Mitochondrial D.N.A. sequences show that the family dog descended from a grey wolf somewhere between 12,000 and 100,000 years ago, depending on which scientist happens to be doing the counting.
A recent Nova TV show was all about our favorite four legged friends, dogs, and it relayed some fascinating information. For example, no other animal seems to have the ability to get information from humans by simply watching their faces -- the human turns his/her head to look at something, and the dog looks in the same direction to see what the human is looking at. Many dog owners are probably so accustomed to these things that they don't realize how unique that feature is in the animal kingdom.
Dogs try to communicate with humans with their barks, but the range of information exchanged is quite limited. But, maybe that's because humans haven't learned dog talk.
How good are you at interpreting dog barks? Take this quiz. After you hear the dog bark, select the choice that seems to be the message the dog is trying to convey. Here are the selections from which you can choose:
"Don't leave me alone."
"Let's play."
"I see a stranger."
"I'm on the attack."
"I want the ball."
"Let's go for a walk."
Good dog. Good dog.
All dog barks can be interpreted as, "HEY" Try it and you'll see how accurate that is.
Posted by: Les | November 15, 2010 at 08:41 PM
By golly, I think you've hit on something, Les!
Posted by: Geo | November 16, 2010 at 06:32 AM
Les is absotively correct ...
http://pupster.files.wordpress.com/2008/01/dog-translator.jpg?w=460
:-)
Posted by: Jeff | November 16, 2010 at 01:01 PM
HA HA! Great find, Jeff!
Posted by: Geo | November 16, 2010 at 02:43 PM