My wonderful father sent me an article that he pulled out of his Time magazine dated July 11th. Some of you may have already seen this and I'm sure it's available online so that you can read the entire thing but, once again, my "old" computer....*sigh*
So I will just post what I found informative and new...
The subtitle is "Think Altruism, Empathy and a Sense of Fair Play are Traits only Humans Possess? Think Again"
It starts with a ethologist named Marc Bekoff at the University of Colorado who was studying the "play bow" in dogs. According to him, play bows occur among wolves and coyotes also. He felt there was more to the action than simply implying "yes, I want to play." He started studying this behavior and feels that this is only one way that dogs communicate...He feels that the play bow also says: "I'm sorry I bit you so hard" or "I'm going to bite you hard, but don't take it seriously." He says it also works between species....wolves and coyotes, coyotes and dogs...
The article goes on to show that animals such as dogs, chimps, hyenas, monkeys, dolphins, birds and rats are able to comprehend and even express emotions such as envy, empathy, altruism and a sense of fairness...
I could repeat more of it to you guys but I have a feeling it's online at Time's website so that you can all check it out yourselves....
I will type what he learned about dog behavior here though...
Play Bite: Snapping jaws usually mean trouble ahead.
I trust you: By exposing her vulnerable underside, she knows that the other dog will not hurt her; her "paw slap" is a play sign.
Not to Fear: Tail up, teeth NOT bared are signs of play mode.
Let's Dance: When dogs grab each other with forepaws,it's a clear sign that nobody is mad. If they meant to inflict pain, they would use their powerful jaws.
He also says that dogs that "cheat" or are not aware of these "signs" get ostracized. Unfortunately, Duncan is one of "those" I think....
If it's not online and you guys want to hear more, let me know...It's an extremely interesting article!
I always knew that animals had emotions but I guess sometimes I had hoped that they didn't so that what bad humans did to them at times wasn't so bad you know....
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