Dogs Can Be Pessimistic

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Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday October 13, 2010 @04:52AM from the dog-in-black dept.

Not that it will change anything, but researchers at Bristol University say that your dog might be a gloom-monger. In addition to the downer dogs, the study also found a few that seemed happy no matter how uncaring the world around them was. "We know that people's emotional states affect their judgments and that happy people are more likely to judge an ambiguous situation positively. What our study has shown is that this applies similarly to dogs," said professor Mike Mendl, an author of the study and head of animal welfare and behavior at Bristol University.

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Being a dog owner ... by LoudMusic · 2010-10-13 04:55 · Score: 3, Insightful

Being a dog owner, I think most dogs just want to hump, eat, and sleep. Some like to bark.
That's pretty much it.

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1. Re:Being a dog owner ... by shoehornjob · 2010-10-13 04:59 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Mine likes to shit everywhere.
  
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2. Re:Being a dog owner ... by DoofusOfDeath · 2010-10-13 05:06 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  Being a dog owner, I think most dogs just want to hump, eat, and sleep. Some like to bark.
  You're thinking of men.
3. Re:Being a dog owner ... by CarpetShark · 2010-10-13 05:16 · Score: 5, Insightful
  
  Being a dog owner, I think most dogs just want to hump, eat, and sleep. Some like to bark.
  If you honestly don't realise that your dog has a sense of humor, needs to socialise, to challenge itself on a long run, to play in a river, then I worry you might not be qualified to own a dog.
4. Re:Being a dog owner ... by bhagwad · 2010-10-13 05:35 · Score: 2, Informative
  
  I don't know how much you interact with your dog if you think he/she just needs to hump, eat and sleep. Maybe your dog is very old...but if not, you're either lying about being a dog owner, or you're not in close contact with them for longish periods.
5. Re:Being a dog owner ... by Anonymous Coward · 2010-10-13 05:43 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  The dogs I've owned, and I loved them all, well, their sense of humor roughly matches yours.
6. Re:Being a dog owner ... by Rhacman · 2010-10-13 05:44 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  If you have a dog with a sense of humor you might consider consulting with him before posting.
  
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7. Re:Being a dog owner ... by DigiShaman · 2010-10-13 05:47 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  He's just marking his territory. Don't shampoo your carpet, they hate it when you do that. It just means more "work" to get up, find a spot, and proceed to take another shit and scoot around. Do him a favor and save his asshole from extended rug-burn.
  
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8. Re:Being a dog owner ... by NicknamesAreStupid · 2010-10-13 05:47 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  Dogs tend to reflect the personality of their owners.
9. Re:Being a dog owner ... by flu1d · 2010-10-13 05:48 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  As a fellow dog owner. I'd keep an eye out for the one who modded this informative.
10. Re:Being a dog owner ... by blackest_k · 2010-10-13 06:12 · Score: 5, Informative
  
  I'd like to follow up on the parent post and give some positive help.
  People tend not to understand dogs very well and often don't get what their role is in a dogs life.
  http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/
  Although the html isn't great on this site the advise and insights are excellent.
  Dogs need attention and a role in life, which means they look to you for leadership. Without that leadership they try to be the leader that causes lots of problems. It is pretty easy to see when this is occurring, to be honest you can get similar problems with children too.
  anyway the above link should help any dog owner get the best from their dog. If you can't provide what the dog needs, it may be best to rehome the dog.
  
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11. Re:Being a dog owner ... by blackdoor · 2010-10-13 07:55 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  If every parent worried this much about their kids well being then everyone would know the correct way to treat animals. However, since many parents seem to care more about their cars, dogs, cats, computer, money, house, etc, etc, their children grow up not knowing how to care for anything.
12. Re:Being a dog owner ... by stretch0611 · 2010-10-13 08:58 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  Being a dog owner, I think most dogs just want to hump, eat, and sleep. Some like to bark.
  You're thinking of men.
  Why do you think Dogs are man's best friend? We are envious.
  
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13. Re:Being a dog owner ... by thomst · 2010-10-13 09:13 · Score: 3, Insightful
  
  Being a dog owner, I think most dogs just want to hump, eat, and sleep. Some like to bark.
  That's pretty much it.
  Being a dog owner, I think it's a bit more complex than that.
  Our first dog - a gorgeous AmStaff - had an irrepressibly sunny disposition. Although he had been criminally neglected by his original owners (when the SPCA took him in, he was skeletally thin, had a heartworm infection so severe he could hardly breathe, and had a choke chain so deeply embedded in his throat that the flesh had grown completely over it, and it had to be surgically removed under general anesthesia), he was a happy guy, who never seemed depressed for long. He was also highly intelligent, very well-socialized, and incredibly eager to please. Our second dog - a mutt - is high-strung, has the attention span of a two-year-old, and has very little impulse control. (She is also well-socialized, but she's dumb as a box of rocks.) Our third dog - a St. Bernard - was another happy-go-lucky fella, and also very well-socialized. Our newest addition - an American bulldog - was abandoned by his owners in the middle of January (when the temperature around here hovered near zero). He was hyper-vigilant, paranoid, and clearly depressed. His behavior has improved tremendously since we adopted him, and he is now a very well-socialized and friendly dog - but he still suffers from separation anxiety, and doesn't seem happy by default, as his predecessors were.
  I attribute the improvements in our bulldog's temperament to leadership, regular exercise, and our refusal to cater to his anxieties. He gets petted and praised when he's calm and relaxed. When he's anxious and fretting, we ignore him until he settles down.
  Personally, I know for a fact that dogs have individual personalities. They all like to sleep and eat; they all enjoy going for walks and meeting new people; they all like to be praised and petted; and they all respond positively to calm, confident leadership, and a consistent structure of discipline. But, beyond that, they definitely have internal lives of their own, and each has a unique personality. Our AmStaff and our mutt both enjoy chewing on Nylabones and Pup Treads, while neither our St. Bernard nor our bulldog have much interest in either. Our mutt likes to jump up on people and compulsively lick them. None of our other dogs has shown similar OCD symptoms. Our AmStaff and our Saint liked to lean against people. Our bulldog and our mutt don't. Our Saint liked and our bulldog likes to stick their snoots under people's hands to insist they be petted - a habit exhibited by neither our AmStaff nor our mutt.
  And so on.
  I'm convinced that the personalities of dogs are as varied and individual as those of humans. Their communications repertoire is more limited, true, but if you've ever doubted that dogs have very real feelings of their own, then clearly you've never seen one smile.
  
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From TFA by iONiUM · 2010-10-13 05:00 · Score: 3, Insightful

"Just as happy people tend to see the positive in any situation, so optimistic dogs sprinted toward the bowl, expecting to find food, while pessimistic dogs hesitated or ran more slowly."
You know, it's often said that semi-depressed people see reality in a much more realistic way, whereas "normal" (if you can call it that) people see reality in an augmented way, and that's why they're more happy and optimistic. It makes me wonder if actually "normal" people should be re-classified as someone who is (by our shitty definitions) semi-depressed, because really they're just seeing reality as it is, not through rose-coloured glasses.
1. Re:From TFA by somersault · 2010-10-13 05:36 · Score: 5, Interesting
  
  I'd say depressed people are not seeing reality clearly at all. I used to assign very pessimistic reasons to everything. Now that I try to focus on more positive possible explanations for things, I end up being right a lot of the time, and save myself needless worrying and self-deprecation. A silly but representative example would be if someone doesn't turn up to meet me at a certain time I might assume they just aren't going to show up at all rather than the obvious answer that they're just running a bit late.
  I have managed to be a bit more "normal" recently. This is partially through improving my diet and getting regular exercise, which help a lot when it comes to having your body and brain chemistry function "normally", but also I have tried to improve my thought patterns to be more positive, and it does all seem to be coming together at last. Even when I get into foul moods I can still try to be logical and not let myself do anything stupid. Depressed people might think they're being realistic about their situations, but I'd say often they're really not, especially when trying to assign motivation to other people's actions.
  
  --
  which is totally what she said
2. Re:From TFA by dgatwood · 2010-10-13 06:15 · Score: 4, Interesting
  
  Fascinating. By contrast, even though I frequently take a cynical view of situations, I find that I'm right about eighty to ninety percent of the time. Maybe it's not that you were too cynical before, but rather that others have just gotten better at fooling you. :-D
  But seriously, normal people take an optimistic view when it comes to their friends and a cynical view about the motives of their enemies, and a semi-cynical view of the motives of strangers. The first two are generally right, the third is out of an abundance of caution, and depending on whether the cynical view was right or not, those people get lumped into one of the first two after a period of time. It's just the way our brains work. To me, it sounds less like you are no longer taking a cynical view and more like you've finally relaxed and gotten comfortable with lumping certain people into your "friends" pile.
  
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3. Re:From TFA by somersault · 2010-10-13 07:32 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  I think so. One situation I'm reminded of is a gf I had for a couple of years, and my brain even had her in the enemy pile during a lot of that time, for reasons that are rather silly and obviously shouldn't have even existed :p Such is the world of a seriously depressed/paranoid person. Now even with people I hardly know I try to be more open minded and optimistic. The more open and friendly you are with people the more likely they are to reciprocate anyway..
  
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  which is totally what she said
4. Re:From TFA by obarthelemy · 2010-10-13 15:41 · Score: 2, Funny
  
  I'm depressed that you think cynical is the contrary of optimistic. But then again, I should have known not to expect any better. I'm just gonna get trolled now anyway.
  
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Obligatory Onion by UnknowingFool · 2010-10-13 05:00 · Score: 4, Funny

Dog Has Best Day of His Life for 400th Consecutive Day

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Breeds Used in Study? by BJ_Covert_Action · 2010-10-13 05:00 · Score: 4, Funny

I have ten bucks that says the breed most likely to be pessimistic was the Basset hound. Meanwhile, the happiest dogs were probably Collies or, perhaps, Poodles. Next I'd like to see a study that shows that cats really are condescending bastards. =)

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1. Re:Breeds Used in Study? by ByOhTek · 2010-10-13 05:20 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  My cats say that such a study would be idiotic and not worth the time of any cat participating, but they also find it predictable that a human would still find it the pinnacle of research.
  
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2. Re:Breeds Used in Study? by BJ_Covert_Action · 2010-10-13 05:31 · Score: 2, Insightful
  
  It could just be that whoever raised the greyhound as a pup never took the proper time to train it. In my experience, while some dogs are more easily trained than others, just about any dog can be taught basic social skills and behaviors, if you will. The primary obstacle to a decent basic training often seems to be the owner itself, lacking the will-power and discipline to actually teach their dog anything. A lot of owners just don't seem to know how to say, "No," in a stern enough tone for the dog to pick up on the meaning. Couple that with the complete inability of some folks to hold eye-contact with their own pooch and it becomes pretty apparent why many dogs misbehave.
  
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3. Re:Breeds Used in Study? by Moridineas · 2010-10-13 05:42 · Score: 2, Interesting
  
  I definitely agree with you, but to an extent. I do put a lot of the blame for bad dogs on owners, but I don't think the owner is always everything.
  My wife and I adopted two rescued puppies when they were about 6-7 weeks old (their mother had rejected some of the puppies). We've been doing things like taking them on walks since a very young age, and while they are in many ways very good dogs (good with commands and listening--best dogs I've ever had for holding in a sit/lay down until verbally released), they remain to this day TERRIFIED of other dogs. They know the neighbor dogs, and are good on walks, wary around new people, but if a dog in public comes up to them, they get totally scared and pull and whine to get away. It's a behavior I haven't figured out how to get rid of. They're just...scared of new people and dogs. No amount of social interaction seems to make it better either. Oh well.
4. Re:Breeds Used in Study? by Maxo-Texas · 2010-10-13 07:42 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  I bet the Dog Whisperer could fix them.
  He's had similar dogs and fixed them quickly.
  Pretty amazing stuff.
  I wonder if sometimes he fails horribly and those don't make the show.
  It's amazing the way he stays calm while they bite him.
  
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You betcha by Quiet_Desperation · 2010-10-13 05:11 · Score: 3, Funny

My dog has been pessimistic about the economy ever since he got laid off.
This should be obvious... by JesseL · 2010-10-13 05:22 · Score: 3, Insightful

...to anyone who's ever seen a dog get wise to the old "pretending to throw the ball" trick.

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Cesar called by santax · 2010-10-13 05:28 · Score: 3, Interesting

and told them: You aren't a packleader. With Cesar the dogs where perfectly happy. How much money did this nonsense cost the taxpayer?
This makes me think of Learned Helplessness by ConaxConax · 2010-10-13 05:39 · Score: 2, Interesting

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Learned_helplessness
Some dogs never tried to escape the shocks, just giving in and accepting them. Is this technically pessimism? I find this to be a sad study :(
Re:I was just talking to a lady by xmousex · 2010-10-13 07:01 · Score: 2, Funny

so are your clams also sad when you leave??? you have alot of pets