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Selective Imitation in Dogs

Started by SteveS, June 07, 2007, 03:14:36 AM

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SteveS

My brother sent me this link - it's an article about dogs performing selective imitation.  I guess only humans were thought to have been able to do this.  It's an interesting read:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/03/AR2007060300960.html

tacoma_kyle

#1
Hmmm...Thants kinda neat.

Pretty soon dogs will be strategically taking shits in the house to get enough time to raid the trash can, haha.
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SteveS

#2
If they're anything like me, they'll be strategically taking shits to get some peace and quiet (no kids in the bathroom), and continue reading whatever novel they're trying to get through (haha).

Edited: Sorry, this was foul  :oops:

donkeyhoty

#3
Um, it wasn't that interesting.  Animals aren't that stupid.  What they did was sort of like training an animal to do tricks.

I used to have a cat that could, and would, open doors all the time.  It was dependent on the handles in my house though, it's not like it could turn a door knob.  It was imitating what it saw, pull down handle, pull or push door. It was pretty neat to watch, too.
"Feminism encourages women to leave their husbands, kill their children, practice witchcraft, destroy capitalism and become lesbians."  - Pat Robertson

SteveS

#4
I thought what was interesting is how they reacted to the lead dog.  It's like they presumed it was only using its paw because its mouth was full.  Not just that they imitated the behavior, but that they imitated it differently based on the conditions.

I agree with the skeptics that this doesn't prove dog consciousness or anything, but it does seem like complex behavior.

The best cat trick I saw was a video floating around the web of a guy's cat continually flushing a toilet in his house all day long, over and over again.  Drove up the water bill....