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The Origin of Dogs
nessdog writes "Your old friend in the back-yard can read you like an open book according to this article from the BBC. They report that your dog's power of reading your body language is better than a chimps. So next time you tell a lie, just remember who might be watching..."
Of course dogs can find food faster than chimps. They are much smarter than chimps...or people.
How ya like dat?
Sure they can read you like an open book. But dogs can't read books! Aha!
Officer: Sir, did you rob the bank?
You: Of course not.
Lab: woof woof *
Officer: Just as we thought, lying!
* I have to go out and pee on your tires.
Any animal that sits down in front of your entire family on Xmas day, then cleans its own gentials with its tongue, is hardly screaming up the evolutionary ladder!
"I kill you! You no good 56'ing!"
This is kind of on topic since it involves a dog, and due to the lack of comments about this article, I figured that I'd post it.
Has anyone seen the Dexter's Lab where Dexter gets a dog? I love the part when his dad goes into his room, and says "How long has this Lab been here?" Dexter was like "ummm, well the thing is..." Then his dad was like "...Because you know how much I like Labrador Retrievers!" Then his dad goes on to tell Dexter that its a big responsibility to keep a dog, and stuff.
I get a kick out of that one every time I see it.
THERE IS NO DATA. THERE IS O
Given the small genetic sample that it seems 95% of dogs have originated from, I wonder if some careful breeding of wolves back into the dog gene pool would help with all the congenital problems that dog breeders have to be so vigilent about. Genetic diversity of course being a Good Thing.
I know dog/wolf hybrids aren't supposed to make good pets, can be dangerous, wild, etc. But careful breeding back into the most popular dog breeds would be worth preventing thousands of cases of hip dysplasia, eye problems, heart problems, skin problems, etc., etc.
A wolf/poodle cross might be a little disturbing though.
Operator, give me the number for 911!
Here is the google news link which has 48 articles on this topic so far.
. au/articles/2002/11/22/1037697876221.html
http://news.google.com/news?q=cluster:www.smh.com
foe me, freak me.
Yesterday was the time to do it right. Are we having a REVOLUTION yet?
It would be a lot easier to just mix the dog breeds instead of starting over with wolves. If you start now with breeding a little wolf into dogs, your grandchildren or great-grandchildren might get a "good" dog out of it.
The problem with trying to make dog genes stronger though is that people don't want mutts or "mixed breed" dogs. People want pretty coats, and friendly, hard-working personalities. And breeding a dog to be healthy and live long doesn't win dog shows, which is where the money is for breeders.
Don't moderate flamebait as Troll. Know the difference or you will be Meta-moderated.
Well, you can understand a dog too...
With this Dog Translator you can interpret your dog's barking.
Sorry, body language isn't interpreted.
I thought this was an interesting point considering the fact that east asia is a part of the world where some people eat dogs.
I wonder if there is any relationship between these facts.
Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
-Groucho Marx
Its nice to know that, since dogs were first domesticated in East Asia, the next evolution taking place in the relationship we have with canines involves us eating them.
--"The perfect example of the man of action is the suicide." - William Carlos Williams
Please choose from the following list:
- wolf-poodle
- poodle-rabbit
- poodle-sheep
- rabbit-sheep
- poodle-AIBO
Don't know if all these options will be available, but we're supposed to see the fearsome results next year: Impossible CreaturesThat should be modded 'funny', But seriously, what is so bad about Cruella, wouldn't a coat made from dalmations be really beautiful? I'm not trying to upset anyone who really loves dogs (I love dogs) but I trying to point out that most of us have a different standard for how cute animals should be treated. Many people who think the idea of a dalmation coat is icky don't think twice about eating chicken, or wearing leather. How in the world can we logically defend spending millions of dollars to rehabilitate Keiko the Orca from "Free Willy" when 18% of the children in my state live below the poverty level?
Don't moderate flamebait as Troll. Know the difference or you will be Meta-moderated.
your BARF diet hypothesis does not explain why there are so many puppies with hip dysplasia.
really, in some very pure breeds more than half the litter has to be killed because the pups' hips are falling off.
it is really sad, borders on animal cruelty.
The innuit have the some of the oldest memories in the world. For example when a researcher was trying to find the remains of the Franklin expedition a little over a hundred years ago he asked for a white settlement a long time ago and the locals took him to a mining site from the 1600's. Anyways, there is a story about how when the division came between man and animals, the dog jumped across at the last moment to help the poor humans. We learned the pack/family unit from dogs. We learned how to survive from dogs. Dogs domesticated us and now have us conditioned to drive to work everyday to buy them kibble.
Line breeding is best done close. Half brother to half sister & grandparent to grandchild are the best way to concentrate genes and is how line breeding is done. The downside of concentrating genes like this is that it is also a great way to bring bad traits as well as good traits to the foreground. Thus maybe two pups from a litter will be worth keeping, maybe less.
Line breeding fails because breeders get greedy and don't cull the dogs exhibiting bad traits. Also most breeders couldn't tell you what traits are worth keeping. As example look at AKC siberian huskies or Alaskan Malamutes -- these dogs are in no way sled dogs and would be unrecognizable to their original nomadic breeders. Why? Because pet dogs need curly tails and fluffy coats and aren't bred to work, have tuff paws and efficient metabolisms.Thus they have been bred to sit nice at home alone all day, walk on a leash and look cute. Many are not even dogs.
On the other end of the spectrum is hybrid vigor. This tactic takes prime line bred animals of different lines and combines them for the explosive effect this can result in. It also results in explosive crap and cannot be recreated without returning to the original lines.
All breeding requires discipline to cull out unwanted traits. Pet breeders don't do this, since each pup is a profit. Mutts, sometimes have the hybrid vigor, but animal shelters tend to be so filthy with walking carcasses carrying who-knows-what == I wouldn't step foot in one just for fear of the polio I'd track home on my shoes that could kill me, let alone my dogs.
with so many good dogs in the world, there is no reason to keep a bad dog and you have a moral responsibility to dogs to keep bad genes out of the pool. In the long run you'll spend tenfold your purchase price on keep a dog healthy for it's life. It's money well spent to start out with good stock rather than trying to patch some worthless MSdog.
In the article it said: they evolved from just a handful of wolves tamed by humans living in or near China less than 15,000 years ago. I thought that Dingos were brought to Australia by the aboriginals when they arrived 40,000 years ago. What of my presuppositions are wrong here?