Dogs and Their Sense of Humor

The more I think about it, the less I know how exactly we humans differ from the dogs. I know we wear pants, but so does Goofy, so that's hardly dispositive. Besides those wonderful opposable thumbs of ours, is there anything that makes us substantially different from other animals? We aren't the only animal who uses tools, nor the only animal with a complex language system. The religious might say that we're the only animal with a soul, but in the same breath, they're likely to start talking about Rainbow Bridge.

For me, one of the most salient positive attributes of the human condition is the sense of humor, which consists of not only being able to understand and appreciate a joke, but the ability to make a joke, as well. Think of the cognition the most basic humor entails! Humor is the result of an incongruity in the normal course of things with an unexpected result. To appreciate humor, one must first have a detailed expectation of what should happen, so when that expectation is thwarted by the incongruity, one is aware of it and can react.


Besides requiring a structure of what normalcy consists of to be present in a being's mind, in order to engage in humor one must have a flexible sense of perspective, an ability to remove oneself from one's own mindset and see the world empathetically, to imagine what things are like from others' points of view. It's undoubtedly a sophisticated, higher, type of thought process, which, arguably, could be used to differentiate humans from the "lower" animals. Humans are the animals who joke.

Except, dogs do, too. I've known a few humorless dogs (hello, Chi-Chi), and a lot of dogs who have no sense of humor about themselves, but I know dogs understand certain types of jokes, laugh at them, and make jokes themselves.

Levi's sense of humor, for example, tends toward the slapstick. Someone falling down pretty much always cracks him up. When he laughs he flattens his ears, so they hang off the side of his head like a jester's hat, his lips curl upward, his eyes squint with delight; he couldn't be doing anything but laughing. His appearance then has some resemblance to a submissive posture, but it's quite different in a lot of subtle ways. Because of Levi's coloring, his expressions are unusually readable, and he laughs, and he does it at appropriate times and at appropriate things.

Nothing makes Levi laugh more than playing a joke of his own. These are his two favorites.

When he's very happy to see someone, or very excited about something, he thinks nipping you in the butt is the funniest thing in the world. He knows the appropriate pressure, and it's much more of a goose than a proper nip, but when he gets one in, and recognizes that you're aware of it, he breaks up. There you were, expecting not to get pinched on the ass, and then Levi pinched you! Look at the reversal of expectation! It's a joke seeped in irony.


OK, not irony, but it's totally a canine version of standing behind someone to their right, and tapping their left shoulder so they turn the wrong way. And when Levi surprises his "victim," he laughs as hard as any perpetrator of any practical joke. I'm not claiming he's Noel Coward, just that he intentionally jokes.

But Levi's very favorite joke is this: He'll go out of the house from one door, the back door, for instance. Then, when outside, if he discovers the side door is accidentally open, he'll come back in the house through that. This is an infrequent occurrence. Almost always, when Levi goes out the back door, he comes in the back door, so when he has the opportunity to surprise me by coming in the unexpected door, it's an opportunity for comedy he simply can't resist.

When Levi has successfully pulled off this joke, he beams with happiness, and can't stop laughing. He's not happy because he got in the house, but because he did it in such a surprising way! Ha, didn't see that coming, did you, dad? You're looking out the back door, like a stupid monkey, while I, Levi, have already let myself in! Could something be funnier?


Below is a film of a dog jumping over fire. I don't know the circumstances of the filming, but it doesn't seem like any kind of abuse situation. It looks to me like this dog thinks jumping over the fire is a hoot, because who would expect a dog to jump over fire? I mean, dogs usually walk around a fire, but this guy just flies over it! If he's not intentionally being funny, what is he doing?


I'm not saying that Levi is Chris Rock, or even Gallagher, and I'm not maintaining that his jokes are funny, just that they're jokes. So, if other animals have a sense of humor, in addition to the many other more obvious similarities to us, how is it that there's any meaningful difference between us?


Dog Jumping in the Fire - Click here for more free videos

The Dogman Speaks and Weekly Recap

What an exciting week in the Den!


Readership of this site is steadily increasing. My page hits are way up, due to listings with Entreecard and Adgetize, but those numbers mean relatively little. A lot of those people drop by my page, click an ad, and leave, which is cool. That's the way those programs work. But at least some are staying and reading the writing on the wall (of the den), and from what I can figure, it seems about 100 people a day are actually reading this thing. And that's not bad.


On the other hand, it's not near enough. If you like a particular piece, or the whole blog, pass it on to a friend. My motive for the moment is simply to entertain. I write these pieces for the joy of writing, and to rebuild the habit of producing work daily. I try to make every piece I post as entertaining, informative, moving or funny as possible. Naturally, I'd like them to reach as many people as they can.

Also, thanks to you 100 or so people who are reading regularly. I have one other request. Leave a comment now and then. Subscribe by e-mail, or follow the site in a feed reader. Drop a note on Facebook. It's enormously helpful to me to know you're out there.

Finally, this weekend I'm babysitting my favorite dog in the world (who isn't Levi, that is), Henry. Henry is a pretty enormous mongrel of some kind or the other. Some pictures of him will be up next week. He and Levi used to be good friends. They hadn't seen each other in a few years, and last night they were reunited. 

Things could have gone better. There was some fighting, which is always adrenaline pumping with dogs that size, but nobody got hurt and it was mostly a jockeying for position sort of thing. Henry's mom and I will get the boys together more often, so they can get used to each other and be friends again, but for this weekend, Levi will be staying in his own house when I'm taking care of Henry.


And now, the weekly wrap-up:

Levi wrote a guest editorial, all by himself! I asked him to write something about what he perceives are the problems in the world, and he promptly produced a "My Turn" piece entitled, "Those People at the Door." It seems Levi has some pretty serious (and to my mind, unfounded) problems with "those people at the door." Check it out. Levi worked hard on it.


A Cast of Characters went up, which will always be accessible from the main page. If you forget which dog was which, or when they lived with me, this is where you can go to get the facts straight.

Vinnie Goes to the Zoo, is a gently funny true story about guide dogs, where they're allowed, and what it's like for them when they visit the zoo. 

All Dogs' Eyes Are the Same Size! An interesting animal "fact." The title says it all.


And, while you're at it, make sure you take a look at the two part story, "Levi's Issues." It's Levi's history, and helps explain why he is like he is, and why his dad adores him anyway.


I'll see you tomorrow with the weekly edition of News of the Dog!

© 2009, All Rights Reserved, Rich Sands
ScottsdaleDogMan.com
ScottsdaleDogMan.blogspot.com

Saturday's News of the Dog

Welcome to Saturday's assembly of dog news. No reports on dogs starving, or abused, or fighting…just decent dog news for ordinary, decent, dogs like yours. 

I'll keep up on what's going on in the world of dogs, so you don't have to.

Part of a series about Scout, the puppy, who today swims indoor in Manhattan! City dogs have the life!

How a dog's mind works. This is a GREAT article from the NY Times about the latest theories of the mind of dogs, and how they can learn to do such incredible things. The article talks about how dogs are intellectually about on par with a 2 ½ year old human, and emotionally on a whole different level than people. Incredibly interesting!

Church services for LA area dogs. I suppose they couldn't get less out of it than some people!










It's official. Both dogs and cats can get swine flu, so I guess it's time for them to panic, too.

A mutt in Pittsburgh is nursing nine African Painted dogs. Very cool!

A marine finds a stray mutt in Iraq…and gets the dog home with him! A story of how man and dog should care for each other.

And, finally, here's Bob, the fattest dog in all of Scotland. I have no further comment.


© 2009, All Rights Reserved, Rich Sands

ScottsdaleDogMan.com

ScottsdaleDogMan.blogspot.com

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