Why is it that dogs can understand the concept of pointing, but

>>2140333
Co-evolution

>>2140333
>even after training
Well that's not true.

Dogs seem to figure out pointing intuitively, but apes can be taught the concept via training.

dogs look to wear other dog snouts are pointing

fingers are pointy

1+1

apes dont have pointy snouts

>>2140333
apes don't like being told what to do

>>2140333
Apes communicate most strongly via body language. Dogs communicate most strongly via scent. That's why dogs scent mark and gorillas/chimps bare teeth or pound their chests. This is why it's so easy to teach gorillas and chimps to communicate in sign language. Where as with dogs you can only teach them one or two hand signals. (like pointing)

So from an apes perspective, when a human points, their reaction is basically "What the fuck are you trying to say? I don't understand your language."

It's the equivalent of a human walking up to another human, saying "hey" and then getting mad when the other human fails to pick up an entire paragraphs worth of information from the single word.

> apes don't understand the concept of pointing
Explain this video then.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdgSegEVqA0

i swear my dog thinks hands are a separate entity

if i "walk" my fingers around, he fucking flips shit

also in the gorilla area in disney world's animal kingdom have staff whos seemingly only job is to make sure guests don't point around the apes

>>2140752
that's amazing

My dog doesn't understand pointing. How do I get him to understand pointing? Other dogs I've interacted with or had understood without me working to get them to understand.

Granted, he's sort of dumb in all other aspects of his life, but he's supposed to be a mix of some smart breeds. How do I get him to understand pointing? He never looks at my hand, even, he just looks at my face.

>>2140810
Most people don't realize it, but dogs have to be trained to understand pointing. It usually happens when they are puppies, and they figure it out from watching their parents react when a human points at something.

For the most part it's an easy enough trick that most people don't even realize they are training the dog. For instance, with our chinese shar pei, we never trained her to look at our pointing fingers. Instead, if we want her to see something on the floor (usually a very small tidbit of food we accidentally dropped while cooking in the kitchen) then we point with our toes, if she doesn't notice it right away, then we tap our toes, (hardwood floors) and she immediately comes up and starts sniffing where the sound came from.

We never did this on purpose, it's just a habit that developed over time since we can't turn and point at the ground while grating cheese or slicing up meat, or scrubbing soapy dishes after dinner and such.

The best way to teach your dog to look at where you are pointing is to start off with a treat in your hand, use a command like "Look!" and let him sniff and lick the treat before releasing your grip on it. He will associate food in your hand with that word. Once he gets the hang of this then move the treat to inbetween your pointer and middle finger. Continue using the command while allowing him to sniff and lick the treat. Then the next step is to drop the treat from inbetween your fingers while using the command while your hand is only an inch or so off the ground. Keep progressing like that, with the hand moving higher and higher after your dog accomplishes each stage.

Eventually, you can be outside in a dog park, and point halfway across the park while using the command, and your dog will run to the exact spot. Just make sure to regularly reward him with a treat when he successfully pulls it off.

>>2140752
PICK UP THE ROCK STUPID