Max Mednik
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Readings and musings

Notes on The Genius of Dogs by Vanessa Woods and Brian Hare

3/16/2014

1 Comment

 
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A year isn't a good year without reading some dog literature. So I wanted to make sure 2014 wasn't lacking in that department and read The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter Than You Think by Vanessa Words and Brian Hare.

It was a lot of fun. I enjoyed the term that the author coined for the field he studies: "dognition." I was amazed to learn how incredibly smart some dogs can be, learning to recognize 800-1,000 words in some cases (!). I found it very interesting how many of the techniques used to study human infant learning applied directly to studying dog cognition, and how many lessons that we learned from dogs can apply to helping us understand human cognition as well.

I was surprised by how many new things I learned about the evolution of dogs and domestication (a lot of what I considered true before, like the idea of humans domesticating dogs, is a myth). The idea that surprised and struck me the most was that dogs may have actually domesticated us.

This book featured a mix of stories about the author's dogs as well as a review of many of the recent scientific studies that have been performed to understand animal cognition. I liked how the author distinguished clearly between studies that found significant results and those which were inconclusive.

Here are my biggest overall takeaways, and below are my notes.

  • As opposed to other animals, dogs were smart enough to come in from the cold and make themselves part of the human household.
  • Dogs are genetically closest to wolves, and we are closest to monkeys. Because humans and dogs are so different, how unlikely is the tight-knit, best-friends relationship that developed between us?
  • Dogs evolved to be more similar to us than our closest relatives.
  • Dogs domesticated themselves
  • Humans did not create dogs.
  • Friendlier animals (humans and dogs) had survival advantages and became smarter.
  • Nature can domesticate without any aid from humans.
  • Did dogs domesticate us?

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Notes on A Dog's Purpose

2/18/2012

8 Comments

 
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Sorry, been away from the blog for a while (been super busy IRL).

I did read a wonderful book a while ago that I wanted to post my notes on. It was A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron. I knew I had to read it simply from the cover (I think the dog shown is my favorite breed: Neapolitan Mastiff); in this case, I truly judged the book by its cover.

It was a tear-jerking story told from the perspective of a dog (it's subtitle is "a novel for humans"). I really liked how changing the storyteller to a dog allowed the author to make some interesting commentary on our behavior as human beings.

This was the second book I've read that was "written" by a dog (the first one was The Art of Racing in the Rain. I liked this book just as much. The interesting twist of this book was how the same dog "soul" was reincarnated from "life" to "life" and learned lessons along the way that allowed it to play a pivotal role in saving people's lives and bringing people to love. That was awesome. It was also fun to play "detective" as it took a bit of thinking to figure out what was "happening" from the human perspective since the only clues given in the book are what the dog could sense and understand.

You clearly have to be a dog lover to want to read a book all about a dog's life, but I encourage those who want to consider their dogs from a new perspective (and gain more appreciation for them) to check this book out.

Biggest lessons/thoughts/takeaways:
  • Lessons learned from one life helped in next life to serve bigger purpose
  • Humans have so many more emotions than dogs
  • Humans capable of so many amazing things but often just make words
  • Dogs rescue people from despair of life
  • Dog's purpose is to find and save people
  • Dog's job is to do what people wanted
  • Dog's purpose is to comfort boy
  • Dog's purpose is to lick owner and make happy
  • Dog always friendly and positive until end
  • Often misinterpreted by people
  • Very adaptable

My full notes are below.

Ch. 1
  • Birth
  • Suckling
  • Siblings
  • Avoid and fear men 
  • Picked up by animal control
Ch. 2
  • Good life in shelter
  • Food
  • Playing with new dogs
  • Mother runs away
Ch. 3
  • Wanted to stay in shelter with new pack
  • Dog social hierarchy
  • Mating impulse
  • Neutering
  • Play fights
  • Bones
  • Top Dog
Ch. 4
  • Very adaptable
  • Positive attitude
  • New dog Spike challenged order with fight
  • Got into fight and leg hurt
  • Taken to pound
  • Dog's purpose is to lick owner and make happy
  • Put down at pound
  • Dog always friendly and positive until end
  • Often misinterpreted by people
Ch. 5
  • Reincarnated as new puppy (retriever)
  • Seized by question of purpose
  • Why was he a puppy again?
  • Now at kennel or pet store
  • Human reader in role of trying to understand dog (reversal)
  • Escaped from kennel
  • Picked up by man on road
  • Man forgot him in car to go drinking; got closed in car with no ventilation (big heat)
  • Woman saved him
Ch. 6
  • introduced to child (boy)
  • Dog's purpose is loving boy
Ch. 7
  • Don't understand commands and games
  • Boy goes to school, closed dog in garage
  • Bored, accidents in house
  • Mixed messages from humans
  • Dog's purpose is to comfort boy
  • Dog door
  • Dog house
Ch. 8
  • Boy's friend Todd from bad parents, glue addiction, pyromania, stole dog
Ch. 9
  • Went to farm
  • Skunk incidents
  • Saves boy and retrieves from water
Ch. 10
  • Ate food in kitchen
  • Humans have so many more emotions
  • Astronaut lands on moon
  • Boy shy around girl
  • Left alone in house, parties with dog
  • Played with grandpa's gun
Ch. 11
  • Noise in house
  • Lost in woods
  • Found by search team
Ch. 12
  • Hospital
  • Back home
  • Go Kart race where dog helps him win
  • Todd threw rock in window
Ch. 13
  • Cat died
  • Felt anger in people
  • Boy got together with girl
  • Todd bad guy, dog smells his evil
  • Todd gave poisoned meat to dog
Ch. 14
  • Todd set house on fire
  • Dog attacked Todd
  • Couldn't find Ethan (boy)
Ch. 15
  • Dog revealed Todd as criminal; dog hero
Ch. 16
  • Boy came home
  • Cats useless
  • Stayed on farm
  • Leg problem
  • Boy had to leave again
Ch. 17
  • Felt betrayed because boy left
  • Broke up with girl, missed her
  • Parents divorced
  • Mom met new man
  • Boy would visit sometimes
  • Dog grew older
  • Stopped eating, felt pain
  • Sleepy, put to sleep
  • Thoughts of boy at end
  • Remembered sense of dying
  • Dog's purpose is to love boy
  • Felt like puppy again
Ch. 18
  • Born again as puppy
  • He became a female for the first time
  • Front seat versus back seat dog
  • Smarter than usual
  • Smells of paper and people
  • Name: Ellie
  • Dog's job is to do what people wanted
  • Can a dog have more than one purpose?
  • Trained by new owner Jacob
  • Dreamt of old boy
  • Spayed and space cone
  • Trained to be canine police dog
  • "Find" command
Ch. 19
  • Bomb squad
  • Dog's purpose is to find and save people
  • Depressed owner
  • Ocean in Los Angeles
  • Finding another victim
Ch. 20
  • Found girl victim
  • Officer shot
Ch. 21
  • New officer
  • German shepherd
  • Cats in new home
Ch. 22
  • New owner
  • Certified search and rescue dog
Ch. 23
  • Saved person but got into toxic waste and lost sense of smell
  • Owner got married and dog carried ring
  • Humans capable of so many amazing things but often just make words
  • Became school volunteer to teach kids about search dogs
  • Found another kid hiding in sewer
  • Understood death
  • Learning across lives helped him become rescue dog
  • Fulfilled his purpose
  • New owner had little girl
  • Cat saw dog as new mom
  • Ready to not be reborn
  • Put down
Ch. 26
  • Reborn again
  • Born as exhibition dog
  • Preferred to be alone and ponder self
  • Got new owner and went to apartment
Ch. 27
  • Abandoned by new owner
Ch. 28
  • Recognized old place from previous life
  • Found himself new home himself at old place but searched for Ethan and Hannah (girl)
  • Escaped purposeless life
Ch. 29
  • Lived homeless
  • Lessons learned from one life helped in next life to serve bigger purpose
  • Remembered old locations and retraced steps
  • Found Ethan
Ch. 30
  • Taken to shelter
  • Ethan took him back
  • Dog always forgives
Ch. 31
  • Ethan never got married
  • Sad
  • Got his old collar and smelled himself from previous life
  • Found Hannah for Ethan
Ch. 32
  • Reunited
  • Got married
  • Fulfilled his purpose
  • Learned to love and save people
  • Dogs rescue people from despair of life
  • Could tell Ethan got sick
  • Realized his dog was Bailey (first name)
  • Sat by owner while died
  • Finally fulfilled his purpose
  • Ends with dog tending owner to death (reversal)
8 Comments

Common experiences of dog owners

8/30/2011

0 Comments

 
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The other day I saw a man walking his dog down the street very early in the morning. He was wearing a bathrobe and literally was walking with his eyes closed. I realized that I knew exactly what he felt like, and I further guessed that there are many common experiences that dog owners share which are special and unique. Here are some of my favorites; please add your own!


  1. The morning sleepy walk. (Most) dogs have no problem waking up super early, if it only means they get fed. Mine is particularly accurate with respect to her internal breakfast alarm; she is rude enough to even start scratching on doors if she's not walked and fed by 8:30am. What a nerve.

    You know the morning sleepy walk I'm talking about: Throw on a robe or go out in your PJs; be blinded by the sunlight as you walk out first thing in the morning; check your email while stumbling down the street after your dog; bend over to scoop up any goodies she leaves.

  2. Begging for food. Some dogs can be polite, and some can be very forward with their food requests. Some will dance, some will do tricks, and some will literally push you to move towards the cabinet where you keep their food. Talk about confidence!

  3. Salivating on guests. You're hosting a nice, dressy party or just have some guests over randomly. Yeah, great timing for your dog to get worked up and start sweating and salivating all over the place (but that's when it always happens). Saliva on guests, on your nice pants, on the couch, on the floor. Maybe dogs think we like it?

  4. Being lazy on a rug or sofa and not coming when called. You're running 5 minutes late and need to leave the house ASAP. You realize the dog needs a walk and so you call it down. That's exactly when it's least likely to come; it's snoozing softly somewhere, and it feigns poor hearing until you literally come up and give it the look. Attitude!

  5. Shaking their whole body after a bath or rain and getting you all wet. Dogs have special muscles in their back meant just for shaking their entire body in rapid succession to maximize the amount they can soak you.

  6. Smelling another dog's genitals and putting you in an uncomfortable position with respect to the other dog walker. You're walking Fido down the street and some strange-looking (or maybe attractive?) person is walking their dog towards you. After the initial awkward is-this-other-dog-going-to-kill-me check, the dogs start smelling each other's rear ends. Then your eyes meet the other person's, and it's always uncomfortable. Do you make your dog stop? Do you try to smell the other person? Do you apologize? Do you run away as fast as possible?

  7. Washing and refilling dog bowls. The food bowl, the water bowl, the travel bowl, the dog bed, the dog towel, the dog tag necklace, the dog toys -- all this paraphernalia that requires constant maintenance for one simple creature. How about it take care of itself once in a while?

  8. Going "shopping" at Petco and thinking about all the toys you would want as a dog and realizing your dog may have different preferences. Petco for me is like a toy store; so much new-smelling, colorful stuff, even snacks that look like human food. I love how they make it pleasant for dogs and humans alike.

  9. Sneezing when smelling second-hand smoke. While humans have to just put up with it or move away respectfully, dogs can just sneeze loudly and proudly of their hate of cigarette smoke.

  10. Jumping up on your shoulders to greet you. This is always fun, unless you're carrying something fragile. In any case, it's nice to feel loved and wanted, even by a four-legged creature.

  11. Rolling onto their back to help facilitate belly scratching. Dogs are so smart; they can calculate and optimize the perfect angle to keep their body to maximize scratching and petting sensation.

  12. Picking up dog poo and carefully negotiating with the swinging bag surface, keeping track mentally of every surface and bag fold between what's clean and what's dirty. No one wants brown fingers, especially before having to eat breakfast, so figuring out how to do the most delicate maneuvers with a bag of poo is one of the first things we learn as dog owners. The other awkwardness comes when you run into others you know on your way to the trash and have to somehow greet them carrying a bag of poo. Wonderful.

  13. Playing tricks on you to get you to finish a walk faster and give them food. If I'm trying to get my dog to walk more or poo, I just keep walking farther and farther, and at some point, my dog just gives me this dramatic chipmunk look like, "are you crazy?" Once that fails, it starts to dig its nails into the ground and pull back on its leash. Once that fails, it finally decides to take a few steps onto some grass before immediately swerving backwards and trying to walk home (in basketball, this is a pump fake). This is all in order to come home and get fed faster.

  14. Understanding situations and coming to comfort you or give you space when you're packing. Dogs can sense very early if their owner is leaving or sad or hurt. It's amazing when they're able to show this level of compassion and how they express it.

  15. Nuzzling up against you and petting themselves against your legs or hands. Face it: your dog is using you like an object, and you're just its walking, feeding massage chair.

  16. Snoozing next to you while you're working. This is perhaps the most peaceful and gentle expression of love from a dog, and it's a wonderful moment to appreciate.
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