So called "human mentality traits"

  • Thread starter Makoto Taniguch
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Makoto Taniguch

Guest
People can easily say that it's due to the fact that
our lifestyle is different from all other animals but
when it comes to domesticated pets like cats and dogs,
is it possible for them to have a similar mental traits
like humans?
 
Makoto Taniguchi wrote:

> People can easily say that it's due to the fact that
> our lifestyle is different from all other animals but
> when it comes to domesticated pets like cats and dogs,
> is it possible for them to have a similar mental traits
> like humans?
>

i like that conjecture. i was rabbit hunting with a
border collie about 30 years ago. i was on a small
ridge above where the dog was working which was a
gully that opened into fairly even but brushy
country. he bounced a jackrabbit which took off out
of the gully and away from the ridge i was on. due
the brush down below i could see the rabbit and the
dog though they could not see each other. the rabbit
ran in a large arc for about 75-100 yards while the
dog cut across the arc to head it off. even though
they were out of sight of each other between 5-10
seconds and separated at one point by nearly the
length of a football field, the dog's interception
course was really something to see and i truly
thought he would catch the rabbit. shortly before
the interception the rabbit just stopped running and
froze and the dog ran through the point where they
would have met and then stopped, doubled back
yelping a couple of times. he began working the area
there but never did bounce the bunny again -- it
moved off while i was watching the dog and i lost
track of it also. the point is that the dog had had
a very clear picture in it's head of what was going
to happen and just where and when that would occur
and he was very loathe to give it up. he spent a
good several minutes casting about but returning
always to that point where it had looked to me also
that they would have met. usually i'd just have to
make a noise to get his attention and point and he'd
get the idea but he was so sure of his figuring that
he ignored me when i tried before i lost the rabbit
myself. so yes i think some dogs at least can share
other than social traits with us, if a stubborn
loyalty to one's assumptions qualifies as a mental
trait normally considered belonging to humans.

g

--
"The tendencies of democracies are, in all things, to medio-
crity, since the tastes, knowledge, and principles of the
majority form the tribunal of appeal."
-- James Fenimore Cooper