The cospecific

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I understood via Lorenz that the individuation of the members of the species happened in a kind of fast irreversible learning process during a relatively short period of the life of the individual after birth and before maturity. Geese who were around Lorenz in this period considered Lorenz as a goose, followed him and probably tried to mate with him in adulthood, though with poor results. I have for a long time given for granted this discovery of ethology: it is the theory of imprinting, This theory is still considered sound. There is no doubt that there is a period in the life of social animals, mammals and birds, in which there is a great plasticity of the character structure. But having had to do recently with a little dog I have observed this:
The dog has been reared with humans. In consequence he considers humans as partially her species mates (cospecifics). She exhibits territorial behavior with humans, attachment, and even some piece of mating behavior (with my arm properly). But:
When she walks in the streets she distinguishes with absolute exactitude what are dogs and what dogs are not, barking and sniffing at other dogs, not at cats, humans and other critters of her size. She individuates the "species dog" also on TV and in printed images. Given the variety of sizes and shapes of dogs, this seems to have something to do with a genetically wired capacity to distinguish her mates in the species.

If need be, this contradicts every fridge-mother theory of autism. The capacity to interact socially with members of one's own species has undoubtedly a genetic component.

Ah Conrad Lorenz...takes me back to my college days Paolo Happy days.(I wish I could remember more of what I learned but never mind)

A dog-loving friend explained dog behaviour to me in this way, that the dog accepts the owner as 'pack leader', if you feed it, and the dog is happy to know its place in the pack. But it also knows it is a dog and not a human being. I've always had trouble understanding dogs, being such a cat person, and cats and dogs behave so very differently. The thing they have in common is that they both change when they live with humans (I think of how they both behave in the wild)

I think we probably are genetically programmed to interract with our own species. It is a life-death thing. We bond with the mother (or whoever feeds us) for survival, plus psychologically we are a social species. Fridge mothers? Yes, so cold, and without the excuse of autism either, in the case of mine.

I think this is correct.
Moreover:

(I am amateurish in these considerations. But take them for what they are).

I think that interspecific (like man-dog, dog-cat etc) behavior raises many interesting philosophical problems.

Dog-man: strong pack behavior (dog is faithful and defends you against strangers).
Cat-man: parental dependence (for the cat you are your mum, cuddling, asking for food)
Horse-man: pack behavior (you are alpha, they obey, taming them means establishing a peck-order in man’s favor).

Man-animal cub: parental protection. In our mind it’s wired a privileged status for newborns. Silvia Plath used do go hunting with Ted Hughes her husband. Once Hughes shot a pregnant hare. Silvia was very disturbed.

So the recognition and interaction with animals of different species doesn’t trigger a compact bundle of behaviors, but different behaviors according to context.

i dont think dogs think we are dogs or that they are people its a symbiotic relationship , dogs stay with people and evolved to be with people because it was benificial to them ( easy access to food and warmth and safety from other animals) people allowed them to do that because the people also beniffited ( dogs cleared up food waste , played with kids and provided hunting partners and many other things )
Dogs are resource guards they protect there territories and food , im not sure about there protective tendancies toward pack members , dog packs are pretty flexible and dont have the set rules that wolf packs do. Dogs will protect themselves and by default there owners when possible . Dogs used for protection are actually trained to do that , it is not an entirely inherant skill. i suppose the only way to test it would be to get yourself beaten up and see if your untrained dog steps into protect you even if he has the ability to escape. I havent seen any conclusive evidence that a dog protects us as a mate rather than a provider of food . In fact i havent seen a dog that has protected its owner when its not been trained to and its not on its own territory and when it has the oppurtunity to run away.

Not only dogs bark at strangers without being trained. but cats also growl at visitors (mine used to rush growling at the door when someone appeared, perhaps they were weird cats, but I certainly didn't train them). And this little dog who shows affection for me, barks and pretends to defend me if her owner feigns to hit me. So, these things are mixed up. It's true that dogs, according to ethologists, are different from wolves (less intelligent, and more tame like all domesticated animals (hens and others). In domestication they lose the alertness and skills necessary to survive in the wild. They remain in a childlike condition (this is Lorenz).
Cts are a bit different because they never get really domesticated.

yes dogs bark at strangers , not all dogs bark at strangers but when they do you have to ask yourself why, if a stranger enters the house it could be territorial aggression , if its on lead its called leash aggression because the dog is unable to act naturally in a situation it perceieves as maybe threatening , most dogs who bark at strangers are actually fear aggresive , off lead they would run away if they are able.

Barks have also different meanings according to pitch. Some barks are quite friendly, some are petitions for food, some are play, and some are menacing. But menace is addressed to a cospecific or to someone considered a cospecific, or anyway a communicative agent. Predators don't menace (bark or growl) to preys.

By the way, my cat does this too-she growls when she hears (and feels through vibrations) someone outside nearby, in driveway shutting a car door or coming up the stairs towards my porch. She's my early-warning system, though she can't distinguish when it's someone coming to my apt. vs. for someone next door. Once someone comes inside she hides under bed for awhile (unless it's me).
Sorry for tangenting, have no experience w/dogs-they're just not a creature I feel close to.


Am not making light of (mean no disrespect) your thoughts by mentioning a cartoon that this reminds me of (it amused me & seemed to reflect how creatures, incl. humans, see each other as peculiar versions of themselves) :
Caption reads: "The Insular Worlds Of Mother Nature".
A huge cow & a small frog are staring at each other.
Thought balloon over frog: "Wow ! That's one big, ugly frog !"
Thought balloon over cow: "Yikes ! What an eensy-weensy cow !"

This is an aside. Perhaps has something to do with your cartoon.
What astonishes me in animals is they don't give a damn fo the size of the other animal, be it cospecific or not. An aggressive tiny dog would put up a show of barking hostility against an other dog seventy times bigger his size. Same with cats: they generally avoid fights, but they don't show any fear in putting up a threatening show toward an intruder in their territory, be it also an elephant.

That's true! My neighbour's cat started stalking me when I went round to feed it when my neighbour was away on holiday. It had its ears back and looked really aggressive. I clapped my hands and shouted at it to scare it away, but there were a few seconds when it was wondering whether to go for me or not, and it kept its eyes on me all the time. That's the only time I've ever been afraid of a cat.