brendude13 said: Had both and love both. Parrots are the best though.

Had both and love both.

Parrots are the best though.

I wonder how you guys would feel if aliens descended on the Earth, enslaved the human race and bred it so we all look like little cute children even when we are adults and are completely dependent and docile towards our alien masters.

Fact is, we love dogs because we are control freaks, accept it. An idea: how about only breeding animals when the selected trait benefits first and foremost the animal itself. The last time we did it was on... um... um. Hard job uh?

Freaks.

Loving the poll results.

Dogs are awesome!

Dogs and cats are both social animals and their physical and social traits largely determined their role after domestication ...

The social structure of cats is a series of hierarchical pair bonds. They have their best friend (usually their owner) who they're very affectionate with, some lesser friends which they associate with, and (beyond that) they're pretty independent. They were domesticated because they're, pound for pound, the best killing machine in the world. Birds, mice, snakes and countless other forms of pests can have their population controlled by a handful of domesticated cats.

Dogs have a pack social structure and are very obedient and loyal to their pack leader, and are very friendly and welcoming to anyone their pack leader lets into the group. They were domesticated to do a variety of roles where obedience was of primary concern.

Both animals can be a nightmare under the wrong conditions ... Depending on the breed of dog you get, and depending on how well you assert your dominance, a dog can be a dangerous out-of control monster; and a cat that isn't your friend is essentially a wild animal you've invited into your house that would probably kill you if you were (much) smaller.

As for your first statement. Please reference the concept of symbiotic relationships. Your assuming that it wasn't a mutually beneficial arrangement, or that it wasn't the other way around entirely. The first domesticated species was the common house fly, and it wasn't mankinds choice to domesticate that species. That species chose to exploit humanity. The domestic cat did the exact same thing. Human agriculture created a surplus of prey species, and via natural selection a wild species adapted itself to exploit that ecosystem. We are working together for mutual benefit. Our food generates vermin, and their predation of vermin preserves more of our food.

The earliest dogs could very likely have been scavengers around hunter gatherer camps, and hunted near humans as humans hunted. In such a scenario it isn't hard to see both species playing off each others strengths. Once that started to happen it became mutually desirable for both species to become closer to make that situation work even better. The features you describe as cute, aren't exactly all about cosmetics. A lot of the the traits we find cute in dogs, are the product of what could be natural selection at work. Not only would cuter animals get a better response from humans, but most of those traits are connected to genes that control behavior. A dog with floppy ears is probably also a less aggressive creature. The dog that bit the hand that fead it. Probably didn't get a handout again, and so even without people thinking about it at all. They encouraged the dogs to be even more sociable.

The point is it probably wasn't mans idea to bring the dog into our society, but the dogs idea to enter into our society, and you can't claim that it hasn't paid off for dogs in a big way. They are one of the most successful species on the planet, and they got that way by signing up to be on a team. You can't think of humans and dogs as being distinct. Sure that dog is built for speed, but it cannot kill the target it wrestles down, but that isn't the point as far as the dog is concerned. It doesn't have to do the killing it brought a human along for doing that.

As for your alien scenario I highly doubt they would need to enslave us to do all that you ask. All your saying is that they are going to grant humanities deepest desires. Most humans actively seek to prostrate themselves before imagined dieties to be given purpose, and to alleviate their own fears. Most humans strive to look more youthful then they are, and your aliens are offering the fountain of youth. Yeah most people would gladly lap that up, and if we have learned anything from dogs it is if we are good companions those aliens might even take us to other worlds. So we can really win at the biological imperative too.

That is probably why the aliens aren't showing up at our door. They know we will bond with them, and then we will be with them forever. Just like dogs seem to be destined to be a part of our society for a long time to come. In a very real sense dogs became part of humanity, and now it is like we were meant to be with one another. I often wonder if dogs aren't the only ones to have changed. I wonder if human beings have been conditioned to be dog friendly. Think about that for a minute. The hunters that couldn't work with dogs probably weren't as successful as those that could, and maybe they were selectively bred out of the human population by dogs.

That's freaking ridiculous! Even more of a reason for me to hate Ohio (other than Columbus) now.

Forget what I said before about the human condition... CATS ARE WINNING! WOOT!

You people. Aside from a few exclusives, cats and dogs share 90% of the same library.