Welcome to dogs
Cats And Dogs Home Article
This is a selection made from among articles on Cats And Dogs Home. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for future reading, click here.
Do Dogs Have Emotions?
from:Trying to determine if your dog is experiencing anger, love, or any other "human" emotion is difficult. To date, no one has been able to provide convincing scientific evidence that we can distinguish one emotion from another by what our brains or hormones do. We obviously feel differently when we're in a loving versus an angry mood; however, what our brain does to influence us to feel those very different emotions is less clear.
Nonetheless, we believe that our pets love us, they appear to be embarrassed when we dress them up in silly clothes, and they certainly look like they're feeling guilty after doing something wrong.” But do they know right from wrong, and when they do the wrong thing, do they really feel guilty?
What would it take for us to be convinced that our pet actually experiences a specific emotion? Is it possible that his appearance, the way he looks in his body language and behavior, leads us to confuse guilt with submissive, defensive behavior? Do we think that he's experiencing guilt from the way he looks or from the situation that seems to call for guilt? Do we think that our dog actually feels emotions such as guilt, love, shame, hope, pride, relief, regret, or revenge? It's an interesting question, and behaviorists are still working on it. But let's look at it in terms of revenge.
When we think of getting revenge against someone who has "done us wrong," we think of doing something to get back at the person. We decide on the appropriate revenge by imagining how it would make the person feel to have such-and-such happen to him. If we think it would really make him feel bad, and it would get back at him in an appropriate way, it makes us feel good, even if we just imagine it. We don't actually need to get revenge, we just need to imagine his reaction if he were to get what he deserves.
Your dog probably doesn't have the ability to imagine how you would feel if he were to soil your bed as revenge for leaving him alone all weekend. And he probably wouldn't chew your favorite shoes as revenge for locking him in the bedroom and keeping him from enjoying that piece of chicken you had last night. The ability to look into another's psyche to imagine one's emotional response to a planned endeavor is what behaviorists call revenge. Revenge requires a "theory of mind" that dogs do not have.
Dogs see the world from their perspective. That's why arranging their daily lives from their point of view works so well. Not only would it seem strange to understand why you won't give him a dog biscuit before dinner because it would spoil his appetite, but it would seem even more strange if he is seen planning something later that evening to make you feel bad in some way for your stinginess. Yet we often find ourselves believing that this is exactly what our pet must have done when we discover that he's chewed our best shoes. In reality, our pet's behavior is probably caused by a disruption of his routine, an increased arousal or excitement, or a way to relieve discomfort or frustration.
Now that you understand your dog's emotions, you can go about changing them to create a mood that is incompatible with the mood that drives his misbehavior. The concept is called the principle of competing motivations: A dog cannot be angry, fearful, or depressed and happy or exited at the same time!
More Cats And Dogs Home Related Articles
DOG Best Dog Tracking System
Dogs Giving Birth What To Do When There Is Trouble
DOG Dog Needs
Everything You Need To Know About Heart Failure In Dogs
DOG Dog Lovers Club
Contribute to our site : submit your Cats And Dogs Home Related Articles, SUBMIT Articles HERE
Latest Cats And Dogs Home News
For lost pets, this is a magic wand (Corvallis Gazette-Times)
Jim Dohr, community services officer with the Albany Police Department, says the first thing he does when he finds a stray animal is scan it with this wand to check for a microchip. Several dogs in Albany were reunited with their owners recently because an encrypted, rice-sized identification microchip had been implanted near the pets’ shoulder blades. Even more lost dogs and cats could get home ...
Read more...Forget Marley — cats rule! (The Toledo Blade)
Let’s hear it for cats. These days it’s all about dogs, or so it seems. The Dog Whisperer’s Cesar Milan is on TV seemingly 24 hours a day talking about dogs, dogs, dogs, like a canine televangelist, preaching about “positive energy” and “being the pack leader.” And then there’s National Geographic’s other show, Dog Town, which is all about, well, you know... A couple of weeks ago Michael ...
Read more...Adopted Cat Needs New Home (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Zippy the cat was taken into a local home in November after being found in the 5200 block of King William Road. Unfortanutely he is not getting along with the current house cats. Zippy is a neutered male and the vet puts his age at around 3 or 4. He took a little while [...]
Read more...New pet rules to be considered in Rantoul (The Champaign News-Gazette)
RANTOUL – After a proposal to ban dogs by breed drew criticism from animal activists, service dog owners, pet owners and breed enthusiasts, the Rantoul village staff is proposing a compromise animal control ordinance. The proposal would limit the number of dogs and cats based on the size of a dwelling and would prohibit more than four dogs and/or cats at a home.
Read more...Cardinals manager passionate animal advocate (Park Hills Daily Journal)
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Inside Tony La Russa’s northern California home, there are more dogs and cats than positions on the baseball field.
Read more...