Are dogs self aware?

I don't think any animal is truly self-aware.

I may be mistaken, but I always thought that, aside from a much more evolved level of intelligence (which is just a matter of degree), true self-awareness was the real difference between humans and animals. Without wanting to get bogged down with any talk of soul and other religious issues, that is!

Maybe dogs are capable of a very rudimentary form of self-awareness, such as the mirror example...though most, in my experience, either fail to see it at all (I don't know, maybe the fact that they lack stereoscopic vision may make it harder for them to make their own figure out), or will mistake it for another dog. Which is not to say they have a great capacity for learning and are incredibly intelligent and affectionate animals....but self-awareness goes beyond mirrors and recognizance of a reflection, I think.

To me, it is one of the cornerstones of human consciousness because it allows us to travel mentally. We are able to look at ourselves from outside, to imagine the way we are acting as we are acting. A dog may feel, say, nervous or smug for any number of reasons, but humans are also able to feel nervous because of those reasons and also because of self-consciousness: you can imagine yourself from your peers' point of view in, say, a social situation as you are in it, and that makes you nervous. It's just an example...but our self-awareness is what really allows our intelligence to take on imaginative characteristics...to picture our own selves from outside, mentally (which is what dogs cannot do), either in the past, present, or any number of hypothetical futures.

That's what no animal can do, despite any great intelligence or instinct it may have, and thus what differentiates us from them - aside from the simple fact that we have a higher degree of intelligence.

Well, that's what I think anyway.

Cheers...

and I say if the dog had opposable thumbs it'd be jerking off too.... :wink:

If dogs were to examine us they would determine that WE are not self aware for we cannot recognize our own scent whereas they can.

I can tell squinney by her scent ...seriously......when she's out of town I sleep with my head on her pillow and it comforts me....

I can recognize other peoples scents too, Bear, but can we recognize our own? Probably not! As scent is the dominant sense in dogs they would consider us inferior creatures.

Dogs seem to see and hear about a gazillion times better than humans. I cannot see how it would make a difference if they saw in color or not.

As for being animals being self aware I do think they are. My little Supreme Bean was abused viciously as a pup and her behavior even after four years of love and kindness seems typical of how humans who are physically abused as children act. She plays out her life very close to the vest.

Plants I think are self aware as well only they gave the privilege of dying when abused or ignored.

scratch your ass and smell your finger...recognize that?

I still don't think it has anything to do with their superior abilities in terms of scent recognition....that belongs to the realm of instinct, not self awareness.

Or, for that matter, a dog whose present behavior stems from abuse....this is more akin to conditioning and trauma.

The kind of self-awareness I was referring to is mental....the ability to look at yourself from the outside, to travel outside your own existence and imagine how others see you, to place yourself in someone else's head, to look at yourself from past and future perspectives, to be self-conscious AS you are acting. This is the ability that allows us to choose what response we will have to whatever stimulus from the outside world.

Cheers...

To me it smells just like yours Bear.

I recall when I was down my dog would put his head on my lap and comfort me. One time we had him clipped (he was a fuzzy Bouvier) and he hid behind the table until we assured him everything was OK. It was obvious he was self-conscious and felt naked! When he did something naughty he would put his head down and feel ashamed, even before we discovered the naughtiness. They may have more trouble with past and future perspectives but that doesn't make them any less aware.

Gosh I did not know only humans were superior animals capable of self awarness? I just thought they were a different variety of animal.

I don't really think dogs are self-aware, but they (and my cats) clearly dream. I've often wondered what they dream about, as one dog of mine, who was abused as a puppy, barks in her sleep.

I used to have a Rottie/Shepherd mix who was the smartest dog I've ever known. This is hard to explain, but bear with me....In my old house, there were 2 rooms, each with a door that opened towards an adjoining wall. The doors were next to each other; one opened right, one left, both towards the adjoining wall (sorry, so hard to explain).

This dog loved to chase his toys. One day his toy seemed to go behind one of the doors (but didn't). When he couldn't find the toy behind the door, he went into the other room and looked behind THAT door, as if it might have gone through the wall! Clearly he could reason, in a rather amazing way.

My sister once had a cat when she lived in North Dakota. The cat would cry to go outside at the back door, but when he saw how cold it was, he'd refuse to go out. Then he'd go cry at the FRONT door, perhaps thinking the weather might be better there!

are dogs "self aware?"
depends on your interpretation of the phrase. i`m a dog owner myself
and believe that dogs Do possess some sense of "self" however I believe
the meaning of the phrase indicates "sentience" thats a harder thing to
determine without a form of common communication. I do not believe
that dogs (or any animal below the human) can handle abstract thought
or concepts but they do dream so some process that we dont yet
understand is definately present. just a note of interest however ~ it is
held that mans domestication of the wolf, the forebear of all dogs and in
pre-history our greatest rival as the hunter led to our "inferior" ancestors
winning out over the neanderthal, which had a greater brain and sensory
ability to our line.... without the dog we would probably already be
extinct.....goood boy fido !

I feel like it is important. As I would like to believe that the pet that I am interacting with so emotionally has some sentient conciousness and self-awareness of the fact that she is also interacting emotionally with me. My question would therefore be; "Of what real value is affection being given by an entity who doesn't even know that she is giving it?"

Please explain to me how this would prove that they are self-aware? It appears to me as if it would only show that they are aware of the colors of the balls and that they are capable of learning, or even of having a preferance. But how does it prove that they are aware of themselves?

It's proven fact that dogs see color and that the black and white vision only for dogs is a myth.

Can Dogs See Colors?
Dogs are not as colorblind as you think.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/canine-corner/200810/can-dogs-see-colors
Dogs can see color but a lesser spectrum of colors then humans can.