http://tinyurl.com/25j7l65

this is only one of many dog-labs in psych-depts;
i remember dogs being despised as research-subjects - they were ONLY used for dietary testing [pet-foods].

since this is our longest-lasting companion species, that attitude of dumb, common, boring, never made
sense to me; surely dogs have influenced us? and surely we influenced DOGS profoundly?

finally, dogs are getting the interest they deserved, and its about time; 75-million USA-dogs has to say
something more than -they're cute- or -we got a dog for the kids...-

U-of-Fla current projects and recent ARTICLES -
http://tinyurl.com/2g3mh9s
including RAW DATA [oooh... exciting, eh?]
i point this out because someone recently posted that QUOTE research is biased, it can be made to say
anything the researcher wants to prove -UNquote, which i found quite stunning - she also said that
QUOTE they never make raw-data available, just already-drawn conclusions -UNquote.
(those are not word-for-word, they are paraphrased from my recollection, but it was just 4 or 5 days back,
and it was strikingly memorable, for me - i;d never heard anyone say A, research is all biased
and B, they won;t tell U their data, just findings.)

well, never say never LOL - heres raw-data!


for DOGS IN PRINT [same site] see - http://tinyurl.com/2wbsqka
this includes media-articles, journal articles, the amazing SKIDBOOT in a video, books, links, etc.

enjoy,
- terry

Interesting stuff!! btw...under the link Nova:Evolution...second picture, I know that wolf!
still reading other links. I remember reading and also hearing trainers say that dogs do not have the ability to reason. So not true!

Ann wrote:

I remember reading and also hearing trainers say that dogs do not have the ability to reason. So not true!

i don't think any dog, no matter how long we spent on teaching the subject, will *Ever!* comprehend the Theory of Relativity.
nor will dogs conquer higher-math, altho they do excellently in 3-D geometry as a practical application [catching a ball,
intercepting a rabbit or a Frisbee, etc.].

can dogs THINK? sure - can they Think About thinking? nah, not IMO.

are they purely instinctive? nope. are dogs stoopid? H***, no - not IMO.
but their smart is different from our smart. this IMO is an advantage - together, a good human + dog team
is much, much more than the sum of their parts - the 2 become a 3rd organism, just like a good
horse + rider team... IME.
cheers,
- terry

Yes, they do think differently. IMO, their survival instincts are much keener than ours, which certainly can work to our benefit.