This reminds me of what Thomas Nagel discusses in his little but thought-dense book, “Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Certainly False” (Oxford Univ Press, 2012). How does evolutionary theory account for the development of purely subjective, internal experiences like emotions, faith and hope? How did the intense love we see here between dog and man (and man and dog, for that matter) ever come to be? How does the dog’s sacrifice of his life for his “master” mesh with Darwin’s survival of the fittest? Answers: It can’t.
(I love my dogs, always have, since I was little)
Those heart warming videos that put a big smile on my face. Thanks for sharing.
I cannot live without dogs. Byron said dogs are beauty without vanity. Strength without insolence and courage without ferocity. They have all of the virtues of man without any of his vices.
Amen.
I love cats, too.
Just the BEST!
I can’t remember where I saw this quote – but it was “I want to be the person that my dogs think that I am.”
One of my small dogs has issues, we think – but every time we come home after being out for an hour or so, he does the same frantic display of affection. The Deity only knows what he would do, with either of us returning after months and months. Probably turn himself inside out with joy.
It’s the Voice I remember
I remember I remember
It’s the Face I remember
I remember I remember
It’s the Smell I remember
I remember I remember
It’s the Soul I remember
I remember
Sgt Mom, dogs have separation anxiety from the pack.
This can lead to various outlets such as destructive chewing or nervous energy.
I never see videos of cats expressing joy at the return of their owners. I have a cat and he can barely rouse herself from a nap upon my return.
Sgt. Mom:
“…every time we come home after being out for an hour or so, he does the same frantic display of affection….”
Our dog is the same way, and I agree with Ymarsakar that it’s about anxiety over separation from the “pack”.
Regarding the mutual love between dogs and people, one of my long-time clients (now dead) comforted me years ago when I told him that my 10 year old lab had just died. The client was a tough old codger — as tough as they come– but this is what he said: “A man’s got to cry when his dog dies.” How true. [And it applies to women as well] I’ve had 5 dogs over the course of my life so far, and every one of them has ended up breaking my heart. After each death I’ve sworn I’ll never have another one, but 3, 4, 6 months later my wife will always insist on getting another puppy and so we begin the cycle all over again…
There’s something about having a dog that is fundamentally fulfilling, no? And something about their short lifespans that makes their presence in our lives somehow profound.
Thanks for sharing. Dogs are the best thing that ever happened to people.
As someone who has welcomed several family members home from war and who also loves dogs, these always make me cry.
I saw one with a soldier returning home to a cat. The poor guy came in the door, and the cat yawned and turned its head. Although I did used to have a cat who greeted me at the door every day. I miss him.
If dogs don’t go to heaven when they die, then I want to go where they go.
Mark Twain
LisaM, cats are often solitary predators. They have a family hierarchy, so to speak, but they often don’t need a group to survive.
So cats are like those crazy independent warriors, while dogs are soldiers that obey a hierarchy and receive benefits of soldiery comradery.
Caesar Milan, someone who I recognize as a (real) expert on dogs, recommended conditioning a dog with steadily increasing lengths of separation. Thus conditioning the dog to expect the return of the pack member.
The often crazy kind of behavior seen in the video is like if a beloved family member died, and then the next day, they were resurrected before one’s eyes. Animals often have distorted time sense in that context.
One of the common tips for home defense is to get a dog, conditioned to bark to wake you when there are people sneaking around outside the house. Got to control the dog with commands to stop barking because it is safe, though. Dogs have better senses, compared to a human’s danger sense, which humans often ignore because it is an intuitive sense based on irrational concepts.
It’s difficult for a normally socialized human in the city to obey their instincts, because they often wait and ask “what is the reason behind this feeling I’m getting”. And they never get the answer until the danger manifests itself.
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This is a beautiful bit of video. Thanks for posting it.
Did you see the Dogs at the funerals.
they know… my dogs always knew…
i was very close to them, but since i cant move, i cant have any pets, etc..
Slain Navy SEAL’s Loyal Dog Remains by His Side at Funeral
http://abcnews.go.com/US/slain-navy-seals-devoted-dog-remains-side-funeral/story?id=14378885
This reminds me of what Thomas Nagel discusses in his little but thought-dense book, “Mind and Cosmos: Why the Materialist Neo-Darwinian Conception of Nature is Almost Certainly False” (Oxford Univ Press, 2012). How does evolutionary theory account for the development of purely subjective, internal experiences like emotions, faith and hope? How did the intense love we see here between dog and man (and man and dog, for that matter) ever come to be? How does the dog’s sacrifice of his life for his “master” mesh with Darwin’s survival of the fittest? Answers: It can’t.
(I love my dogs, always have, since I was little)
Those heart warming videos that put a big smile on my face. Thanks for sharing.
I cannot live without dogs. Byron said dogs are beauty without vanity. Strength without insolence and courage without ferocity. They have all of the virtues of man without any of his vices.
Amen.
I love cats, too.
Just the BEST!
I can’t remember where I saw this quote – but it was “I want to be the person that my dogs think that I am.”
One of my small dogs has issues, we think – but every time we come home after being out for an hour or so, he does the same frantic display of affection. The Deity only knows what he would do, with either of us returning after months and months. Probably turn himself inside out with joy.
It’s the Voice I remember
I remember I remember
It’s the Face I remember
I remember I remember
It’s the Smell I remember
I remember I remember
It’s the Soul I remember
I remember
Sgt Mom, dogs have separation anxiety from the pack.
This can lead to various outlets such as destructive chewing or nervous energy.
I never see videos of cats expressing joy at the return of their owners. I have a cat and he can barely rouse herself from a nap upon my return.
Sgt. Mom:
“…every time we come home after being out for an hour or so, he does the same frantic display of affection….”
Our dog is the same way, and I agree with Ymarsakar that it’s about anxiety over separation from the “pack”.
Regarding the mutual love between dogs and people, one of my long-time clients (now dead) comforted me years ago when I told him that my 10 year old lab had just died. The client was a tough old codger — as tough as they come– but this is what he said: “A man’s got to cry when his dog dies.” How true. [And it applies to women as well] I’ve had 5 dogs over the course of my life so far, and every one of them has ended up breaking my heart. After each death I’ve sworn I’ll never have another one, but 3, 4, 6 months later my wife will always insist on getting another puppy and so we begin the cycle all over again…
There’s something about having a dog that is fundamentally fulfilling, no? And something about their short lifespans that makes their presence in our lives somehow profound.
Thanks for sharing. Dogs are the best thing that ever happened to people.
As someone who has welcomed several family members home from war and who also loves dogs, these always make me cry.
I saw one with a soldier returning home to a cat. The poor guy came in the door, and the cat yawned and turned its head. Although I did used to have a cat who greeted me at the door every day. I miss him.
If dogs don’t go to heaven when they die, then I want to go where they go.
Mark Twain
LisaM, cats are often solitary predators. They have a family hierarchy, so to speak, but they often don’t need a group to survive.
So cats are like those crazy independent warriors, while dogs are soldiers that obey a hierarchy and receive benefits of soldiery comradery.
Caesar Milan, someone who I recognize as a (real) expert on dogs, recommended conditioning a dog with steadily increasing lengths of separation. Thus conditioning the dog to expect the return of the pack member.
The often crazy kind of behavior seen in the video is like if a beloved family member died, and then the next day, they were resurrected before one’s eyes. Animals often have distorted time sense in that context.
One of the common tips for home defense is to get a dog, conditioned to bark to wake you when there are people sneaking around outside the house. Got to control the dog with commands to stop barking because it is safe, though. Dogs have better senses, compared to a human’s danger sense, which humans often ignore because it is an intuitive sense based on irrational concepts.
It’s difficult for a normally socialized human in the city to obey their instincts, because they often wait and ask “what is the reason behind this feeling I’m getting”. And they never get the answer until the danger manifests itself.