Dog gets vacuumed then watches self on video

This is our German Shorthaired Pointer / Lab, Trisca. She's about 2 years old in this video and loves to be vacuumed.

In the 2nd half of this clip she watches herself on video. Perhaps self-awareness? Probably not since this is a quality not typically found in dogs. (See wikipedia: Mirror Test)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mirror_test

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• dog
• vacuum
• funny
• self
• awareness
• trisca

[hlauren6]

She is soo cute!!

[ragdolleffect]

It's a cute video, but it doesn't prove any sort of self-awareness.

[fugazi0311]

Adorable!

[shadowdog500]

i dont know if Trisha recognizes herself in the video. But I do have a lab that figured out that it was him in the mirror. My camper trailer has a full length mirror that he barked at the first time he saw his reflection. I sat next to him and petted him while looking at the reflection. He was really confused for a minute or two looking at me petting him and the other me petting his reflection. After a minute or two I believe he figured it out and started checking himself out in the mirror.

[daisybonestyler]

i just think it is funny that your dog likes to be vacuumed.

[jonathonbarton]

@twohlrab3 Well, it doesn't actually prove that Trisca recognizes that the dog in the video is Trisca - it just proves that Trisca seems to enjoy watching a video of a German Shorthaired Pointer/Lab mix being vacuumed. (Here's a question...what happens when you vacuum the other dog, then show that video to Trisca?)

Don't get me wrong - I believe that dogs are self-aware, but actually proving that point is tricky.

[danwarb1]

Our dog will never look at herself in a mirror. She went for a look behind it the first time, but doesn't react to the reflection as though it were another dog. Probably just confused and doesn't have the capacity to translate the image.

[danwarb1]

An animal can be self aware and still not have the capacity to recognize itself in a mirror/pass the mirror test.

A dog is aware of it's own body. Its self. There are degrees.

[ServerFarmGuy]

Dogs can see at higher FPS rates than humans so your Dog does probably not even see the actual video (dependend on your screen's refresh rate) he will probably just see some random signal error alike images.

[GoatZilla]

I'm no dog psychologist, but what are the signs that this dog is aware of itself in the video? The fact that she tries to sniff the screen? That's all I see happening.

If a dog watches a video of itself being vacuumed, wouldn't it then look down and look for a vacuum near its body? Or does your dog also have a sense of history as well as self-awareness. "I know what I am watching is me, AND it is past history and not currently happening."

Kind of a tall order.

[dharmanova]

@nousernamesleft18 even simpler- mark your dog's forhead with a sticker and then place it in front of a mirror. If it tries to peel off the sticker by rubbing it - it is self aware. (In psychology and etology this is called "the mirror test")

Few animals are sel-aware, the list includes magpies and great apes. Dogs generally aren't, at least not the ones that were tested