#Dognition dairy entry #4:

I am convinced Myshka only plays tug a war with me to rip her toys, defluff them, and destroy the squeaker.

@dogsofmastodon @dogs #Pets #Husky #Labrador

#Dognition diary entry 3:

Suka is a 9 year old husky and she's protective over her food. If a cat gets too close, she will snap at them.

However, over the past few months Suka has started whining whenever a cat moves toward her food.

I feel like she's telling me, "mommy, please stop the cat before I do something bad."

She does it consistently and I would love to know what she's actually thinking!

@dogsofmastodon @dogs #PhotoMonday #Photography #AnimalCognition

#Dognition diary entry 2:

Current behavior: Myshka sometimes won't eat her food until I pretend to eat it first.

On popular explanation was that it's pack mentality; the leader eats first.

I usually give my dogs their dinner before I eat. So I wondered if pack mentality would generalize to eating my own food.

I gave her dinner and finished cooking(~30 mins). Myshka only started eating her food after I sat down and started eating my own food.

@dogsofmastodon
@psychology #Dog #Cognition

#Dognition diary entry 1:

One of my dogs, Myshka, refuses to touch her food until I pretend to eat some first. Once she starts eating, she'll typically eat all her food.

She's a former street dog, so I wonder if she doesn't trust that the food is not dangerous. I have to prove to her that it's safe by "eating" some pieces.

@dogsofmastodon
@psychology #dogs #cognition

When I then deliberately throw into another direction, they have to come back and start running somewhere else; increasing their latency. This is the "throwhammer" exploit. #dognition

They try to estimate in what direction I'll throw the stick. This is called "branch prediction". #dognition

When I'm playing fetch with the dogs, they already start running before I've thrown. This is called "pre-fetching". #dognition