Thursday, June 26, 2008

Wolves versus Dogs

I saw a most interesting show on National Geographic channel the other day. They said that dogs have 'slippery' genes, hence the variety of sizes etc. Apparently they're the only animal with it. Also, they showed a group of people somewhere in Eastern Europe who are doing research on domestic dogs and wolves. They raised a group of domestics and a group of wolves from puppyhood. Then they tested them. For example, 2 pots were placed at a distance with a human standing between them. A dog (or wolf) was then placed ~ 8' from the pots + person. The person pointed to the pot with actual meat in it. The dog watched the person and went to the pot with the meat. The wolf did not. In a second test they tied a piece of meat to a rag in such a way that the dog (or wolf) could not get to it. The wolf continued to try, becoming very frustrated. The dog tried, then stopped and looked at the human for assistance. It was really fascinating. BTW, my dog thinks she's a wolf. Big time squirrel hunter!

5 comments:

The Merry Widow said...

Interesting...dogs are truly 'domesticated'...and in such a way as to enhance survivability.
Makes you wonder(since India and Africa both have native wild dogs)if the 'original' domesticated dog, was really a dog, not a wolf.
Good morning, G*D bless and Maranatha!

tmw
Kind of gives the lie to evolution in this case...dogs are dogs and wolves are wolves...

The Merry Widow said...

BTW-It was always our female shepherds that hunted down the squirrels and rats that got into our yard. The males were useless for that!

tmw

Eyes said...

OMGosh, that's funny TMW! My male is also useless in that respect. He's like a gangling uncoordinated geek.. She on the other hand is 100% Ace Hunter. Interesting. And interesting comment about the dog versus the wolf. It could be that dogs are God's special gift to humanity:>D There's a great Indian story about that - I'll see if I can find it.

Brooke said...

Drat. I don't get NGC. What was the name of the show; I'll see if Netflix might have it, or if it might be on iTunes.

I love watching my dogs go after squirrels. One day, they might actually get one! LOL!

Eyes said...

Hi Brooke, Unfortunately I can't remember the name of the show. It was only 1 hour long... If I see it again, I'll let you know. It was very fascinating.