http://knobnotes.blogspot.com/2011/07/designing-dogs-what-are-they-thinking.html

Designing Dogs: What Are They Thinking?
Jemima at work
Before advancing to the "meat" of my blog today, you might want to take a page out of Hamlet if you are a person rooted in logic: "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Why would a Golden Retriever consistently "construct" sticks in the form of a pyramid? Why does one Standard Poodle gather feathers and arrange them "just so" in a sea pond? "Luke," an Alaskan Malamute, collects cut pampas grass with his teeth, arranges them in circles and then sits in the middle. Why?

This is what author, Vicki Mathison asks in her book, "Dog Works: The Meaning and Magic of Canine Construction," inspired by the author's chance encounter with seven symmetrically lined-up holes in the sand of a beach. "A dog did that," said the voice of a passer. Further up the beach, another stroller mentioned having seen the same dog digging the holes. Intrigued, Ms. Mathison tracked down the dog and his owner.

"Jemima," a Corgi-Sheltie mix, had always been a hole digger, though her owner conceded that the juxtaposition of the holes & their symmetry was a bit unusual. It wasn't always thus. Jemima's first holes were random, but over time, she preferred them aligned. And when her last "sand nest" was complete, she would nestle into its hollow and rest with satisfaction.

Writer Mathison got to wondering that if other dogs existed who exhibited unusual behavior manifesting itself as - what. Art? Telepathy with their owners? Inherited behavior? She placed a small article in various animal publications and on-line seeking information for more dogs like Jemima and got some very interesting responses. She enlisted the help of two animal experts with opposing views but who each worked outside the accepted parameters of dog behavior: Dr. Raymond Blake, a researcher at the Canine Cultural Heritage center and Penelope Winer, an animal spiritualist & telepathic diviner. With photographers Tim Dodgshun and Trudy Nicholson, she visited some of these amazing dogs and "Dog Works," just shy of 100 pages, is the result of what she found. While I share a few of them here, I won't go into the explanations of why each expert thought the dog behaved as it did. Suffice it to say that the spiritualist explained most of the behaviors from a psychic perspective while the researcher approached the same behavior from a dog's inherited characteristics. In the end, each picture speaks for itself and whatever the reason a dog did what it did, I find it astounding.

Towser, "Antler Artist"
"Tower" is an Irish Wolfhound living on a deer farm who got the attention of his owner when he became fascinated with shed antlers. Initially assuming her dog was drawn to the smell of deer blood, she quickly realized that it wasn't just one antler that appealed to Tower, it was when two or more were near each other. She soon started finding groupings of antlers, along with the exhausted dog surveying his "handiwork."

Shylo: Arranging her Socks
They DO look like musical notes
More in tune with the "fiber arts" is a Beagle named "Shylo" with a penchant for hanging socks on a fence. She becomes most inspired when a neighbor, a retired army officer, plays his bugle. At those times especially, Shylo gathers up her socks, cocks her head to one side as if to be listening to the bugle, and hangs her socks. To the spiritualist, the socks resembled musical notes.

Floating Feather Creations

In 2000, "Minka," a seven year old Standard Poodle, was well into her career as a feather gatherer but had only poked them into bushes, gathered them into busy piles or randomly aligned them for inspection. Wondering what the dog would do with the feathers on a beach, Minka set about composing floating feather sculptures.


Minka assessing her work

Shadow prefers building to retrieving
 Practically speaking, "Shadow's behavior is logical were he a beaver. But he is a black Labrador who refuses to retrieve the sticks he's been thrown, electing instead to construct dams and bridges with them.







Not a Beaver's work!

Buck inserting vegetables

"Buck," on the other hand, gathers vegetables (red ones are the Dalmatian's favorites) and fills the inner space of tires with them.

"Vegetables in Tires"








Kaysee at work
"Kaysee" was imported from the heart of cairn country, Inverness of Clava Cairns, and just prior to whelping, Kaysee's mother went missing. After four long and frustrating days of searching, she was found dead amidst a pile of small stones, her puppies, amazingly healthy and plump, huddled together nearby. If this is somehow related to Kaysee's passion for stones, it's hard to say. She guards them, inspects them with her tongue, rubs against them, and then carefully either drops or places them on top of a larger rock.



Cairns made by a Cairn
Renegade arranging his ropes
A different passion obsesses German Shepherd, "Renegade." Rope. Also leashes, twine, cords and tapes. This makes Renegade a bit of a menace at obedience competition and his owner is always finding filched dog leashes stowed under her car, none of them belonging to Renegade. He has his own collection of ropes now, and he insists that the collection be with him whenever they travel. What makes Renegade's interest in ropes all the more fascinating is what he does with them. Yes, circles.


Renegade's work now is done
"Ochre" as seen below, however, is more of a pile girl. Season after season, the Vizsla gathers autumn leaves and mounds them into separate piles. She carries, scraps, kicks and pushes the piles into an arrangement which pleases her, and then her work is done.


Ochre gathering her leaves












One of the Schipperkes
Dogs did this
A team approach suits the Schipperkes, "Jeda" and "Blakey," builders of driftwood triangles. Of all the dogs covered in "Dog Works," it is the constructions of these two dogs that perhaps most astonishes me. There is nothing random about a triangle. A fisherman first alerted their owner about their activities. "Those dogs of yours. They do strange things down 'ere under the wharf.They make triangles out of driftwood. Sometimes both of them do it, and at other times, the male dog sits under the wharf and watches the female make these things. You should get them looked at, it's not normal." Maybe not normal. But VERY thought provoking. Curiously, the triangles echo the machine made white triangles posted on tall poles to warn boats of underwater cables, and Schipperkes are barge dogs. Genetic memory? Recreating a shape they see every day? Who really knows.


McCoy and company
 Though more pictures follow below, I've saved the last description for "McCoy" and his merry band of Golden Retrievers. Oh, and one West Highland White Terrier who mostly supervises. These dogs erect what appear to be the foundations for a bonfire or teepee. They collect driftwood and arrange each piece on end to form its eventual shape. You have to wonder: what are these dogs THINKING? And how is it that they're sharing the same thought?




Leave it to a terrier to be the Supervisor

From Duke University: "Even though researchers from the Duke Canine Cognition Center have been studying dog cognition for over fifteen years, we are only just beginning to understand the psychology of dogs. We are currently studying how dogs understand communicative intentions, the effect of domestication of their psychology, how they form trusting relationships, navigate, and form memories. Dog intelligence does not map onto a linear scale. Each breed, and perhaps individual, has its own strengths and weaknesses when solving problems. Because their is so much variation between different dogs this means that every dog can contribute to improving our understanding of dog psychology."

Luke gathers pampas grass............

....And when he's done, it's a circle. Later, he'll lie in the middle



"Jessie," a Boxer, places a stick across the top of stones his owner arranged to resemble Stonehenge; He places a stick on each grouping of stones