Do Dogs Have the Ability to Think?

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In summary, the conversation explored the topic of whether dogs have the ability to think and what their thought processes may be like. The participants discussed the potential for dogs to have nightmares, think in a certain language, and have visual imaginations despite being colorblind. They also mentioned the idea of dognition and whether it is proven by scientists. The conversation concluded with the consensus that dogs are indeed capable of thinking, and may even possess higher levels of intelligence than previously believed.
  • #1
Jacinta
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So, I was browsing through Youtube, when I stumbled upon this video. It really got me thinking, I was contemplating a lot about life.



This really confuses me. I mean, do dogs even have the ability to have nightmares or the capacity to think? Like I know this sounds kinda dumb, and before you go on a big essay about dogs having brains I know dogs obviously have brains and stuff but I'm wondering if they have the ability to think, if they have a subconscious. To me it just doesn't make sense, what language would they be thinking in anyways? Or is their imagination just visual? But that wouldn't make sense either, because dogs are colourblind. I know dogs are a lot dumber than humans, so they really wouldn't be thinking of anything super complex anyways. Like, maybe only about food and smelling stuff.
 
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  • #2
Jacinta said:
This really confuses me. I mean, do dogs even have the ability to have nightmares
Based on observation I'd say yes.
or the capacity to think?
same answer

Or is their imagination just visual? But that wouldn't make sense either, because dogs are colourblind.
So you think that people who are colorblind are totally blind. You might want to rethink that.
I know dogs are a lot dumber than humans,
Based on observation, I'd say that's not always true :smile:
 
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  • #3
Dogs think.

Look for "dognition" in an internet search.
 
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  • #4
phinds said:
Based on observation, I'd say that' not always true :smile:

Yes, like once I knew a girl who thought you had to scrunch up your toes to wear shoes. :wideeyed:
 
  • #5
symbolipoint said:
Dogs think.

Look for "dognition" in an internet search.

Is it proven by scientists?
 
  • #6
Jacinta said:
Is it proven by scientists?
That depends on whether you accept behaviorists and psychologists as scientists.
 
  • #7
symbolipoint said:
That depends on whether you accept behaviorists and psychologists as scientists.

They all have "ist" in the end, so i'll take that as a yes.
 
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  • #8
Dogs certainly do think. Imagine what it would it take for an AI to come up with this:



When would a dog evolve an instinct like this? The dog would have to use its paws in a totally unnatural and risky way to climb a gate. (Risk for deferred reward.) That moves it in the opposite direction it wants to go, but then it figures it can manipulate the roof to get out. (Visualization in advance, anticipating the behavior of the roof.) And then finally trying to find ways to minimise risk when jumping down.

It can only be planning a series of steps in advance to achieve a goal.

For a time, we humans were rather insecure about the difference between ourselves and animals, and thus chose to disparage anything that animals could do. Today's best computers can win at chess and Jeopardy, but struggle to use video eyes to understand the area around a driverless car. (Translate video into an understanding of physical environment.) Our best computers still struggle with something a fish can do.
 
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  • #10
I simply do not see why one mammal should have other basic operating capabilities than others. E.g. you can see dogs dream. I mentioned mammals as they all have common ancestors, but it is probably also true for birds and maybe even reptiles. E.g. crows can use tools and they also can lie. The common pattern of life on Earth all evolved more or less the same way, i.e. by the same rules and by similar methods.
 
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  • #11
Everything thinks, it's just a measure of how complex the thoughts are. "Thinking" is just patterns of waves moving through neural networks, even worms think. You seem to be asking whether dogs can do abstract thinking, which takes some pretty serious brainpower, but the answer is yes.

The easiest way to test for extremely high levels of intelligence is with a mirror. Dogs understand that the other dog in the mirror is actually them, and also understand that mirrors can be used for non-direct line of sight, which is probably even more complex. I have a set of mirrors on the landing between two half-sets of stairs. It allows us to see downstairs into the kitchen from upstairs and to see the kid's doors from the kitchen. My beagle also uses the mirrors to look for me.
 
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  • #12
From personal observation I would say definitely. My dog has a problem with getting into the trash bin if I leave it out. If I am out and about, she won't go near it. But if I walk into my room or outside, she'll bolt to the trash and get into it before I come back. She is very aware of her surroundings and will make decisions based on them. Its pretty impressive actually.
 
  • #13
ive-got-my-thinking-cat-on.jpg
 

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  • #14
That's hilarious. Thanks for the chuckle.
 
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  • #15
At the end of every year The Economist has a special double issue with some very expansive coverage. This topic was covered in a long, but very enjoyable (and memorable) article in said double issue 2 years ago. Here's a link:

http://www.economist.com/news/essay...e-they-may-be-lot-richer-science-once-thought

(I think if you're not a subscriber, you can get 2 free articles a month as a guest)

- - - - - - - - - - - -
The fact that this thread is called "Can dogs think?" and OP -- based on avatar-- seems to be a studious cat... seems a bit mischievous.
 
  • #16
Dogs think, although not in an analytical way like humans.
Most dogs are smart enough to know that if something is attacking, then get ready to defend.
 
  • #17
DS2C said:
From personal observation I would say definitely. My dog has a problem with getting into the trash bin if I leave it out. If I am out and about, she won't go near it. But if I walk into my room or outside, she'll bolt to the trash and get into it before I come back. She is very aware of her surroundings and will make decisions based on them. Its pretty impressive actually.
rootone said:
Dogs think, although not in an analytical way like humans.
Most dogs are smart enough to know that if something is attacking, then get ready to defend.
I knew a dog who went to the door, barked a few times even though nobody was outside there, the human walked from the kitchen to the door (which was at another room), and then dog ran back to the kitchen and took a food item off the table and ran outside through the kitchen door to examine and try eating that food item. You know dnman well that dogs can think.
 
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  • #18
rootone said:
Dogs think, although not in an analytical way like humans.
Have you been reading this thread?
 
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  • #19
DS2C said:
From personal observation I would say definitely.
Of course, dogs think... and worry, too. . :nb)

And nobody, but nobody, will convince me that cats can't think... and calculate, too ! . :-p . :biggrin:BTW... the song is "Trouble" . . :cool:
 
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  • #20
As everyone has been saying dogs do think.

Jacinta said:
I mean, do dogs even have the ability to have nightmares or the capacity to think?

Researchers have been conducting studies on the complexity of their dreams. https://www.livescience.com/53743-dog-dreams.html Not the best article but I couldn't find the one I wanted.

Jacinta said:
Or is their imagination just visual?

As you guessed, dogs do think in images. They also recognize familiar smells and can learn to recognize speech patterns (I even had a dog that learned to spell his favorite food in our attempts to not say it).

I also have a dog that is afraid of slippery floors. I believe this shows that she considers the risk of slipping before stepping on an unfamiliar surface.

phinds said:
Based on observation, I'd say that's not always true :smile:

Some of my relatives are a good example. :smile:I would find it hard to believe dogs are purely stimulus response beings.
 
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  • #21
Jacinta said:
I know dogs are a lot dumber than humans, so they really wouldn't be thinking of anything super complex anyways

Really ?? ! ... I don't think so

Algr said:
It can only be planning a series of steps in advance to achieve a goal.

something this dope is incapable of ...



this is going to take a while ! :rolleyes::rolleyes:
 
  • #22
That is absolute proof that water flows downhill.
I don't think many dogs would dispute it,
 
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  • #23
About that video of the man trying to fill a basket (very leaky) with water,
Some dogs are smart enough to understand this and some are not.
 
  • #24
Jacinta said:
So, I was browsing through Youtube, when I stumbled upon this video. It really got me thinking, I was contemplating a lot about life.



This really confuses me. I mean, do dogs even have the ability to have nightmares or the capacity to think? Like I know this sounds kinda dumb, and before you go on a big essay about dogs having brains I know dogs obviously have brains and stuff but I'm wondering if they have the ability to think, if they have a subconscious. To me it just doesn't make sense, what language would they be thinking in anyways? Or is their imagination just visual? But that wouldn't make sense either, because dogs are colourblind. I know dogs are a lot dumber than humans, so they really wouldn't be thinking of anything super complex anyways. Like, maybe only about food and smelling stuff.
Yes, of course they do. My dog Flapjack was particularly attentive and thoughtful. He tried talking once, didn't work well, but a damn good try. He could say "rubber", which was useless. Kind of like Astro from the Jetsons. He clearly understood what we said, nothing complex. Just thing like "I want to sit there" and he'd get up and make room. It is common for dogs to delay eating, like we'd give him a treat when we went out and he'd hang on to it till we got home. And, yeah, he'd have those dreams. He never told anyone what they were about but he had them. The day we brought him home was interesting. He pooped on the carpet. I followed it (plenty of it) and it led right to the bathroom. He had a tennis ball with his name on it. He had placed it on the toilet with his name facing the door. He was a working breed, bred to be smart. The mistake people make is in thinking themselves to be very smart. People regularly over estimate their own intelligence. Flap would never do calculus but then neither do most people. And dogs do count just not very high. More importantly, Flap simply refused to dang where he slept (we except that one accident). It would be raining outside and he'd refuse to dang out of the rain by the porch. He'd insist on going out into the rain, a hundred feet away. I can think of a few people that would dang where the slept both literally and figuratively. The same rules of learning and behavior apply to dogs and people alike. So, yes, dogs do think, dream, delay gratification, learn and understand language. Their needs are simpler. And, here's the thing, it's the owner that go to work, to the store, and bring food home. The dog just waits until the owner brings the food home. So who's the one that is trained here, the dog that gets fed for wagging his tail it the person that does all the work?
 
  • #25
Algr said:
Dogs certainly do think. Imagine what it would it take for an AI to come up with this:



When would a dog evolve an instinct like this? The dog would have to use its paws in a totally unnatural and risky way to climb a gate. (Risk for deferred reward.) That moves it in the opposite direction it wants to go, but then it figures it can manipulate the roof to get out. (Visualization in advance, anticipating the behavior of the roof.) And then finally trying to find ways to minimise risk when jumping down.


I'd argue that it was simply because that's where it's let out of the cage (door). I really don't think the dog thought ahead of time what might happen. This behaviour looks most similar to "just do it"...and that'd be when it FIRST did it...this vid looks like it's happened before, enough times that the owner set up a cam. there is even a brick on the roof at the corner and lastly none of the other dogs "just did it"...even after seeing it happen...likely multiple times

I think think would need to be defined
 
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  • #26
Some dogs can solve complex control and fluid dynamics problems :

 
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  • #27
You know dogs are exquisitely gifted animals, if they can sense when you're sad, happy, sick, at stress and when you are pregnant, dogs do dream, and when they dream they usually bark during sleep. Dogs can recognize thru smell and are able to put two and two together and are usually creative animals, one being a example from nitsuj's post. . So you they do think
 
  • #28
Arent we even going to try for a definition of thinking? Id say something like going beyond stimulus-response and putting together ideas that do not occur together in time or space, i.e., making mental connections beyond what would seem obvious. But I guess @phinds is obviously taking it personally ;).
 
  • #29
WWGD said:
Arent we even going to try for a definition of thinking? Id say something like going beyond stimulus-response and putting together ideas that do not occur together in time or space, i.e., making mental connections beyond what would seem obvious. But I guess @phinds is obviously taking it personally ;).
GGGGRRRRR !
 
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  • #31
I had a dog that would demonstrate thinking when playing with my daughter:

1) She (the daughter) would throw a ball into the kitchen from the living room and then go hid somewhere (like behind the shower curtain in the bathroom) before the dog returned with the ball.
The dog would then look around, not see her, drop the ball, search and eventually find her, get the dropped ball and take it to her.

2) The dog, being big and the daughter being young and not tall at the time, would occasionally go between her legs, lift her off the ground so she fell over on the floor, and then run around to her feet and nip at them to tickle her.
It was quite funny. Sense of humor?
 
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  • #32
BillTre said:
Sense of humor?
Oh, yeah; Nam, CQ, company dog name of Ralph (what else) keeping me company dozes off, I say, "Ah-hah, caught you asleep on guard duty," when I startled him awake by rolling an empty Coke can across the floor at a sand/fiddler crab; Ralph disappears; I head to the water point couple hours later for 1SGT's morning coffee, pass a bunker, and Ralph erupts from the shadows barks twice, and disappears, giggling like the dog from Quick Draw McGraw. You better believe they've got a "sense of humor."
 
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  • #33
Jacinta said:
So, I was browsing through Youtube, when I stumbled upon this video. It really got me thinking, I was contemplating a lot about life.



This really confuses me. I mean, do dogs even have the ability to have nightmares or the capacity to think? Like I know this sounds kinda dumb, and before you go on a big essay about dogs having brains I know dogs obviously have brains and stuff but I'm wondering if they have the ability to think, if they have a subconscious. To me it just doesn't make sense, what language would they be thinking in anyways? Or is their imagination just visual? But that wouldn't make sense either, because dogs are colourblind. I know dogs are a lot dumber than humans, so they really wouldn't be thinking of anything super complex anyways. Like, maybe only about food and smelling stuff.

Dogs are mammals and I would think their brains would share some basic characteristics with other mammals such as humans. I am not saying they experience things or have the same mental abilities as humans, but am sure whatever it is they experience it must have some similarity with other animals that posses similar mental structures. I've always thought they may experience things like emotions like humans, but in an even more dramatic way (this would come in handy in a survival situation in the wild it would seem to me).
So be nice to other mammals :)
 
  • #34
Jacinta said:
I mean, do dogs even have the ability to have nightmares
I don't know, but it would not surprise me if they do.

I have no experience with observing dreaming dogs, but I do have it with cats.

I often saw one of my previous cats being engaged in what I do think was dreaming. Sometimes during sleeping, his limbs suddenly started shaking and sometimes he even made various sounds and moans when he did it. It was so similar to what a human can do when dreaming, so my conclusion is that he was dreaming when he did that.

Another one of my former cats sometimes fell asleep on my chest while I was holding his head, and there were a couple of times I was actually holding my hand over his shut eyes when he was sleeping when I clearly felt his eyes were moving rapidly under my hand. That seemed to have been REM sleep.
 
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  • #35
From the videos by @Nidum and @berkeman , I conclude that dogs can even think of the future.
At least the short term future.

( I do have a doubt, though, that they makes plans for their retirement and eventual demise in life, and to whom they should will their squeaky toy ).
 

1. Do dogs have the same level of intelligence as humans?

No, dogs do not have the same level of intelligence as humans. While they are intelligent animals, their cognitive abilities are not as advanced as humans.

2. Can dogs solve problems and make decisions?

Yes, dogs have the ability to solve problems and make decisions. They can learn from past experiences and use their problem-solving skills to navigate new situations.

3. Do dogs have emotions and feelings?

Yes, dogs do have emotions and feelings. They are capable of feeling joy, fear, sadness, and many other emotions. They can also form strong bonds with their owners and experience separation anxiety when apart.

4. Can dogs understand human language?

Dogs can understand some human language, but not to the same extent as humans. They can learn to associate certain words with actions or objects, but they do not have the same level of comprehension as humans.

5. Do dogs have a sense of self-awareness?

There is ongoing debate about whether or not dogs have a sense of self-awareness. While they may recognize themselves in a mirror, it is not clear if they understand the concept of self in the same way that humans do.

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