with my ex, plus when we’re both busy my mum has them, so there isn’t much routine to their lives. As an example, last weekend the ex happened to be nearby with them having brunch with a friend, so she messaged and said shall we just swap them over now, so I met her half way to get them. So one minute they’re with her in some random place, then all of a sudden they’re in the car with me. She has a partner who they love and likewise so do I, so it often makes me wonder what the hell they thinks going on, how they feel when they’re suddenly with someone else, do they miss the other people they’re not with etc. the reality is they seem to not care within about a minute.

On the point of dogs smiling or otherwise, one of mine is very communicative with his ears, and you can always tell how he’s feeling by the angle they’re at, the further back he has them the more worried and stressed he is, if they’re fully forward then he’s happy. I always say to him “what’s the matter mate? Why have you got your worried ears on?” And it’s usually because I’m getting ready, packing a bag, putting shoes on or something like that, because he’s worried he won’t be coming with me.

Edited by Berger 3rd on Saturday 28th October 08:04

Edited by Berger 3rd on Saturday 28th October 08:05

[The Gauge]

super7 said:

As far as the telly is concerned, they all watch it. I did hear somewhere that they never used to be able to see old CRT based TV's because the refresh rate of the screen made it impossible to decipher. With modern LCD panels with 100mhz plus refresh rates, they now see what we see (but in there doggy way!)

But can they see 4K Ultra HD picture quality and can they appreciate hearing Dolby Atmos or a good 5:1 surround system?

[WrekinCrew]

I remember seeing on TV a collie that could clearly identify over 200 words - went to search for that and found the current record-holder knows over 1000 words and some grammar.

Our previous dog - a sight hound / saluki cross - could spot a deer or squirrel from half a mile away but totally ignored the TV unless she heard a dog or fox.
Current dog - border collie - goes potty if he sees any animal on the TV, even with the sound off. It's the same TV by the way.

[Tango13]

The clocks go back tonight so those of you that have posted about your dogs knowing their feeding time report back and let us know how your dogs respond

[dave123456]

Berger 3rd said:

I often wonder this about my dogs, as I share custody with my ex, plus when we’re both busy my mum has them, so there isn’t much routine to their lives. As an example, last weekend the ex happened to be nearby with them having brunch with a friend, so she messaged and said shall we just swap them over now, so I met her half way to get them. So one minute they’re with her in some random place, then all of a sudden they’re in the car with me. She has a partner who they love and likewise so do I, so it often makes me wonder what the hell they thinks going on, how they feel when they’re suddenly with someone else, do they miss the other people they’re not with etc. the reality is they seem to not care within about a minute.

On the point of dogs smiling or otherwise, one of mine is very communicative with his ears, and you can always tell how he’s feeling by the angle they’re at, the further back he has them the more worried and stressed he is, if they’re fully forward then he’s happy. I always say to him “what’s the matter mate? Why have you got your worried ears on?” And it’s usually because I’m getting ready, packing a bag, putting shoes on or something like that, because he’s worried he won’t be coming with me.

Edited by Berger 3rd on Saturday 28th October 08:04

Edited by Berger 3rd on Saturday 28th October 08:05

My dog will sit and watch the back gates if one of us is not at home. She happily scarpers to doggy daycare once a week so I don’t think she’s that bothered generally

[Slowboathome]

Tango13 said:

The clocks go back tonight so those of you that have posted about your dogs knowing their feeding time report back and let us know how your dogs respond

I fear there's going to be some kind of meltdown at my place.

As the nights draw in she's started asking for her bedtime snack earlier and earlier.

[bogie]

Ive read a few books over the years on how dogs think , but this one is most scientific and informative, written by a vet and pulling together all the latest research

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00J7Z1JKE/ref...

[Toolslinger]

towser44 said:

Scabutz said:

I'm amazed at the things our dog picks up on. She can recognise the sound of our car coming down the road and runs to great my wife returning from work. She knew on Tuesdays my wife goes out, comes back and then her friend who throws her ball tirelessly for her comes to visit. She knows when it's evening and no one is cooking that takeaway is on the way and so waits staring at the door to bark at the delivery person.

When we take her out for walks she pulls to her favourite places ( the river, the pet shop).

She has a fair few words and phrases she recognises.

All that but being a springer spaniel acts like a tt most of the time.

Ours is the same re the car, she can hear the sound of the Mrs car coming and starts whining and goes to the door. Weirdly, the Mrs walks home from work 3 nights a week and somehow the dog knows when she is coming up the road, despite there being no sound and she can't see her coming! It's roughly the same time every night so perhaps it is a time thing, but it can be a few minutes out and she still knows. Fascinates me how she knows!

This is our young man waiting for our 23 year old son to come in from work,same time every night it’s uncanny