October 15, 2013

Woman's Best Friend

Compared to many other species, dogs as a whole are relatively privileged. Most of us don’t eat them, nor do we specifically breed them to be eaten.

By Julie Hecht

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American

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Compared to many other species, dogs as a whole are relatively privileged. Most of us don’t eat them, nor do we specifically breed them to be eaten. They are more likely to receive vet care than other companion animals, and we spend more money on dogs than, say, cats (although whether the things we’re buying dogs are necessary or in their best interest is another conversation). And we're often trying to get at who dogs are—most recently, dogs' “personhood” was proposed by Gregory Burns (here), and was subsequently explored by Hal Herzog (here), Jason Goldman (here) and Patricia McConnell (here).

But the main reason I suggest that dogs are “privileged” is because they are being examined at all, in their own right, and not as a stand-in for something or someone else.

We often need to “see it to believe it,” and that’s the direction dogs are headed. Researchers around the world are chipping away at every angle of what dogs "see, smell and know," to borrow from a recent publication. The "assumed dog" is fading away.

My colleagues in the “Examined Dog” field include men, women and dogs (we couldn’t do squat without the dogs!). On Ada Lovelace Day—a day to recognize and champion women in science—I would like to highlight a few (of the many!) women investigating dogs in varied and meaningful ways.

Thank you for your hard work and inspirational contributions!

Dr. Pauleen Bennett, Australia

anthrozoology

Dr. Nancy Dreschel, USA

physiology and dog welfare

Dr. Dorit Feddersen-Petersen, Germany

dog social behavior

Dr. Márta Gácsi, Hungary

dog social cognition

Dr. Alexandra Horowitz, USA

dog umwelt and testing anthropomorphisms

Dr. Sarah Marshall-Pescini, Italy