2 ms·

I think in terms of longevity and comfortable living, humans are a clear win for pets. But in terms of life satisfaction, it's not clear. Maybe my dog would pre

I think in terms of longevity and comfortable living, humans are a clear win for pets. But in terms of life satisfaction, it's not clear. Maybe my dog would prefer living in the wild, hunting and scavenging his own food, never to be scolded for chasing a squirrel or digging in the trash - that's a tougher life (and almost certainly a shorter life), but maybe more satisfying for a dog than living in a house with seemingly arbitrary rules of what he can and can't do. Though he never would have survived in the wild with the broken leg he suffered as a puppy (before I adopted him).

mikestew 7y ago
Maybe my dog would prefer living in the wild, hunting and scavenging his own food, never to be scolded for chasing a squirrel or digging in the trash One my dogs could answer that for you, as that's what he did for a while before he got picked up. He was also skin and bones. Sores in his mouth from licking out of cans. Much like humans, domestic dogs might like to think they want to get back to their natural roots, but they're also like humans in that most of them won't last very long. The primary cause of death for feral dogs is starvation. It was going to be Brody's fate had someone not picked him up and taken him in. Go ask Brody which he'd prefer. If he could talk, I'm pretty sure his answer would be, "what the fuck do you think as we stand in the warm house with a 40lb. bag of dog food mere feet away? Dude, I weighed twenty pounds less than I do now." Do not feel bad about giving your dog regular meals, a roof, and protecting them from themselves. With that rant out of the way, sorry, I didn't mean to piledrive your point. Because I do consider such things, even knowing the likely outcome were it fully implemented. So I let them chase rabbits and squirrels in the yard. If they haven't caught one by now, they never will. And if you're a rabbit dumb enough to come into a yard with two pit bull terriers (or any terrier), well, you need to be kept on your toes. And we go camping, run around in the woods, pretend we really could catch those elk if we wanted to. All of us, humans included, are about as wild as domesticated suburban beings should be allowed to be.

mikestew 7y ago

Maybe my dog would prefer living in the wild, hunting and scavenging his own food, never to be scolded for chasing a squirrel or digging in the trash One my dogs could answer that for you, as that's what he did for a while before he got picked up. He was also skin and bones. Sores in his mouth from licking out of cans. Much like humans, domestic dogs might like to think they want to get back to their natural roots, but they're also like humans in that most of them won't last very long. The primary cause of death for feral dogs is starvation. It was going to be Brody's fate had someone not picked him up and taken him in. Go ask Brody which he'd prefer. If he could talk, I'm pretty sure his answer would be, "what the fuck do you think as we stand in the warm house with a 40lb. bag of dog food mere feet away? Dude, I weighed twenty pounds less than I do now." Do not feel bad about giving your dog regular meals, a roof, and protecting them from themselves. With that rant out of the way, sorry, I didn't mean to piledrive your point. Because I do consider such things, even knowing the likely outcome were it fully implemented. So I let them chase rabbits and squirrels in the yard. If they haven't caught one by now, they never will. And if you're a rabbit dumb enough to come into a yard with two pit bull terriers (or any terrier), well, you need to be kept on your toes. And we go camping, run around in the woods, pretend we really could catch those elk if we wanted to. All of us, humans included, are about as wild as domesticated suburban beings should be allowed to be.