Dogs' LOP

[Bruce Thomas]

An article featured today on Google News reports on the findings of a large dedicated group of Czech and German scientists. They claim to have discovered that dogs align themselves with the earth's magnetic field when defecating. Their findings appeared in the journal Frontiers in Zoology last week. Drawn, like a gawker at a traffic accident, I perused the provisional PDF containing their report, and was struck by the direction of the average axial vector they calculated for the 1,893 observations in their study: 157/337. I shudder to think what will be made of this by those skeptical of the Nikumaroro Hypothesis.  ;)

[Albert Durrell]

Now I need to take a compass along when I walk the dog.

[Bill de Creeft]

umm... well no, I would say now you *don't* have to take the compass !

'Just believe the dog' !?!

Bill

[Bill de Creeft]

Bruce, that's spooky, alright !!
Bill

[JNev]

Bruce, you've gotta be $_______ me... now I gotta watch.  Two dogs next door so shouldn't take long to sort this out. 

One wonders whether it may depend on whether the dog(s) stole Christmas candy in foil wrappers - my Dal did once, a bowl of Hershey's Kisses - glittery foil all over backyard... it's a wonder the chocolate didn't kill him according to that dogly myth (apparently).  Come to think of it, he generally gazed off toward Polaris... possible variables: I wonder if Uranus was in retrograde?

I wonder if FN had the same incredible instinct?  Lost?  Just go to the honeybucket and follow his fanny... if he couldn't find Howland at least he might have found that - with both hands.  ;D

[JNev]

It occurs to me that a Rhodesian Ridgeback would make an excellent subject (if breed-limited) - outstanding 'landmark' along which to sight for accuracy - the raised hackles along his spine...

Which now makes me wonder about skunks - stripes would make a wonderful orientation marking - suppose they do the same?  I'm sure they are less discriminating when it comes to scent discharge - more of a random response to the immediate target, one supposes - not so much time to take care to align the GI tract to the lines of flux...

[Andrew M McKenna]

Well, I have two Rhodesians, but I've never collected this kind of data before.  I guess I'll have to start.

Here is another odd fact having to do with Foxes apparently using magnetic fields to hunt in deep snow.  They are more successful when facing North.  Go figure.

http://msnvideo.msn.com/?channelindex=4&from=en-us_msnhp#/video/6a80bbe5-2f71-4907-8940-b341f4d74efa

The things we know nothing about....

Andrew

[Dave McDaniel]

I think my dog seems to pay more attention to wind direction and velocity.

Dave

[James G. Stoveken]

I agree with you Dave.  Yesterday my dog initially oriented himself in a north/northwest facing position (337° ?!)and I thought perhaps I was seeing confirmation of the European Canine Directional Discharge Hypothesis.  In the middle of the production a sudden gust came whistling out of the west and Mack weathervaned to the left to complete the process.  More observations are needed to test the Gotta-Have-the-Wind-in-My-Face Hypothesis though.

[Chris Johnson]

It may well be a Spaniel thing but one of mine likes to pirouette.  The other two tend to point their heads due South.

[JNev]

Wind-in-the-face seems like a good choice for the chore to me...

Maybe the compass rose holds until the winds rise enough to be a factor?

Spaniel pirouetting - interesting... but 2 out of 3 'due south' is pretty strong.

Fascinating - all most as much as:

...The early Polynesians navigated in outrigger canoes to widely separated islands using visual sightings of rising/setting stars and memorized information passed down from previous generations to get them close to their destination and then looked for seabirds returning to their roosting island to guide them in to the island.  No sextants, no RDF.  Just detailed info about ocean currents, winds, clouds, etc. that was passed down from generation to generation to those showing the talent -and the inclination- to become  "navigators".  I read somewhere (I forget where) that the angle of suspension and frequency of oscillation of their testicles under their loin cloths played a part in their navigation along a path.  I'll have to try to find some documentartion of that.

Who knows how all the many successful migrations of creatures happened on this planet...

[Chris Austin]

One of my Spinones used to assume the position and then commence the bomb-run at an acute angle across the footpath he was dumping next to, hunkered over with his back feet hovering just off the ground, balancing on his front feet. The result looked like the post-op photos of the Black Buck raids on Port Stanley airfield during the Falklands war. Hellishly funny to watch and guaranteed to make you clear up afterwards.


http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stanley_runway_craters.jpg

[JNev]

One of my Spinones used to assume the position and then commence the bomb-run at an acute angle across the footpath he was dumping next to, hunkered over with his back feet hovering just off the ground, balancing on his front feet. The result looked like the post-op photos of the Black Buck raids on Port Stanley airfield during the Falklands war. Hellishly funny to watch and guaranteed to make you clear up afterwards.


http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stanley_runway_craters.jpg

Now that was one creative thinker, that dog... took a minute for me to get up from floor and catch breath after that one... glad you 'cleared up afterwards' - I'd hate to stumble into that in the dark!