Researcher Say Dogs and Kids Behave the Same

I like dogs.  I like to pet them and spend time with them.  I believe that dogs should be cared for properly and given a good home filled with love and respect.  I don’t think dogs and children behave the same way.

“Did your kid just pee in the corner?”

“I don’t have a kid.  That was probably my dog.  It's the same thing you know.”

“I don’t have a kid, but your dog can play with my child’s chew toy.”

“Thanks.”

Based on an article published in PLoS One, Researchers are now trying to tell us either our children behave like dogs or dogs behave like our children.  Unfortunately, this is for real.  Below are some sections of the article in bold with my valuable insights.

"The animals are so well adapted to living with human beings that in many cases the owner replaces conspecifics and assumes the role of the dog's main social partner," according to the experts.

These people need to take their dogs out more and discover doggy daycare and dog parks. 

“You need to get our more Fido.  You just lie around the house and lick yourself in socially unacceptable ways.”

“Woof.”

“We had the same problem with our child.  Unfortunately, it wasn’t the licking but playing too many video games.

“Woof.”

"Using a manipulative task, we tested dogs in three conditions, in which we varied the owner's presence and behavior (Experiment 1: “Absent owner”, “Silent owner”, “Encouraging owner”) and in one additional condition, in which the owner was replaced by an unfamiliar human (Experiment 2: “Replaced owner”). We found that the dogs' duration of manipulating the apparatus was longer when their owner was present than absent, irrespective of the owner's behavior."

Translation

The dog’s owner was absent for an experiment, silent toward their dog for one and then encouraging for another.  During these times dogs had to manipulate a toy to get food.  The dogs didn’t try and get food when their owner wasn’t around.  They got food when their owners were silent and were okay when the owner was there and interacting with them.  (Sarcasm Alert)  If this doesn’t prove dogs and kids act the same what does? 

“The study provides the first evidence for the similarity between the "secure base effect" found in dog-owner and child-caregiver relationships. This striking parallel will be further investigated in direct comparative studies on dogs and children.”

Huh?  If dogs could learn how to get a job and move out on their own, that would be groundbreaking research.  I’m not worried until they study why dogs take the car without permission and have their friends over without asking. 

“One of the things that really surprised us is that adult dogs behave towards their caregivers like human children do.  It will be really interesting to try to find out how this behavior evolved in the dogs with direct comparisons.

I can only imagine how the children of these researchers behave.  Do these adult dogs refuse to pick up after themselves and have to get a time out for back talking?  I wonder if these adult dogs ever lie about doing their homework.  I would say this research did not change my belief that dogs and humans behave differently.  All I can say about the results of this experiment is (you’re going to hate me for this) it did prove that research has gone to the dogs.

Here is a link to the article

PLOS ONE Article