Do dogs enjoy being pets? I'm not talking about shit owners that leave them in crates or outside all day and barely interact with them. I mean even with good owners. Do they enjoy living in a house with humans, only going outside to run around in a park or the woods weekly? Do they get enough stimulation to be happy even with the best owners? Sure they wag their tail when they see you and cuddle with them, but is it just stockholm syndrome? Is it good enough to just cuddle, walk and spend time with them?
>>4780958dogs self domesticated 40,000 years ago and no longer form stable packs with other dogs. the only stable bonds they form are with humans. dog packs are fission/fusion. their ancestors mated for life, dogs mate temporarily and their only permanent bonds are with people.as far as dog cognition goes this is liking beings pets. they are emotionally drawn to us and prefer our company. also, as a species of apex predators we cant actually hunt for shit and initially just scavenged. neanderthals probably went extinct because the humans arriving had dogs that acted as their eyes, ears, and noses on hunts which resulted in human populations going way up and neanderthals finding themselves short on game animals.
>>4780967So any dog that doesn't have a human that is nice to him/her is categorically unhappy?
>>4780971Yes. They actively seek out human companionship.
>>4780958Stockholm syndrome aint real.
>>4780958>only going outside to run around in a park or the woods weekly?I traveled a lot with my dog. They can be trained to go with you into the store and trains and stuff.
>>4780967>initially just scavengedIsn’t it more complex like than that? We scavenged sure but it wasn’t our main method of getting by iirc>neanderthals probably went extinct because the humans arriving had dogs that acted as their eyesPretty sure they went extinct because they were gradually bred out
>>4780958Yes. We are quite literally their lifeline and they are one of the few domesticated animals to be actively aware of it
>>4780973>all those stray dogs that kept following me when I was a kid and I thought they just wanted a snack
>>4780958this .gif is not graphically interchanging
