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Post by the light works on Feb 18, 2014 22:12:30 GMT
since I opened a thread for cat myths, it only seems fair that I should open a thread for dog myths.
the first is that dogs can sense when their owner is coming. closely followed by the myth that dogs can inherently tell time.
the first might be testable by bringing the dogs into a comfortable area, and then having the owner arrive in their usual vehicle outside, and walk in without speaking or making any other intentionally distinctive sound, and comparing the dog's reaction to a stranger making a similar arrival.
telling time might be a bit more difficult to track since the fact of being monitored might affect the behavior.
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Post by Cybermortis on Feb 18, 2014 22:30:52 GMT
Telling time might be as simple as finding someone who returns home at the same time every day (or same time during the working week). Install cameras in the house, and watch to see if the dogs behaviour changes around the time the owner usually gets home.
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Post by the light works on Feb 18, 2014 22:52:48 GMT
Telling time might be as simple as finding someone who returns home at the same time every day (or same time during the working week). Install cameras in the house, and watch to see if the dogs behaviour changes around the time the owner usually gets home. theoretically so. you would have to accommodate the potential for the dog to react to the camera - and you would have to shake up the routine to see whether the dog was being time sensitive or catching some stimulus of the owner coming. Lion seems to be able to recognize my truck and Mrs TLW's truck - but other times people - say, the mail carrier or the UPS truck - seem to completely sneak up on her. we've lost our patterns so much that we can't even come close to saying it is time related. interestingly, and off-topic for this thread, one of the cats seems to be able to get a general idea of when it should be bedtime - but she may just be gauging off when it gets dark out. |
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Post by ironhold on Feb 19, 2014 5:13:22 GMT
I can confirm that some animals are keen on stimuli.
The brakes on my mom's van make a distinctive squeal whenever she pulls into the driveway. A cat we used to have somehow learned to associate the squeal with my mom coming home. He could be in a deep sleep, but if he heard that squeal then he was up and by the front door.
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Post by Cybermortis on Feb 19, 2014 7:57:41 GMT
Humm, so the 'dog knows owner is returning home' myth could have three possible explanations. Assuming of course you take it as being true from stories owners tell;
They recognise the sound of the vehicle the owner drives. This is quite plausible as dogs (and cats too) have far better hearing than humans, so they may well be able to tell one car from another by sound alone even if it is the exact same model.
They have good time keeping. Again, this might be plausible IF they get fed when the owner returns or taken outside to do their business. In both of these cases it might simply be that they are hungry/dying for a pee around the same time the owner returns home.
They can identify the owner from sound (or possibly smell if the prevailing winds tend to be towards the house). Like the sound of a vehicle this seems plausible.
All of these seem quite testable to me;
Install cameras to cover the front door, or whatever entrance the owner usually returns by and is met by the dogs. Ideally you'd have cameras covering the whole house. But apart from the cost this might be a little to invasive for most people to stomach.
Film for two weeks, in this case the time needed for filming is not an issue, since the cast don't need to be actively involved at this stage. At most they'd need to be there while the cameras are being set up, and then mainly so they can explain the set up to camera and reassure the owners. Two weeks should be more than enough time to get the dogs used to the cameras being around, while also providing footage that will show how the dog(s) usually react.
Then MB can (with the help of the owner) change things around. Have the owner return at the same time, but driving different vehicles. Ideally at least one return should be in a vehicle that is the same make and model as their own car.
Have the owner return an hour early and an hour late.
Have the owner return by a different entrance (if possible), have them walk up the drive differently (maybe a leg brace or rig that would alter their stride? Or different clothing to what they started the day with. Or someone who looks like the owner returning dressed the same as the owner left the house in.
They'd need to run a fair number of tests to get usable data, and also to pick out which dogs seem to be reacting/changing their behaviour around the time the owner usually returns. (Even if all dogs are capable of 'telling' when the owner returns not all may feel the need to make a song and dance about it). However this type of testing may be practical as most of it would be passive, meaning that it would not require the direct supervision of the cast until they had picked out their 'top dogs' and started switching things around to see what the dogs may be reacting to. And even then they probably wouldn't need to be on location for more than an hour or so, which might make it practical and possible to fit testing around other work. In fact for the first round of testing they might even be able to get away with only one cast member being present.
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Post by OziRiS on Feb 20, 2014 14:42:13 GMT
I can vouch for dogs having some concept of time.
My stepson usually comes home from school between 2.30 and 3 pm. Like clockwork, the dog starts for the door around 2.30 and stays there until the boy walks through the door. If he's more than 10 minutes late, like when he goes home with another kid after school and we need to pick him up around 5 pm, the dog becomes unsettled and starts whining and pacing.
Same thing when the boy goes to his dad's every other weekend. If we leave the dog at home when we drop the boy off, the dog is whiny and annoying all weekend because he doesn't know where the boy is. If we bring the dog to drop off the boy, he seems to know that it's going to be two days until he's going to see the boy again and he relaxes all weekend. Again, like clockwork, at around 2.30 on sunday he starts pacing and whining again. He knows it's time to go pick up the boy. We've stopped keeping an eye on the clock on sundays, because we know that as soon as Bobby starts pacing and whining, it's around 2.30, so he's not taking cues from us. We're taking cues from him.
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