by Susan Dunn,
The EQ Coach
"Well, you know Labs, they're almost human,"
I always say when I'm out walking Bailey, my Chocolate Lab,
and people stop us. Do you feel the same way about your
dog?
I agree with prize-winning pet columnist obedience/ therapy
dog trainer, Lexiann Grant, who said, "I love [dogs]
immensely and cannot imagine my life without them in it.
Because of a dog - their emotions and intelligence - I:
There are plenty of tales about dogs rescuing families
from burning homes without being trained, or, like my grandmother's
dog, sitting patiently in the lap of aged companions when
they could be off playing.
Those of us who have dog companions know what we know,
but research has come up with a really fascinating bit of
evidence I'd never thought of. See if this ever occurred
to you! The closest other animal to humans genetically would
be the chimp, right?
But the fact is, we humans have never made our homes with
chimps, so we may be closer to dogs in many ways.
Dogs and humans go way back. It appears Palaeolithic humans
tamed dogs 15,000 years ago. According to Peter Savolainen,
an evolutionary biologist at the Royal Institute of Technology
in Stockholm, Sweden, that's when we bred aggression out
of wolves and made dogs pets.
Another researcher, Brian Hare at Harvard, has been studying
dogs' special ability to communicate with humans. He did
experiments where he hid food and then used nonverbal means
of communication to indicate where it was. He tested dogs,
human-reared wolves, chimps, and puppies.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/11/1121_021121_DogEvolution.html
Chimps and wolves couldn't find it, but dogs and even puppies,
who hadn't been around humans, knew what it meant when researchers
pointed at the place, or 'eyed' it, or placed an item on
it.
Hare's studies are showing that although chimps are our
closest relatives genetically, they can cooperate and communicate
very poorly with us. But oh our dogs can!
About the Author ©Susan
Dunn, The EQ Coach, offers coaching, and The
EQ Foundation Course© on the Internet, for individuals
and for licensing.
Your EQ is more important to your happiness
and success than your IQ.
www.susandunn.cc.
mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc
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