that dog is thinking about what an easy lunch that is. it's licking it's lips. but it reflects on the general situation, computes the likely consequences of eating the baby and eventually concludes it's a better idea not to.
RedStinger103
Because dogs can contemplate, infer and conclude with their brains.
deathtokoalas
yup. they're not the best at innovating solutions to problems, but what i've described is well within the capability of the average dog. dog intelligence is more connected to individuality than breed, but, statistically, labs are also one of the smarter breeds.
RedStinger103
Yes, but you're way overestimating their intelligence.
deathtokoalas
i'm not. just about any dog understands the idea of action--->reaction. it knows if it shits on the rug it'll get in trouble. it knows if it bites it's cohabitors it's going to get in trouble.
i'd even go so far as to argue that dogs have the ability to form a defined mens rea and should consequently be held culpable for criminal behaviour. well, some behaviour, anyways. you could consider turkey theft, for example. the turkey stealing dog is entirely aware of the nature of the crime, forms an intent before the crime is carried out and may even take steps to hide the evidence. that's mens rea, if you ask me. other types of crimes? it may be less clear that a real intent is possible to establish.
so, i'm not overestimating anything. and i think i'm reading the dog's body language fairly accurately.
Jamie
You talk sooooo much shit.
Sound City Network
You clearly never had a smart dog before. I had a White German Shepherd and she would hide things INTENTIONALLY. Dogs are smarter than you think.
Gamingalkaline
I don't think that's talking shit, it's talking logically.
jsteel89
My dog has tried several times to take a mouth full or food from the garage and take it where he can hide and eat it.
catfoodtitans
Don't really think dogs have reasoning skills like that. Where would it have learned that would be wrong? Unless you're saying that dogs have morals.
deathtokoalas
well, i don't think humans really have "morals", either, but that's not what i said - i said it was able to foresee the consequences.
Shaul Rosenzweig
You are talking shit. If you knew anything about dog body language, this dog is gentle and submissive towards the child. He goes down below its level to lick it wagging its tail and then kisses the baby gently looking up towards it. Dogs are social animals, and body language is part of their instinct.
deathtokoalas
well, sure it is, after it decided not to eat it.
the tail wagging thing is more of a nervous reaction, and doesn't really indicate anything about how it's interpreting the baby. but, you'll notice there's a nice sniff before the lick. when dogs sniff like that, it's generally food related. now, chances are the dog is well fed. nor is it likely to really think the baby has a lead on where to find a dog treat. it's kind of a slip up that indicates it's thinking about food. and, sure it's thinking about food - it was just licking it's lips at the sight of the baby coming towards it.
but, it made the right choice, in the end. that face lick is indeed a friendly greeting. but what i'm getting across is that it had to think about it...
now, does that mean you shouldn't leave your baby with your dog? well, if your dog is well fed and well treated it's predictably going to make the same choice that this dog did. see, it might not be safe to leave your baby with your in-laws, either, if they're really hungry and don't have any other choice. it's not hard to find news reports about dogs eating babies, but you're almost always going to be dealing with hunger and abuse. so, is it safe? as safe as it is with any predator.
personally, i'd be a bit more cautious than what you're seeing in this video.
Blake
You understand that humans and dogs don't have a predator/prey relationship right? It's not ingrained in the mind of a dog to eat a child because their ancestry, evolutionary history, instincts don't provide them with that sort of impulse. If the parents have ANY dominance over the dog the dog will see itself as second in command, and the baby as kin that needs to be protected. Humans have socialized dogs for centuries that notion of a domesticated one even trying to naw on a baby is laughable. PLEASE do some research before you try to ruin everyone's fun.
The mind of a full grown dog is equivalent to that of a 2 year old. You're over thinking this.
deathtokoalas
canids are what you call "opportunistic feeders". they will eat whatever they can, including members of their own species. i would suggest you do some research, yourself.
and, while dogs demonstrate large amounts of variability based on both individual and breed, the estimated mental age of the smarter breeds (like labs) is more like 3-5.
SpicyHam
ahh the facts, ahhhh
Blake Prescott
I honestly don't think you've ever seen a dog in your entire life. A canid is the family a dog belongs to. A canine is the dog itself.
deathtokoalas
wolves and dogs are actually technically in the same species, and the ability for wolves and coyotes (and coyotes and dogs) to interbreed is relatively large, depending on the range of the species. hence the new species of "coywolves" that have appeared in algonquin park as a hybridization of wolves and coyotes, which perhaps should have never been considered as different species in the first place.
there are a few obscure canids scattered around the world that have diverged a bit further. but, broadly speaking, canids are really largely all the same thing, and the visible differences that we see between them are merely skin-deep phenotypes and local variation.
