Who wants to know?
I know you’ve all met Dog, aka Mylo named after the Textiliste’s favourite album. He’s a rescue dog, the second we’ve been lucky enough to live with. I could list his attributes, his foibles, the things that irk me and the things that make me putty in his paws. No, I want to make a case for him and his species being the second most intelligent, intuitive species on this little lump of rock of ours.
My posit is that humans, for all their stupidities and senseless behaviours are the most intelligent and intuitive when measured against a range of parameters. You may not agree.
I have read and seen a number of programmes, making the case that other primates come into second place. Or dolphins. Crows or jackdaws. Parrots. Elephants. I’ve no doubt there are wackos out there building a case for the meerkat based on its ability to corner the insurance advertisement market.
Wrong, all wrong, all of you. Well, all of you who don’t have the dog in second place by a margin, the length of a street of lamp posts.
Dogs do not have opposable thumbs. They cannot pick things up easily. Their language is relatively simplistic. They don’t clean up after themselves. They have yet to invade Iraq. Or type Shakespeare.
But which species has found its place closest to we humans such that we have rescue centres for them? Even more than cats. That we share our homes with?. Which species do we work the fields and mountains with? Which do we trust with some of the most vulnerable members of our community as sensing dogs (hint: it’s in the label)? Which species have we bred over thousands of years to perform a myriad of roles in support of our dominance of the planet and who still adapt to modern needs, be it forewarning of strokes or epilepsy or sniffing our drugs?
DOGS. None of the above listed.
OK, most of the others are more independently minded. They know better than to snuggle up to us. Ha! Dumb-asses.
Dogs know who’ll fill their bowls, keep them warm, keep them safe, give them medical care and mourn their passing. And clean up after them, as we only really do for our children, the cunning little critters.
So yes, Dog, you might look worried because I’ve sussed your game. I can be hard-nosed, you know. I could stop all this kowtowing, just like that. In an instant. At the snap of my fingers, in the blink of an eye, in a heart beat. Now stop that. Don’t look like that. No, come here. I didn’t mean it. Come on. Come to daddy’s lap….
I was nominated to take part in this photo challenge by Ali Issac, who takes the most beautiful images and always has a story to tell about them. I would like to nominate Ula at Confessions of a Broccoli Addict, to take up this photo challenge baton.
The rules of the Five Photos, Five Stories Challenge are:
1) Post a photo each day for five consecutive days.
2) Attach a story to the photo. It can be fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or a short paragraph. It’s entirely up to the individual.
3) Nominate another blogger to carry on the challenge. Your nominee is free to accept or decline the invitation. This is fun, not a command performance!
He’s definitely giving you an old-fashioned look there! You make a very strong argument, which I’ll have to think about.
I was trying to defend my Uncle (and most men!) against my beloved Aunt once, and said that he had learned to be sensitive to her moods and knew when to shut up, or otherwise, and how to react etc. And she said “But dogs can do that”.
Says it all really!
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That isn’t an anti-men comment, by the way – when she said that, I was just speechless!
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You’d never make an anti man comment!
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Absolutely. At my best I’m half man half Labrador.
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Is the Labrador bit the part which chomps huge cakes all in one go, and then looks sorry?! Hee hee… it’s the kind of thing most Labs I know seem to do.
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Amongst it’s others traits, yes I suppose so!
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I actually wonder whether the dog is smarter than humans. We slave away to pay the mortgage to put a roof over our heads and we wipe our own backsides instead of having slaves to not only feed us but clean up our poop as well. Even Lady, who isn’t the smartest dog around, has managed to wrap one of my fellow dogwalkers around her little paw. He feeds treats to his lively German Spitz pup and Lady will sit and look incredible gorgeous and guzzles up all the treats. Spitz is told, very much in the manner of an older child, that he needs to learn to share. It seems Lady isn’t quite so daft after all. Meanwhile, Bilbo won’t take any treats. He is quite nervy and anti-social and I compare him to the bloke sitting alone in the corner at the pub.
A great post.
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They are very shrewd, understanding our moods.
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You Gert Big Softy but he is a beauty boy!! ( I am talking about the dog!! )
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Cute doggie and lovely arguments! 🙂
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Aw, dogs. Got to hug Grenny finally, last night! The Hub is hero for scaring off the bear that could have dined on dog, much to my heartbreak. I’m relieved to see him stitched but whole nonetheless. These dogs do get into our hearts.
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He is gorgeous!
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