About Dogs

A couple of news articles had me recently thinking about dogs, specifically what we know about them. The first came recommended by my parents: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/13/books/review/Schine-t.html. The article is a book review for Alexandra Horowitz’s “Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know,” and it explains that dogs' perspectives of the world are primarily directed by their sense of smell. It also notes ways in which dogs' senses differ from those of humans, which may seem obvious at first, but the article provides interesting examples of how dogs' use of sight differs from ours as well as the ways their brains process sound. The second article comes from National Geographic and reports that genetic analyses indicate that dogs were first domesticated in China to be livestock rather than household pets. http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/09/090904-dogs-tamed-china-food.html

In response to the first article, I was fascinated by how dogs utilize their senses in unique ways to make sense of the world around them, and it gave me a deeper appreciation for my dog's constant fascination with strange, faint smells. In response to the second article, I would like to reassure Penny that she is most definitely our pet, and will never be considered livestock as a member of our family!