Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Plant Sciences, Zoology & Evolution => Topic started by: EatsRainbows on 15/12/2009 10:22:10
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I've noticed that if you put food near a dog and they do not want it, they seem to actively shift away from it.
To explain better as an example, a family members dog was on the back seat of the car. He always sits next to the open window and most of the time has his head stuck out. I was eating pizza and put the crust in front of him on the back seat. He sniffed it and then moved to the other side of the back seat. I've NEVER seen him sit on the opposite side to an open window so it seemed pretty clearly to be due to the pizza crust. I've noticed other dogs do this before too.
I was mulling over the purpose of this behaviour, any ideas?
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Possibly to get away from the smell, which to them must be overpowering ...
While the human brain is dominated by a large visual cortex, the dog brain is dominated by an olfactory cortex.
The olfactory bulb in dogs is roughly forty times bigger than the olfactory bulb in humans ...
Dogs can discriminate odors at concentrations nearly 100 million times lower than humans can.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog#Biology
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Good theory! however i've got a problem with it! [;D]
I've seen my dog exhibit this behaviour too. Ive also thrown him sticks and seen him walk right over the stick, step on it while looking for it and not so much as glance downwards lol
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Maybe it has something to do with your smell...(https://www.thenakedscientists.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbestsmileys.com%2Fparanoid%2F2.gif&hash=b6c89a93fcdc26f07540419a36cc278d)
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Charming! lol!
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Good theory! however i've got a problem with it! [;D]
I've seen my dog exhibit this behaviour too. Ive also thrown him sticks and seen him walk right over the stick, step on it while looking for it and not so much as glance downwards lol
what has that got to do with his sense of smell? RD is, as always, completely correct. A dogs sense of smell is his livelihood - one one reason why he sticks his head out the car window and hates it when humans blow in his face.
How that relates to not being interested in a stick is beyond me.
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My point was is that it certainly seems my dog cannot follow his nose! He's terrible at locating things, like the stick, but not just the stick. He can searching the ground with his nose and misses the given object completely! yet I've still observed him moving away from food.
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Maybe he's just retarded lol!
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Perhaps.. or perhaps he's not interested in sticks or is a retriever type of dog. All dogs have a good sense of smell, but some dogs have a superior sense of smell for even dogs. Which is why only certain breeds can be used for detection of narcotics etc
or maybe he's like "you just threw the stick away, like I'm going to get it for you to throw away again" :)
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jack russel, very much of one mind when it comes to 'go fetch' games [;)] i think he's just retarded! [:D] Small brain, its bound to short circuit from time to time lol!
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well yes, Jack russels are usually notorious for fetch games... your dog may be defective... ;)
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oh yes, he loves it. Its just that i often have to go and collect the ball/stick myself because he cant find it! lol i dont share his obsessive love of fetching unfortunately!
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I've noticed that if you put food near a dog and they do not want it, they seem to actively shift away from it.
To explain better as an example, a family members dog was on the back seat of the car. He always sits next to the open window and most of the time has his head stuck out. I was eating pizza and put the crust in front of him on the back seat. He sniffed it and then moved to the other side of the back seat. I've NEVER seen him sit on the opposite side to an open window so it seemed pretty clearly to be due to the pizza crust. I've noticed other dogs do this before too.
I was mulling over the purpose of this behaviour, any ideas?
I have two basset hounds. One will devour anything you place in front of it. The other will step back from the food. Sometimes she will eat it slowly, or just pick at it for a while and then leave it for the dog. Sometimes she will stand over her bowl and wait until the other has finished *and* comes over to her bowl. She will then snap at him, chasing him away, before proceeding to eat the food "normally".
This does not apply to:
- sausages
- bacon
- ice cream
- crisps
- carrots ( raw or cooked )
- chicken
- tripe ( the treat variety, it appears to be covered in flavourings )
I can only conclude that one of them is fussy. She takes great interest in the preparation of "human food", and would probably be delighted with a plate of my food instead.
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Perhaps its inherent of wild behaviour. When in a pack, a dog will eat its fill, then move away from the food to allow those of a lower station to have their turn.