I mean really? I don't know. Share your thoughts on the subject. Do they even know what's going on?

Dogs care for who-ever feeds them and takes care of them.

/thread.

dogs have been known to save their owners lives

Dogs care for who-ever feeds them and takes care of them.

/thread.

True, just like a human infant. If we consider this true caring, then I would consider the dog's' caring to be true as well.

Dogs care for who-ever feeds them and takes care of them.

/thread.

I wouldn't be so sure. I've spent time looking after dogs, feeding them walking them etc, and they've seemed to hate me, whereas other times, dogs I've never seem before, follow me around and whatnot.

There's more to it than you think.

I believe they do.
Dogs can be very protective, when the 'owner' goes to sleep the dog stays there to watch over him/her.
The moment you even look in the room you could hear a growl.

OK - here's the real answer for your facile question. Dogs are all different from each other and the answer to your question varies. Some dogs are addicted to their owners. Some couldn't care less if they moved to another family as long as they got fed. The end.

/thread

The vast majority of dogs will be loyal to the person who feeds it , instructs it, and gives it attention most often.

As to whether or not it will defend you can be seen by how cowardly they are towards other dogs. If they're submissive, The dog may still care for you but likely won't fight.

My cat has saved my life numerous times:rolleyes:

OK - here's the real answer for your facile question. Dogs are all different from each other and the answer to your question varies. Some dogs are addicted to their owners. Some couldn't care less if they moved to another family as long as they got fed. The end.

/thread

I disagree that its as simple as that. Humans have the capability to be addicted to various things, including other people. Is it possible that dogs could care about people(or at least one)? I say they are capable, whether they do, is another matter. As for being fed, that depends on the dogs relationship with people. In order to be able to move from one family to another, and not be hostile, the dog must have a exellent opinion of humanity as a whole. Unfortunately most dogs that move from one family to another have horrible backgroungs.

Then you can get into the whole breed thing. Labardors have a reputation of being a caring breed, pitbulls have a ancestry full of violence, german sheperds are intelligent, ect.

That being said, dog are animals, and a dogs life moves faster than a humans.

I disagree that its as simple as that. Humans have the capability to be addicted to various things, including other people. Is it possible that dogs could care about people(or at least one)? I say they are capable, whether they do, is another matter. As for being fed, that depends on the dogs relationship with people. In order to be able to move from one family to another, and not be hostile, the dog must have a exellent opinion of humanity as a whole. Unfortunately most dogs that move from one family to another have horrible backgroungs.

Then you can get into the whole breed thing. Labardors have a reputation of being a caring breed, pitbulls have a ancestry full of violence, german sheperds are intelligent, ect.

That being said, dog are animals, and a dogs life moves faster than a humans.

... how did you disagree with him?

I think they can. Well at least my chihuahua... wel its my little sisters chihuahua and sometimes Ill play around and pretend Im beating my sister up, and then the dog will get into crazy attack mode and growl and bark at me and try biting me like shes protecting her.... but then if i pretend to beat somebody else (who doesnt interact with the dog) and shell just stare at me and turn her head the other way like she doesnt care... but of course all dogs are different...some are lazy and dont give a fuck about anything, others save drowning people.

I wouldn't be so sure. I've spent time looking after dogs, feeding them walking them etc, and they've seemed to hate me, whereas other times, dogs I've never seem before, follow me around and whatnot.

There's more to it than you think.

thats the equivalent of a 15 year old thinking they can live on their own without their parents. They rebel, but after time learn to realise their fucking 15 and don't know what does on in the world.

That or they see you as the bitch who feeds them, like what a lioness is to a lion.

I don't feed my dog. But she absolutely adores me. Dogs aren't ALL about the food.

I wouldn't be so sure. I've spent time looking after dogs, feeding them wanking them etc, and they've seemed to hate me, whereas other times, dogs I've never seem before, follow me around and whatnot.

There's more to it than you think.

I crack myself up:D

Also: they don't give a fuck for you, unless you smell like food

I don't feed my dog. But she absolutely adores me. Dogs aren't ALL about the food.

Do you ever drop food, such as being a bit of a messy eater?

Do you ever drop food, such as being a bit of a messy eater?

I yell at her if she tries to eat my dropped food. I believe in well-mannered animals :mad:

My dog follows me around, gets up whenever I enter the room and generally pays me lots of attention but acts like I'm about to beat him with a rake at any given moment. I don't really know what his problem is or whether he cares about me. I don't see why he'd be afraid of me or why he'd follow me if he is

When my dog hears the sound of my keys and sees me put my cellphone or other stuff into my car she knows Im leaving.
She immediately picks up her ball and drops it on my feet and starts jumping. that is a -dont go, stay here and play!-

When I drive out and close the gate she stays there whining until she cant see the car, but she usually stays there all the time until Im back.

I also know it to come back to my door and howl for a while. then she goes back to the gate to wait for me.

Another thing is, when we are away for more than a day or two, she doesnt eat. It is not until we are back that she greets us, then rushes to her bucket and eats.

I think so. Whenever I have friends over and we're fighting/messing around my dogs jump in and protect me, growling at them. It's funny.

Absolutely. They have not only a personal but a social drive that causes them to see owners as family. In effect, when I have/have had a dog they are no less than family.

OP must have read a bit o' jack london to want to actually come up with this question.

i definitely think dogs are more intelligent than we know. and i think they can sense things we can't fully understand ourselves.

i actually have a personal account of an experience with a dog in a sort of life and death situation.

i've always been more of a cat person and have never owned a dog but i love all animals. back in march i was on vacation visiting my mom who has a black lab. this happened towards the end of my time there and i had stayed for about 3 weeks and spent a lot of time with my mom's dog and we kind of bonded.

i have type 1 diabetes and 1 morning i wake up and my blood sugar is extremely low and i was to the point of having small seizures and almost passing out - eventually if it's untreated you can die. when your blood sugar is really low your mind also gets really disoriented.

when you're blood sugar is too low you can basically do two things to fix it; eat a bunch of sugar or take an emergency glucagon shot (which i didn't have with me). as soon as i get out of bed and open the bedroom door Zak (the dog) runs over to me. and he didn't run over like a lab normally does because they are excited to see anybody. he was whimpering worse than i've ever heard a dog whimper and he kept walking in circles around me barking as i was trying to get into the kitchen to get some food. he hardly ever barks.

during this time for the most part i still looked normal aside from the slight shaking and if an actual person saw me they would probably say i looked a little disoriented or weird in my face, but it's not like i was having full blown seizures on the floor or anything, which is why i think dogs can kind of sense things.

at first i was a little agitated because i was panicking and i thought he just wanted to go outside but after i opened the door and he didn't leave my side i realized he was trying to help me.

my blood sugar did not rise like it normally would, so i called paramedics because they would have a glucagon kit with them. they arrived 30 minutes after i called them and they diagnosed me with the flu and said they couldn't do anything for me but advise me to drink a lot of water, and they left. (they were really bad paramedics. they were nice enough, but i think they could have used some more training or something).

thankfully, the food did finally start to raise my blood sugar. Zak stayed right by my side the entire time whimpering and barking until my blood sugar was normal, my mind was feeling right and i wasn't panicking anymore.

so that's my long story. i know it's not like the things you see on the animal planet with a dog pulling someone out of a burning house, but i thought it was pretty cool that Zak wanted to help me :)

i definitely think dogs are more intelligent than we know. and i think they can sense things we can't fully understand ourselves.

i actually have a personal account of an experience with a dog in a sort of life and death situation.

i've always been more of a cat person and have never owned a dog but i love all animals. back in march i was on vacation visiting my mom who has a black lab. this happened towards the end of my time there and i had stayed for about 3 weeks and spent a lot of time with my mom's dog and we kind of bonded.

i have type 1 diabetes and 1 morning i wake up and my blood sugar is extremely low and i was to the point of having small seizures and almost passing out - eventually if it's untreated you can die. when your blood sugar is really low your mind also gets really disoriented.

when you're blood sugar is too low you can basically do two things to fix it; eat a bunch of sugar or take an emergency glucagon shot (which i didn't have with me). as soon as i get out of bed and open the bedroom door Zak (the dog) runs over to me. and he didn't run over like a lab normally does because they are excited to see anybody. he was whimpering worse than i've ever heard a dog whimper and he kept walking in circles around me barking as i was trying to get into the kitchen to get some food. he hardly ever barks.

during this time for the most part i still looked normal aside from the slight shaking and if an actual person saw me they would probably say i looked a little disoriented or weird in my face, but it's not like i was having full blown seizures on the floor or anything, which is why i think dogs can kind of sense things.

at first i was a little agitated because i was panicking and i thought he just wanted to go outside but after i opened the door and he didn't leave my side i realized he was trying to help me.

my blood sugar did not rise like it normally would, so i called paramedics because they would have a glucagon kit with them. they arrived 30 minutes after i called them and they diagnosed me with the flu and said they couldn't do anything for me but advise me to drink a lot of water, and they left. (they were really bad paramedics. they were nice enough, but i think they could have used some more training or something).

thankfully, the food did finally start to raise my blood sugar. Zak stayed right by my side the entire time whimpering and barking until my blood sugar was normal, my mind was feeling right and i wasn't panicking anymore.

so that's my long story. i know it's not like the things you see on the animal planet with a dog pulling someone out of a burning house, but i thought it was pretty cool that Zak wanted to help me :)


Dude thats quite wonderful. Dogs, with their incredible sense of smell, can detect the subtle changes in your body that manifest when you and I have low blood sugar. I'm also a type one diabetic. Represent dude. :D Folks like these people train dogs for just such a service. I would get one if I had a house rather than an apartment. http://www.dogs4diabetics.com/

Hope to see you posting more.

I believe that dogs care for their owners.. Mine love me and are always excited to see me when I get home.. I agree that they do have a child like need, it's an unconditional love that is shared between dog and owner..

When you die, your dog will eat you.

Eyes first.

Ever heard of Greyfriars Bobby?

"Bobby belonged to John Gray, who worked for the Edinburgh City Police as a night watchman, and the two were inseparable for approximately two years.[1] On 15 February 1858, Gray died of tuberculosis. He was buried in Greyfriars Kirkyard, the graveyard surrounding Greyfriars Kirk in the Old Town of Edinburgh. Bobby, who survived John Gray by 14 years, is said to have spent the rest of his life sitting on his master's grave. A more realistic account has it that he spent a great deal of time at Gray's grave, but that he left regularly for meals at a restaurant beside the graveyard, and may have spent colder winters in nearby houses."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyfriars_Bobby

That's pretty damn loyal.

When I let my dog inside and I fall asleep it's not as if he does anything to me whilst I'm asleep. I don't feed him myself either so I must think, yes.

Although I must wonder does he think of me as his owner. Probably not so he likes me as something else.

Story:

I was at the vet with my dog for a normal check up and we were sitting in the waiting room which is next to the exit. Another dog (twice my dogs size, and my dog's about normal) came out and my doggy got between us to defend me. Now I'm not sure if she was trying to protect me or if she just didn't like that other dog but she wouldn't let me get in front of her at all.

:confused: