The secret life of the dog - BBC Horizon

We have an extraordinary relationship with dogs - closer than with any other animal on the planet. But what makes the bond between us so special?
Research into dogs is gaining momentum, and scientists are investigating them like never before. From the latest fossil evidence, to the sequencing of the canine genome, to cognitive experiments, dogs are fast turning into the new chimps as a window into understanding ourselves.
Where does this relationship come from? In Siberia, a unique breeding experiment reveals the astonishing secret of how dogs evolved from wolves. Swedish scientists demonstrate how the human/dog bond is controlled by a powerful hormone also responsible for bonding mothers to their babies.
Why are dogs so good at reading our emotions? Horizon meets Betsy, reputedly the world's most intelligent dog, and compares her incredible abilities to those of children. Man's best friend has recently gone one step further - helping us identify genes responsible for causing human diseases.

Category:

Science & Technology

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• BBC
• Horizon
• The
• secret
• life
• of
• the
• dog

[BloodyLisBeth]

Sunday morning ,good coffee,third 1-hour docu on the list...it's a beautiful life!

[mali7480]

this video is amazing!!!! love it!

[Smennyboy]

@x3huesos Yeah, agreed. We might be good, but we are certainly not perfect. Thanks for the talk, always fun to discuss human evolution and behavior

[x3huesos]

@Smennyboy yep yep. Its all so crazy to me man, like everything went just so perfectly for us to evolve to current point but we aren't making the best of it in a few ways. Thanks for your time and knowledge buddy.

[Smennyboy]

@x3huesos Yes that I can agree with. We were lucky and developed to have enormous brain power. And we were "born" as a species with the ability to develop our brain to the extreme. So it would be possible for other animals to develop some of the same traits, even though extremely unlikely. And if we judge the animals current state, a very very long time away. In the very essence I agree, we are animals. But when you look at what we have been able to accomplish together, we are something special

[x3huesos]

@Smennyboy yeah, I'd agree with that view you too as currently no other other animal is building things like we are. But then, do you not agree with evolution? I would not agree with darwins theory of it but if it is correct we came from animals and the potential for such intelligence would be in every organism alive no? I may be wrong but thats just how it seems like to me.

[Smennyboy]

@x3huesos Philosophically I agree, but from a scientific view point it is clear that we are far superior. We have the power of reflection, logic, reason, feelings and so on. And we have achieved things impossible to any other known species. We are able to figure out and understand incredible things on a whole other scale than animals. There are simply no known comparison, and on that basis, we humans are clearly above animals.

[x3huesos]

@Smennyboy How are we better then the animals? We are ruining our home planet. Animals do not destroy, they have learned to live in perfect harmony with thier surrrounding. The take no more then they can give back or need. I see us as equals, we just have different goals. They are content with what this world has and reality has to offer them and can wait to discover the secrects of life untill after they die.

[kalakalady]

@Smennyboy I think both of us thinking in parallel ways which may hardly ever meet any way I would appreciate the use of dogs for our human`s sake,but when seeing people living and working just for the sake of a pet or a(or a pack of) Dog(s) I feel sorry for them,

[Smennyboy]

@kalakalady I do think we should help the people who are less fortunate, but at the same time, we have worked hard to get where we are now in the west, and we should not give that away for free. And it's obvious that our normal solution does not work, throwing money at the problem to make us feel better is hopeless. We are getting into more politics than human behavior, but that's pretty much how I feel.

[kalakalady]

@Smennyboy Thanks for your gentle response,but I am not fully convinced,we are highly sophisticated I agree but not all humans are able to live in the higher standards we achieved in developed countries,should we more considerate to other humans in need too?

[Smennyboy]

I have to say I feel a bit sorry for the foxes. We breed them to become tame and seek human contact, then we put them in tiny cages and leave them alone for most of the time... I do believe we need to break some moral boundaries for the sake of science, but it's sad to watch either way. No matter how interesting