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<p>I'll see your Shepherd-mix and Heeler and raise you a purebred
Akita and a Doberman mix. Our Akita is as aloof and singularly
loyal as they are reputed to be while our Dobie is as high-energy
and Skitchy as THEY can be reputed to be. But what seems to
dominate our little family (2 adult humans, one old Akita, one
middle-aged Dobie, a very old cat) is the pairwise (and somewise
3-ary and 4-ary) relations. Each dog responds differently to each
human and they have their own relationship, and each dog a
different relationship with the cat. <br>
</p>
<p>Regarding your Heeler, I have to admit I've never really known a
(healthy) dog that didn't wake quickly and easily most of the
time. But my sampling is tiny! Our Akita (particularly in old
age, but also by nature) is very slow to react physically but
seems to be quick to come to awareness... he seems to need to
contemplate *everything* including known food treats, and isn't
prone to rise or move unless there is something known to be good
in the deal, and despite affecting disinterest in most everything
seems to be paying (covert) attention all of the time.<br>
</p>
<p>And of course, I don't know what all to think about human-canine
similarity given that we seem to have co-evolved WITH them.
Their shorter generations suggest THEY can evolve faster than WE,
but there does seem to be evidence that WE are what/who WE are
because we had dog-companions among us, even if only as scrounging
camp-followers for many millennia?</p>
<p>Looking around for a popular science style article to reference,
I found this NatGeo one:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/03/130302-dog-domestic-evolution-science-wolf-wolves-human/">https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/03/130302-dog-domestic-evolution-science-wolf-wolves-human/</a></p>
</blockquote>
<p>I am mildly disappointed that they reference only Wolves among
Canines who might have "domesticated us"... it seems more like
some of the more omnivorous, less-apex predators like foxes or
coyotes or dingos might have been our first, or most likely
companions, cleaning up our waste and providing some level of
"intruder alert" in exchange for the good-scavenge we likely left
behind, long before we let them sleep in our tents or tend our
babies, retrieve our ducks, tree our lions, or pull our travois.</p>
<p>I was also disappointed at the
human-caused-extinction-of-large-carnivores-and-other-megafauna
references without backup... I am inclined to want to believe our
current anthropogenic climate change is only the most recent (and
extravagant) of Homo Sapiens' tipping of the balance of dynamic
systems such as the earth's climate or the top end of the
ecological food-chain, but I also think there has been a lot of
evidence questioning those theories.</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p>- Steve<br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<p><br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 4/9/19 4:01 PM, Marcus Daniels
wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote type="cite"
cite="mid:87750B04-55C3-4D56-9DF4-5188F18AAE12@snoutfarm.com">
<pre class="moz-quote-pre" wrap="">Steve writes:
"I also live with two dogs (and a cat) who nap *all the time* and while
they occasionally present as "groggy" when woken abruptly, they mostly
slide in and out of sleep according to need, efficiently and well as
best I can tell."
I've got a big shepherd mix dog who is never really out as far as I can tell.
Also I've got a high-energy heeler who can wake up in seconds and be across the house in seconds flat.
The same dog does sleep at night and can actually need to be woken, like a person.
She can be groggy and uncoordinated for five minutes or more. It's hilarious.
Marcus
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