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Dogs Smarter Than Cats Study Claims Flawed Part 2

Gracey's Blog

8 May
The Tiniest Tiger logo with glasses

This is Thinking Gracey. When you see this image, you might want a “thinking beverage” and/or a nap.

Dogs Smarter than Cats?

As we discussed in Part 1 of our review, we think the claims made that dogs are smarter than cats in a New Scientist article are flawed and we continue on with our explanation of why we think so here in Part 2.

When we left Part 1 we had reviewed  five of the eleven categories: 1)Brains, 2)Shared History, 3) Bonding, 4) Popularity and 5) Understanding.  The score:

Human Study Winner: Cats-2  Dogs-3     The  Lazy Leopard Research Institute Score: Cats-2+  Dogs 0-

Let’s continue now with category six.

6) PROBLEM SOLVING

The human study claims that both cats and dogs do fairly well at finding bits of food hidden from them, even though cats hunt for the food on their own and the dogs cheat by asking their pet parents for help as reviewed in category 5-Understanding.

The humans go on to say that not much else is known about the cat’s ability to solve problems. Dogs on the other hand, have been tested ad nauseum. And guess what? The dogs have failed their testing and compared to their wolf cousins, should be wearing dunce caps.

Wolves were able to open a door with a complicated catch simply by watching another wolf do it and the dogs could not figure it out even after years of watching the door open and close.  Cats were not tested, so The Lazy Leopard Research Institute* would like to inject an example of a clever cat solving a problem without the help of humans.  If you would please direct your attention to this short video:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmTxB5nXlzk[/youtube]

Notice how Oscar was able to do the math to calculate the leaping distance to grab the handle and then uses his back legs to push off gaining the leverage needed to open the freezer door. Then carefully jumps down and recalculates the distance to leap up into the freezer to snag the fish sticks. Oscar did not need to observe one of our brilliant wildcat cousins either, he just figured it out on his own.

Now the human study claims that, “dogs are not poor problem solvers, per se, but tend to favor a collaborative approach”  meaning a dog surrenders its power of independent thought and action to the pet parents. And for this, the human study voted in favor of the dogs!  Try to remain calm, we know our tails are fattening too and we can hardly hold back the hisses.

Human Study Winner: Cats-2  Dogs-4     The  Lazy Leopard Research Institute Score: Cats-3+  Dogs 0-

7) VOCALISATION

Cats and dogs use their history of mammalian mutual understanding in their vocal interactions with humans (also mammals). The study states that dogs have more “vocal flexibility” and that even a human that has never been a pet parent can tell from the dog’s bark whether it is lonely, angry or happy.  Wolves rarely bark, so the thought is that dogs have evolved their vocal range to communicate (ask  for help) from their pet parents.

Cats are more subtle than the bark, bark, bark of the dog.  A study published by Karen McComb from the University of Sussex shows that cats are able to embed an urgent high-frequency meow into a purr that brings out the nurturing side of the human. In fact, cats have figured out how to work their pet parents on a subliminal level by using a similar frequency range as a baby’s cry.   G-E-N-I-U-S!

For being able to communicate on a subliminal level, we award the Cats 2 points.

Human Study Winner: Cats-3  Dogs-4     The  Lazy Leopard Research Institute Score: Cats-5+  Dogs 0-

8 ) TRACTABILITY

The study says that dogs are easy to train because humans have selected them to be so and that dogs meet the needs of humans by obeying the rules.  Then goes on to say that no one has really tried training cats, so the full extent of their ability is not known.  Even so, the humans award the dogs with another point!

We threw this category out due to the outrageous bias in favor of the dogs.

Human Study Winner: Cats-3  Dogs-5    The  Lazy Leopard Research Institute Score: Cats-5+  Dogs 0-

Stay tuned for Dogs Smarter Than Cats Study Claims Flawed Part 3

*The Lazy Leopard Research Institute is a 100% fictitious feline biased facility

This post originally appeared on The Tiniest Tiger’s Conservation Cub Club and is the sole property of The Tiniest Tiger, LLC.

Previous Post: « Dogs Smarter Than Cats Study Claims Flawed Part 1
Next Post: Dogs Smarter Than Cats Study Reviewed Part 3 »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Janet C. and Maggie >^..^< says

    May 8, 2012 at 5:51 pm

    This is a wonderful read, Gracey!!! You are putting into words what I have been seeing for years 🙂 Thank you for taking the time to share all of this information! xoxox

    • Gracey, The Tiniest Tiger says

      May 8, 2012 at 6:12 pm

      Thank you for reading and being my friends.  Maggie is super smart.  xoxo

  2. Glogirly and Katie says

    May 8, 2012 at 12:53 pm

    This is awesome! We love your analysis…it is Spot (pun intended) on.
    Oscar the cat is AMAZING. My girl is telling me I’m not putting a paw on her shiny stainless steel fridge though. Sound like a challenge to me.
    Can’t wait for part 3.
    ; ) Katie

    • Gracey, The Tiniest Tiger says

      May 8, 2012 at 6:11 pm

      Spot on   hahahahahaha. We have the same shiny doors.  I have been practicing mental telepathy to open the doors.  I think I am making progress.

  3. Ryker'z Boyz says

    May 8, 2012 at 11:50 am

    oh we have refrigerator videos galore. Maxwell loves opening the meat drawer especially, and contemplating its contents. And forget ever trying to keep a pot or pan clean. I’ve taken to washing prior to use because Maxwell has not only figured out how to open any door or drawer in the kitchen, Faraday learned how by observing Max. Found Allie sitting int he dishtowel drawer once after Max opened it for her – made a nice cushy bed!

    • Gracey, The Tiniest Tiger says

      May 8, 2012 at 6:10 pm

      I would like to see these videos.  And also a photo of Allie sitting in the dishtowel drawer.  Thank you for telling me.

  4. Vicki Cleveland says

    May 8, 2012 at 11:43 am

    Figaro my previous cat would shake hands, sit, stand and walk on a leash. He also created his own games for us to play. I had to be very creative with hiding the catnip because no matter what cupboard in was in he would out to get into it. Cats are great problem solvers in my experience.
    Cats rule!!!!

    • Gracey, The Tiniest Tiger says

      May 8, 2012 at 6:09 pm

      Thank you Vicki,  I think so too. xoxo

  5. Romeo the Cat says

    May 8, 2012 at 11:14 am

    I have two cousins that are dogs, trust me it is a no brainer, dogs are not even on the same level with cats. They come when they are called, they “beg” for food, it is just embarassing

    • Gracey, The Tiniest Tiger says

      May 8, 2012 at 6:08 pm

      Romeo, I know.  Yet the humans awarded the dogs more points than us. 

  6. RumpyDog says

    May 8, 2012 at 9:37 am

    Nah, I’m going with the new scientists on this one…. dogs rule!

    • Gracey, The Tiniest Tiger says

      May 8, 2012 at 9:39 am

      Rumpy, you might need June Buggie to read to you. But thank you for your input. xoxo

  7. Maxtheuiltcat says

    May 8, 2012 at 9:32 am

    Please… under no circumstances… let Bugsy and Knuckles watch that refrigerator video.  Our lives over here would change drastically.

    great article…

    pawhugs, Max

    • Gracey, The Tiniest Tiger says

      May 8, 2012 at 9:38 am

      Max, I bet Bugsy and Knuckles have already figured it out on their own. We have a side by side so the door is too heavy for me. 😉

  8. Kathleen Mary Torres says

    May 8, 2012 at 9:25 am

    don’t get me wrong i love dogs, even tho, i’m a 1000 percent a cat lady,and think all animals are smarter then most think.But…after haveing both for over b40 byrs, cats win hands down, sorry

    • Gracey, The Tiniest Tiger says

      May 8, 2012 at 9:35 am

      Thank you for your input Kathleen Mary. We love ALL animals here in our The Tiniest Tiger community and dogs are super terrific, we just don’t agree that they are smarter. xoxoxox

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