Canine Corner

The researcher has established that the dog can recognize their own scent. His next work might involve changing the scent enough to make the dog react to it in some way equivalent to the ape exploring its face to get rid of the red dot. An (unrealistic?!) example might be if the dog eats grass when its changed scent makes it think its not well.

I have a Jack Russell terrier, the same breed in the photo. He uses the mirror in my bedroom to watch me approach him from behind and when I reach out to grab his rear end he will wheel around to attack my hand. I am convinced he is aware that he is looking at his own reflection.

My dog used (R.I.P.) to look at me either directly or through the mirror; I think I taught him that when I started looking at him through a mirror.

Obviously (?) he recognized that I thought/knew that the image in the mirror was him, and he probably extrapolated on that and thought/knew that the other image in the mirror was me.

Isn't this the same as having the feeling of "I-ness"?

Also, dogs have pretty good hearing and a wide range as well; are there any studies on dogs/cats listening to theirselves make sounds? If not, I think this idea deserves attention.

Please comment/debate on these ideas :).

My two dogs react differently to mirrors & video images of themselves. One might look at it a second, then meh, goes back to ignoring it. The other though is totally captivated. Mirrors not as much as video. I love (and I know this is kinda evil) to turn on the front-facing camera on the iPad or laptop and watch her interact with the image. She just looks totally floored. She doesn't bark at her image though...I think she might be starting to understand that she's looking at herself, although clearly it confuses her. she does try to get right up to the screen & paw it, sniff it, lick it. When her brother walks into the image though, she is alarmed by the appearance of this "other dog" and starts whining at it. she is distressed and when i close the lid she tries to find it.

When I play videos of the dogs playing at the park, she is equally floored and confused, and tilts her head from side to side. I think she recognizes the sound of their barking but doesn't know what to make of it.

There's a huge full-length mirror in my parent's room, just inside the door to the left. The door to their bathroom is on the right, and the headboard of their bed is up against the wall of their bedroom that borders their bathroom. My dog likes to sleep at the foot of their bed, on the left side if you're facing into their doorway. Because of the placement of their bathroom door, perpendicular to their bedroom door and just to the right of of it, there's essentially a little hallway into their room. So if you stand just in the doorway, the whole bed is hidden from view. However, if you look in the mirror, you can see the corner of the bed that the dog sleeps on. If he's on that corner, and I walk to the doorway and make a noise, the dog hears me and wakes up, he'll look directly to the mirror. Then if I walk into the room, he'll watch the mirror until I'm in his line of sight, at which point he'll immediately look at me. When I leave the room again, he looks back at the mirror. I think this proves that he at least understands how mirrors work, even if he doesn't bother to recognize himself in them.