Few people have stopped to ask why dogs have such a keen sense of right and wrong. Chimpanzees and other nonhuman primates regularly make the news when researchers, logically looking to our closest relatives for traits similar to our own, uncover evidence of their instinct for fairness. But our work has suggested that wild canine societies may be even better analogues for early hominid groups—and when we study dogs, wolves and coyotes, we discover behaviors that hint at the roots of human morality.
Morality, as we define it in our book Wild Justice, is a suite of interrelated other-regarding behaviors that cultivate and regulate social interactions. These behaviors, including altruism, tolerance, forgiveness, reciprocity and fairness, are readily evident in the egalitarian way wolves and coyotes play with one another. Canids (animals in the dog family) follow a strict code of conduct when they play, which teaches pups the rules of social engagement that allow their societies to succeed. Play also builds trusting relationships among pack members, which enables divisions of labor, dominance hierarchies and cooperation in hunting, raising young, and defending food and territory. Because this social organization closely resembles that of early humans (as anthropologists and other experts believe it existed), studying canid play may offer a glimpse of the moral code that allowed our ancestral societies to grow and flourish....
Communicate clearly. Animals announce that they want to play and not fight or mate. Canids use a bow to solicit play, crouching on their forelimbs while standing on their hind legs (above). Bows are used almost exclusively during play and are highly stereotyped—that is, they always look the same—so the message “Come play with me” or “I still want to play” is clear.
Mind your manners. Animals consider their play partners’ abilities and engage in self-handicapping and role reversing to create and maintain equal footing. For instance, a coyote might not bite her play partner as hard as she can, handicapping herself to keep things fair.
Admit when you are wrong. Even when everyone wants to keep things fair, play can sometimes get out of hand. When an animal misbehaves or accidentally hurts his play partner, he apologizes—just like a human would. After an intense bite, a bow sends the message, “Sorry I bit you so hard—this is still play regardless of what I just did.
The reason why many owners love their pets so much is because an animal shows affection. In dogs, this show of affection includes cuddling and licking. One would definitely think why a dog follows its master and why it licks its owner's face or hand.
Dogs stay together in packs whether they look the same or not. According to experts, this has been going on since the time dogs separated from the wolf family. Dogs stay together as a means to survival. So when a dog follows its master around, it is out of pack instinct. A dog sees its master as an leading character to whom it can depend and look up to. A dog sees its master as someone who can protect and defend it in times of threat. One must be thinking ironically that this is opposite to what we think about dogs...wat one of the website describes about..
HOWEVER ONE THING I CAN SAY ABOUT DOG AS A PET IS THAT THEY HAVE SOME POWERFULL VIBES THAT CAN CHANGE THE MOOD OF THE PERSON.THROUGH THE AFFECTION THAT HE SHOWS.. TO HIS MASTER..AND CAN ALSO CONVERT A PERSON(WHO HAS HATRED TOWARDS THEM)..CAN MAKE THEM LOVING ..
Dogs are man's best friend and they are the most preferred companions for humans because they are easy to train, feed and get familiar with..
