A mother’s love

Can dogs reason? According to some “experts,” a canine doesn’t have the ability to “think” or to solve problems without training from a human, yet we constantly see examples of dogs thinking how to solve difficulties and succeeding. After all if a dog is a stray from birth it will not be exposed to instruction from a human. It is patently obvious that the canine has the ability to do this. If ever there was an example of this is the story of the stray dog who saved her puppies from certain death by doing the unimaginable.

In 2015 in Valparaiso Chile a forest fire raged for days, a life was lost and thousands were evacuated from their homes. In the forest, a stray dog with 9 puppies to care for was faced with a nightmare.

One can only imagine the terrible dilemma faced by this dog as the fire threatened her litter of puppies. Should she run away, abandon her brood and save herself? Should she attempt to carry them to safety one by one but how far was even safe? If she tried to carry them to safety, which pup should she choose first? If the fire advanced too quickly how would she be able to return? Should she curl up with her puppies and hope for the best? The computations were many.

With our limited knowledge of the thought process of a canine, we are unable to understand what this particular dog was thinking but she had enough ability to reason that all her options bar one would result in the certain death of her puppies.

Think on it, what was the only solution? There were no fire breaks, no rivers or water of any sort, no safe buildings, no walls, no caves, no human assistance available and no form of transport. She was at the edge of the forest. The inferno was getting closer by the second. An instant decision had to be made.

What did she do?

Now as a human, you are a member of the most intelligent species on the planet so what did she do?

That’s it, times up. Still trying to work it out? Just as well it wasn’t you making the decision, all would have perished!! If it makes you feel any better I asked several people how she did it and only one person instantly came up with the answer.

Fortunately, our heroic mum solved the problem without any human help.

Like any mother faced with a threat to her offspring, she took drastic action.

Our incredibly intelligent canine took the only option that was available to her.

She frantically dug a large hole a metre deep and then she buried them!

She then found shelter as close as possible

As the firefighters dampened down the scorched locality but with the main fire still burning they were told that a dog has been seen digging a large hole. In a rescue that took approximately 45 minutes, the firemen excavated the hole and were stunned to find at the bottom nine puppies, approximately two weeks old, all alive and well.  As the drama took place the rescuers were closely observed by the puppies’ mum who was close by having dug a hole for herself partially under a shipping container. She was also rescued, named La Negrita, and all ten were then cared for by volunteers.

Thought processes?

So what was the thought process? Maybe not as difficult as it appears. Dogs know that if they bury a bone it is in a safe place ready to be retrieved when required.

But can they appreciate that, in this instance, suffocation is a threat? Is it a preferable option? Is there even a thought process? How far are they able to work out the consequences of their actions? Without doubt this dog had the ability to make a decision, she may not have the foresight to calculate the complete consequences of her actions but indisputably she had the ability to work out how to save her puppies.

It is generally considered that the only non-humans capable of making rational decisions are those considered to process self-awareness. (See Self-awareness – 22 February 2021)

The canine is not included in that exclusive group, however, dogs and other animals show repeatedly that they do have the ability to make decisions. Some behaviourists state that any decision-making by an animal is in fact instinctive in nature and has nothing to do with intelligence or reasoning.

Think on this, however, if your dog goes to his toy box and picks out a toy, let’s say a ball, drops it at your feet, and stares at you expectantly waiting for you to throw the ball, is this instinct, conditioning or is this a dog thinking, making a decision and inviting you to join in a game of his choosing? Let’s face it we cannot keep having it both ways. If we pick up the ball it is definitely a decision that we make, isn’t it? If it is conditioning, then the dog has trained us to throw the ball for his amusement.

Even as humans our thought process is confusing. Let’s face it if we were all “normal” there would be no need to have behaviourists, psychologists or psychiatrists

If we are unable to completely understand our own human behaviour how on earth can we be expected to understand animal behaviour and until we are able to create a communication system between us and them the status quo will continue to exist..

Going back to La Negrita, I have never heard of anything like this before. Was it instinctive or a conscious decision? Of course, we would all like to think that it was a decision and that if we could only communicate more effectively we would be able to understand. In time I have no doubt that this day will arrive, probably not in my lifetime, but when that day finally comes, we, as the most intelligent species on the planet, will be humbled and ashamed as we learn that our most devoted companion and others have been misunderstood and abused for generations.