Dogs

The Announcement:

This Sunday (1/16) "Exploring Thought Provoking, Stimulating, and Challenging Questions" will discuss "Dogs". Are they just tamed wild animals?  What makes our relationship with them so special? Are they a substitute for Friends or are they, in fact, Friends? Have they evolved some new kind of intelligence? What about language? Do you understand when a Dog speaks to you?

There are more pet dogs than babies in the world. We treat them as though they were fellow human beings with all the thoughts, feelings, and emotions we extend to a loved one. We share our lives, homes, and even our beds with them. Science has turned its attention to "Dogs" and their relationships to us. The findings are truly amazing

A Few Highlights:

They are called our "Best Friend".  Their love and devotion to us is unconditional.  Unsurprisingly we, in return, love and care for them.  

Scientific Research tells us that they read our emotional state the same way we humans read each others.  They perform the same eye movements when looking at a human face as we do.  They read us emotionally and react accordingly.  The pair bonding hormone Oxytocin that facilitates mother - newborn bonding is also released both in humans and dogs when interacting.  This suggests an evolutionary connection.  Release of this hormone also reduces stress and anxiety and is sometimes referred to as the "Love Hormone".  The health benefits of dog ownership are well documented.

Dogs are a domesticated form of the Grey Wolf evolving over a 15,000 year period.  They are 99.8 % identical in their DNA to Grey Wolves.  Dogs were the first animals to be domesticated and fit perfectly in Hunter - Gatherer Societies. Without them, the transition to Agricultural Societies would have been impossible.  Our Civilization would never have been possible without the Dog.

Dogs think more like us than any other animal even our nearest relative the Chimpanzee.  Dogs respond to our eye and hand movements.  They understand our words and some have been known to have a vocabulary of over 300 words.  Barking is an evolutionary development in Dogs for their communication with humans.  They even have the abstract ability to understand the meaning of symbols.

The stories shared during the discussion period revealed how deeply connected we are with Dogs.  They are our companions and we not only care about their well being but are willing to part with considerable time and treasure to assure that well being.  It would be hard to overestimate their importance to us.