People tend to see what they want to see.
That’s remarkable, FC. How could that dog’s behavior be explained? There is a dimension to that behavior that I hope can’t be adequately explained in strictly instinctual terms, because that would take the magic out of it… or import some kind of magic on a grander scale to the whole of evolutionary process. One should ask: how and why does the dog ‘think’ the fish should live, and that this might be made possible by pushing water onto it.
edit: it could be the dog’s instinct to bury food that is working here. Like nosing dirt onto a bone to bury it.
Let’s hope not. That’s not interesting or fantastic.
That is one adorable video.
Clearly, it is true that there is something to be seen here but what? lol
I think that any dog who has buried a few bones would know the difference between dirt and water but maybe I’m wrong. 
One might say that as the dog looks up, he’s asking for help. He nudges the nose of the fish to be sure that it is still alive. I’ve done that with worms and moths, et cetera, that I was in the process of saving. He is tenacious. I can just hug him.
One might also say that he’s seen fish in water and has made the connection as to what needs to be done. Perhaps he’s gone fishing with his master. I don’t think that this would be so unbelievable. Of course, there is a large difference between a river and an ocean and a bit of water escaping from somewhere. Dogs are intelligent.
Also, if he was truly burying it like a bone, he might have picked up at least one of those fish, put it in his mouth and brought it somewhere where he could have actually buried it - like dirt somewhere. He would only need one right? lol
One might also say that this is a trained dog and this isn’t a random video of a dog trying to save the fish but one which is planned. Notice how the dog looks up? So, maybe he’s either asking for help - “I can’t do it all alone”--------------- or looking to see affirmation on the trainer’s face. In other words, “how am I doing here”? lol
The fun part of all of this is in seeing ALL of the different perspectives which we can come up with…the real answer being based more on who we are and how we see things.
This particular video (among other similar ones) has been circulating for some years on the net.
Dogs also follow their instincts and this dog’s behavior is consistent with the burying instinct. I remember, there was another similar video of a dog burying a puppy in the desert. Just like the video with the dog and fish, it became a popular hit and used as a testament to dog’s human-like qualities. Later, a different explanation of the dog’s behavior was presented by an animal expert:
huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/2 … 16188.html
If you notice, dogs will also portray this behavior in snow and inside the house, and in the wild, among the wolves, dogs’ ancient ancestors, this is known as cache behavior. The presence of water here is a coincidence, were it snow, it would likely try to bury it under snow, and nobody would even pay great attention to the fact. Why would the dog try to rescue a fish? Animals will normally portray altruistic behavior only with those they have bonded with, and even then it is not guaranteed as even the loved one can easily be turned into a source of food.
Beautiful picture, really touching.
Innit?
I was thinking along the same lines. He definitely seems concerned for the fish.
Sure we see what we like to see. That goes for cynics as well as for romantics.
How do dogs know fishes require water to breath? I suppose it instinctively knows a fish ‘belongs’ in water, and that part of its duty is to help humans and other pets the human has etc, hence attempts to help the fish to have enough water to live in.
their brains aren’t that much smaller than ours such that they cannot perform simple logic. if we imagine being a dog wouldn’t we think like that and thus the dog is a consciousness being thinking like that? [to some degree] something akin to feral humans.
This dog is an Akita.
I’d say that this dog was doing what he was bred and trained to do. Caring for the fishes.
Amazing.
natasha
Good post. Pulling fishes from the net i.e. To eat, at least for the humans to eat such that the dog also gets fed, is not the same as trying to ‘save’ the fishes [compassion]. If that’s what it is doing.
Secondly, the philosophical question is surely more concerned with ‘how much are other life forms like us’? and is there something about the world which makes us and other creatures compassionate or otherwise like we are [human for us]. - Even if the example didn’t exemplify that.
They have billions of neurons as like us, so why would human consciousness be different to other consciousness? Why wouldn’t they think somewhat like us or like a child?
if you genetically transformed a human into a dog, would it be the same as a dog, or how different would it be etc. …and are dogs like people in that sense?
natasha
True. Helping and compassion are similar and in some ways the same. It would be quite intelligent too ~ many humans would stand there like dicks instead of helping. Equally other dogs not involved wouldn’t help.
Well pets sometimes try to emulate their owners, i’ve heard some people say their pets think they are human [something of an overestimation of course].
I want to know if there is a general thing out there that is ‘life’ in varying degrees ~ if they are like us. Is our consciousness the same as theirs even? Why does the universe produce a general thing that is like us and all life possibly?
Indeed. So compassion appears to be a general theme with conscious life forms [at the higher level at least].
Sure but the flip side is that we can understand them by recognising the similarities. If your brain was put inside a dog you would get the input of those physical differences too, but you would be a human. At least such thought experiments can get us closer to seeing through their eyes relative to physicality rather than what we simply imagine them to be.
I saw a science/tech documentary where a bunch of neurons drove a simple machine, and it gave me the impression that from a neuronal perspective life is very similar; neurons are like multiswitches which do things, they are doers. Its all very mechanistic in that way, and life is made with the same stuff ~ natures little nano-machine-cells.
dang yea. I hate them dogs.
_
amorphos,
Oh, please please please, may I be changed into a wolf? 
Unfortunately dragons aren’t real. 
Wouldn’t we need more information in order to answer that question?
If some of my genes were retained, like a nice mix of both, would I still have my own consciousness but included within that would be the consciousness of a wolf - I may not be that far away from that anyway. lol Wouldn’t i be a marvelous creature then? 
Are dogs like people in WHAT sense? Maybe dogs are akin to people in the sense that in the way dogs are loved and nurtured and given attention as puppies, they may be capable of almost taking on the positive human qualities like compassion and caring, the need to love and be loved…unless in their cases, it’s simply all about attachment. We do sense these things in our animals at times. And humans can be as wild as animals - in a good creaturely way.
And the intelligent working dogs, who are so wonderful, like the German Shepherds, the St. Bernards, et cetera, their wonderful instincts, ability to be trained and to be disciplined, their genes, are akin to human, no?
Love German Shepherds. I’ve had two of em. Here is a picture of two magnificent German Shepherds.
Arcturus Descending
I’d change you [and me] into a wolf, then chase you and get you ~ haha, there would be no escape nor avoidance then because wolves don’t give up. 
Oh and i am sure a dragon can be made at some point in the future.
Your consciousness wouldn’t be thinking in english [linguistically], but you would still be you, just like a wolf ‘you’. That’s the point i was making; are they so different to us?
Yes we are wild animals too, just been ‘trained’ for thousands of years, perhaps too much.
I prefer lions actually. 
oh and elephants.
if I could change I’d probably be an eagle.