I enjoy this picture of Alli collie. It shows her recognition of something we were all looking at while hiking recently. I was so impressed with her ability to be so engaged with us and what we were looking at, I snapped a quick picture. And I was right to notice, to observe this - because as I'm learning my suspicions were correct. Dogs get us, they understand us and what we are doing and saying more than we know.
Speaking of recognition of intentions and social gestures, let me fill you in on what I've been learning. I'm taking a course through Duke University on Dog Emotion and Cognitive Ability. I've been as happy as a dog with a bucket full of tennis balls or a field full of sheep learning about dog cognition. Let me bring you up to speed.
The ability to read social gestures and understand intentions has only been attributed to human beings up until about 1999. This is a rather new study. Scientists tested chimpanzees and bonobos, as their genetic makeup is closest to that of humans, on their ability to understand social gestures and intentions. They conducted the same tests on primates as they did on 14 month old children. For instance, they placed a couple cups closely and would hide a treat under one cup and either gaze or point to the cup with the treat. Of course, human children understood these tests perfectly. But primates, to the shock of the scientists, failed miserably.
Scientists thought for sure primates would do well with these tests. But after doing trial after trial, many repetitions, the primates were not getting it. They even tried to train them to respond correctly without success. The great apes were having none of it. With this new data, scientists concluded that only humans have the ability to read social gestures and understand a person's intentions.
Until Dr. Hare (an Evolutionary Anthropologist and professor of this class) just happen to mention to his colleagues that he felt his dog understood his gestures. He further explained to his fellow scientists that when he would throw several balls to "Oreo" and point to the ball he wanted him to fetch, Oreo would, without fail, follow his visual cue or gesture and find the ball he pointed to. Dr. Mike (fellow scientist) was intrigued and so began the study on Dog Cognition.
Having lived and worked with dogs my entire life, I have observed the ability of dogs to read our social gestures and understand our intentions over and over again. My Uncle's collie heading out to the field to drive the cows in for milking every day without fail, winter spring summer and fall and without any prompting! My sweet poodle greeting me, a nervous uncertain little girl, every day at the door of my empty house after school and sitting right by my side until my Mother arrived home without fail...day after day after day. My sweet Emma collie understanding her girl (my daughter) was upset one day when dropping her off at school and Emma taking her leave of our yard to go check on her girl at school. Dogs read us well and are always watching. They know our coming and our going. What we do, when we do it. My dogs knew I was packing to go away recently and watched me closely looking for the tell tale sign that their blue bag is taken out, packed and place by my suitcase signifying that they would be accompanying me. They know when we're happy and seem to rejoice with us and when we might just need a friend and sit by our side.
These cognitive tests they conducted on human babies, who passed beautifully and primates, who failed miserably, dogs passed with flying colors! The scientists were so excited that they had to be certain. It was important to be certain they were not projecting these thoughts and emotions on to dogs. So they tested puppies as young as 9 weeks old and guess what, they passed. They tested dogs they had no relationship with and they passed beautifully! But how...why? Why do dogs, a species so far removed from our own genetic makeup, understand our social gestures and intentions? Where did this ability come from? Instinct? Is it innate in wolves? Did dogs gain this ability from their wolf ancestry? Intriguing...right?! Well let's investigate further.
These were the questions that needed answers. It was decided they would have to find a pack of wolves to test. After a bit of a search, Dr. Hare found a pack of wolves who had been raised by a young woman. She agreed to perform the tests with her wolf pack. And guess what? The wolves failed miserably. What? No. Dr. Hare could hardly believe it. Again, they performed many repetitions of the games they did with humans, primates and dogs. The wolf pack were absolutely disinterested. Just like with the primates, they were unable to train the wolves to make the correct decisions.
So the question remains. Where and how did dogs obtain the ability to understand us? How do they get us so fully? For centuries dogs have helped us. They've worked along side of us. Did they gain this ability through domestication? That's the $100 question and one I will be exploring further in my study on Dog Emotion and Cognition.
In the meantime, I'll share the fun Ezra and I have been having. The lab for this study is called dognition (which equals dog cognition) that I can explore and test with one of my own dogs. So far the two modules we have completed, Ezra has scored very high in Empathy and Communication. It's been fascinating to perform these same tests (that they performed with children, primates and wolves) on my own dog and gain more understanding on how dog's think. I have had a ball and Ezra seems to be enjoying working with me as well. By doing these tests with Ezra our results are being calculated with the information gained from dogs and their owners all over the world.
Dogs have fascinated me from as far back as I can remember. I am fortunate to come from a family who welcomed dogs into our homes. I have had experience with a myriad of different breeds and mix breeds alike. I have studied them and their interactions with me and my family for well over 40 years. I have worked with dogs and observed them in my, over 20, years of training dogs. I feel it a wonderful privilege to be on this journey of further investigation in understanding their interaction with us. Although, I am not certain about carbon dating and the number of years dogs have been our companions or that great apes are our ancestors, I do know that there is something special about our relationship with our canine companions that has spanned, at the very least, over 10,000 years.
I look forward to sharing this journey with you. And as always...happy trails!
No comments:
Post a Comment