How dogs developed smart pet tricks

MSNBC ^ | Nov. 21, 2002 | Kathleen Wren

[Michael2001]

When humans began domesticating wolves thousands of years ago, it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Many dog lovers say their pets seem to know what their masters are thinking. A study in the journal Science, published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, suggests that might be at least partially right. Something about the process of domestication seems to have given dogs the ability to read certain human social behaviors — something wolves, and even chimpanzees, can’t do.

WHEN BRIAN HARE, an anthropologist at Harvard University and the Max Planck Institute in Germany, was a student, he and his adviser were discussing whether chimpanzees can take another individual’s perspective.

“Oh, well, my dog does that!” Hare said.

When his adviser challenged him to prove it, a new line of research was born.

[El Gato]

When humans began domesticating wolves thousands of years ago, it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Many dog lovers say their pets seem to know what their masters are thinking.

Actually there seems to be some question of which species domesticated which.

[jiggyboy]

I've never seen a dog go where I point -- usually they come up to the finger and sniff at it and that's the end of that.

[discostu]

We can have the dog put to sleep, that means we're in charge. Dogs understand that, which is why they suck up constantly. Cats don't get it, which is why dogs are smarter.

[gcruse]

I've never seen a dog go where I point -- usually they
come up to the finger and sniff at it and that's the end of that.

When you blow in their faces, it pisses them off.
Yet they'll stick their heads out a car window
at 60 mph and love it.  I don't understand.