Do dogs think and feel in the same way humans do?

[Zenlitened]

From the Boston Globe:

For Hints On Humans, Scientists Study Dogs' Thinking

CAMBRIDGE - Studying a species known to chase its own tail may seem an unlikely way to better understand the human mind. But scientists at Harvard University's new Canine Cognition Lab hope to gain insight into more than the psychology of dogs from visiting pet pooches - including an alert German shepherd named Celia and a rottweiler called Taylor who loves to eat chicken.

(snip)

"Here's this species we live with. Everyone has their views about how smart they are. No doubt we are overinterpreting - and in some cases underinterpreting," said Marc Hauser, a Harvard professor who has long studied cognition in cottontop tamarin monkeys and who heads the new lab. "To what extent is an animal that's really been bred to be with humans capable of some of the same psychological mechanisms?"

Can dogs understand such abstract concepts as "same," for example? Or, can dogs be patient? To answer such canine conundrums, Hauser is recruiting both purebreds and mutts and running them through simple tests. In return, they earn tasty treats.

(snip)

Some of the most interesting results could come from studies that test the qualities people ascribe to their pets: loyalty, for example, or guilt. Alexandra Horowitz, who teaches psychology and animal behavior at Barnard College in New York, has probed the guilty look that dogs give, flattening their ears back and ducking their heads.

Much more, plus video:
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2009/04/13/for_hints_on_humans_scientists_study_dogs_thinking/

[fasttense]

1. Every emotion we humans feel, can be felt by animals.

It's my pet theory that our "emotions" are nothing more than what we call instinct in animals. Think about it. How would it feel to want to, to need to, satisfy an urge? It would feel like an emotion, like the emotion you feel when you get sexual desire. The emotion you feel when you get hungry is no different than the hunger pains of an animal.

The difference is that like our complex brains, our emotions are also more complex. Our emotions are our animal instincts taken to the extreme. What is truly different in us is our logic and reason. An ability we just don't use often enough.

[NYC_SKP]

2. Yes and no. Dogs feel emotions but are less capable of malevolence.

They lack the evil/snarky hateful gene.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

13. Border Collies definitely have an evil/snarky gene

[NYC_SKP]

15. Yes, it's more of a sophisticated sense of humor than evil, IMO.

Smarter than us, they are, and love to prove it!

:hi:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

17. Everytime mine opens the garbage can(by pressing the button), he's giving me the doggie finger

[NYC_SKP]

21. You may want to check your credit card statements and cellular bills.

They're crafty! :P

[Orsino]

3. No, they don't.

Cesar proves that in every Dog Whisperer episode.

[TransitJohn]

4. Dogs can't look up.

:hide:

[rampart]

5. my cats are as smart as many 3 year old humans

with a short attention span.

they understand what i tell them if i keep it simple.

2 of the 3 speak a little english too.

[Javaman]

6. I'm thankful everyday that dogs don't have thumbs, we would be in very deep shit if they did. nt

[greguganus]

7. Can you imagine all those dogs hitch hiking on the freeways? n/t

[Crunchy Frog]

14. My dog once hitched a ride and ended up in Moab Utah, from Boulder Colorado.

[csziggy]

25. My cat hitches rides on my golf cart

If he hears it coming, he'll stop next to the path and kind of wave a paw to ask for a ride. He loves riding on it and also likes to dive off it while it is going!

[a la izquierda]

9. If my 3 year old Viszla had thumbs...

I don't even want to think of the disaster that would be my house. He makes a fine mess of things without them as it is.
I can guarantee you he'd figure out how to change the channel so as not to be subjected to the talking heads all day.

[TahitiNut]

11. Conversely, if humans could lick their own crotches ...

:hide:

[Javaman]

12. ...

we would never leave our homes...

:spray: :rofl:

[NYC_SKP]

16. Lord, the money I'd save on dinners and jewelry if I could do that...

:rofl:

[dysfunctional press]

26. now THAT would definitely under-mine the sacrement of marriage.

who'd want/need to? :shrug:

i probably wouldn't even leave the house.

[Stevenmarc]

8. Well they're smarter than the freepers, but that's not setting a very high bar.

[a la izquierda]

10. I think my dogs "know" certain things

and "feel" certain ways.
For instance, when I express a lot of emotion, my faithful old dog will come and sit on my lap. He's blind and nearly deaf, but I know he senses something isn't right. I probably smell differently to him when I exude emotion. When I'm annoyed about something, and stomping around the house, my dogs "know" to let me be until I sit down. This isn't something I trained them to do, I guess it's just something they picked up on.
When my husband used to travel for work, my Viszla would patrol the yard before letting me get too far out into the darkness. He didn't like certain people being around and would be suspicious of anyone walking near us on our evening exercise. He's not a guard dog and was never trained to "guard" the house...he just knew that I was alone.

I like my dogs a whole lot better than many people, because they just let me be; they don't ask questions and they simply love. It's a nice, comforting relationship.

[hlthe2b]

18. The methods being used to "test" seem extremely weak...

If one tests a dog's understanding, or emotional response using human-specific measures, are we really testing anything? I think they need to spend some time deriving some measures more appropriate to the animal being tested.

[retread]

19. I suggest, "For the Love of a Dog: Understanding Emotion in You and Your Dog" by

Patricia McConnell.

[MrScorpio]

20. I don't think that they do

I think that they think like the domesticated pack animals that they are.

Their behavior is derived from their wolf ancestors after tens of thousands of years of evolution.

What they have done is adapt to us. Dogs are the most adaptable species on the planet. The rate of change in the speed of their evolution is faster and more phenomenal than any other animal.

All they are superb observers of human beings, able to interpret our voices and body language in a supremely keen fashion.

I'm sure that all social animals like dogs and monkeys have developed a certain set of behaviors that are approximate to many of our own.

However, I believe that our close association with dogs over many millennia and their keen adaptability has shaped their skill in adapting whatever pack animal behavior patterns to our own social situations as humans.

[cobalt1999]

24. +1

I agree.

[QueenOfCalifornia]

22. No.

Dogs do not "think and feel the same way" as people.

[Yunomi]

23. Does a dog have the Buddha nature? Muh!

Dogs aren't like humans, they live in the moment. That's why I love them.

[xchrom]

27. their brain wiring and nervous system

are not so dissimilar from ours.
the suffer from all the sorts of things we do -- emotionally speaking.

years of wiring animals in universities tell us that.