RAVE: Dogs Have a Sense of Fairness!

I have been married for 33 years, and I have had dogs in my life for 33 years. I believe this need was a result of living in a military family, and never being able to keep a pet while I was growing up. Even as a military wife myself, I took two dogs oversees to Okinawa in addition to every other city of residence.

The progression of my pets has gone from a mutt, to several purebred Shetland Sheepdogs, to a rescue Border Collie, to our latest rescue, an Australian Shepherd. Each breed has been pretty smart, but the next one up the line seemed even smarter. This last one, the Aussie, is extremely energetic and very intelligent. I have been convinced that if he had thumbs, he would rule the world!

Being a dog owner can make the most sane of humans seem downright foolish, in the way we insist on anthropomorphizing our pets. While I have never succumbed to dressing my dogs in designer fashion, I will admit to a bit of baby talk on occasion. Over the years, I kept thinking I was seeing offended dignity, when one of our dogs would be chastised, as the dog would sit between us and the television, back to us, ignoring us. Others would seemingly sulk when something fun was going on and we excluded them. And then there were the once-in-a-while instances of what appeared to be petty revenge, such as a cat receiving a toy and the dog tearing that one up, but not any of his own.

It now appears that what I have witnessed was a reality, according to a recent study.

"It's the same game as teaching a dog to "shake hands."

Those that refused at the start — and one border collie that insisted on trying to herd other dogs — were removed. That left 29 dogs to be tested in varying pairs.

The dogs sat side-by-side with an experimenter in front of them. In front of the experimenter was a divided food bowl with pieces of sausage on one side and brown bread on the other.

The dogs were asked to shake hands and each could see what reward the other received.

When one dog got a reward and the other didn't, the unrewarded animal stopped playing.

When both got a reward all was well."

I guess that my skepticism on my pets 'offended dignity' has some basis! It will be interesting to watch the progress of this study. And I am positive that my dog, who I am sure is accessing my computer in the wee hours of dawn will already know how the study will turn out. That is, if he could ever get those danged thumbs!