To this day, I still remember the adage that my father used to say when I was a child: ” It is difficult for a cat to come home, but for a dog to come home” . I ask again, why is that? My father just explained: ” My village’s communal house worships stone dogs, people often call them God Dog or Linh Dog” . As I grew up, I gradually understood that sentence, although not thoroughly, when studying biology and related sciences.
1. Dog is one of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals and is in the “green” – 6 domestic animals: horses, cows, goats, chickens, dogs, pigs. Dogs are raised to keep the house or as a hobby. In Sino-Vietnamese words, dogs are called “canine” or “canine”. Dogs are also called “civets”, because they look like civets. All dogs whether beautiful, elegant or brave have a common ancestor – the wild wolf breed. According to biologists, the first domestic dogs were domesticated from wolves 14,000 years ago, since then humans have bred, bred and produced thousands of dog breeds to adapt to climate conditions. each region. Dog breeds can vary widely in shape, size, color and personality, but have one thing in common: they all have 321 bones and 42 permanent teeth, just like wolves.
Dogs are very loyal animals. Wolves live in packs, so they have a special bond with the individuals next to them. This behavior is retained by dogs, instead of being loyal to the pack, dogs are loyal to their owners. Stephen Zawistowski, scientific advisor to the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, said that when raised, dogs will treat their owners as members of their pack.
Of all four-legged animals, dogs have a very good memory and are among the most intelligent. No matter where they go for a long time, they still miss home – “lost home following a dog, lost track of a buffalo”, so they taught them to become professional dogs and guide dogs. Science proves that dogs can understand human emotions. In the past, stories about a dog understanding its owner’s emotions were often considered to have no scientific value. But according to a latest study, psychologists from Lincoln University (UK) and the University of Sao Paulo (Brazil) have proven that dogs can really understand human emotions.
Specifically, these scientists have found that dogs are able to analyze the auditory and visual information they receive when interacting with humans and other individuals. They even have the ability to distinguish between positive and negative emotional states. The team tested 17 different adult dogs, allowing them to receive emotional state information in two ways: auditory and visual.
During the experiment, these dogs were shown by the researchers to see images of human emotions, accompanied by audio clips describing human emotions corresponding to the picture. there. Sometimes, the audio shows the opposite emotion the test subjects are seeing. These dogs have never undergone any emotional training before, so the results are as genuine and natural as possible. The experimental sounds were in Portuguese, a language so foreign to dogs that they were not based on pre-existing memories with English. As a result, the dogs always focused when the sound they heard had an emotional description that matched the picture they were watching, and they also showed that when they received a positive emotion, they stuck out their tongue. very interested, when receiving negative information such as anger, they growl in a defensive way. If the visual and audio information does not match, they will bark several times in response.
Cats are not among the “cats”, but because they have a good ability to catch mice, every house has them and a good question is, are dogs or cats smarter? That question worked. In December 2017, for the first time, scientists published a study on the brain size of these two species and also calculated the number of neurons in their cerebral cortex. Research results show that the average number of neurons in the cerebral cortex of cats is only half of the average number in the cerebral cortex of dogs. Dogs have about 530 million neurons in the cerebral cortex of cats, only about 250 million. While in humans, the cerebral cortex has about 16 billion neurons.
Dr Suzana Herculano-Houzel, Associate Professor of Psychology and Biology at Vanderbilt University, USA, said: “Dogs have the biological ability to do more complex and flexible things in life than cats.” Celia Haddon, a behaviorist specializing in cats, explains why cats have fewer neurons than dogs because “cats generally have less social interaction”. Dogs are the opposite, because their ancestors were wolves, which hunted in groups, so they developed more complex behaviors to cooperate with each other. This is also the reason why dogs are so friendly and can easily cooperate with humans. Cats do not have such behaviors, because they only hunt alone and often live alone,” Haddon added.
Especially the hearing and olfactory parts of dogs are very sensitive: Dogs often lie with their ears on the ground and perceive noises from afar, so they bark to protect themselves and warn their owners. A dog’s nose is very sensitive and can smell and distinguish odors quite well.
In a recent study, it was found that the German Becgie was on the list of the most intelligent dogs in the world. They become superior, being able to detect cancer with up to 100% accuracy. Specifically, Isabelle Fromantin, Project Manager of a project called Kdog, said that with only 6 months of practice, a German Becgie couple was able to recognize which person is suffering from breast cancer.
Experts conducted experiments on 31 cancer patients. These people wrapped a bandage in the breast area with cancer, then gave it to specialists. These bandages were used as a tool to train the two dogs, to train them to distinguish the bandages of cancer patients and normal people. After 6 months, they performed the test on 31 other cancer patients. Each patient’s dressing was paired with 3 normal dressings. As a result, after only 2 tests, they were able to distinguish with 100% accuracy which bandages belonged to people with cancer. Research is currently experimental. The next step, experts will test on more patients, with many different breeds. If successful, it will be an extremely cheap, highly effective cancer test method, with no harm to health.
Talking about the intelligence of dogs, it is impossible not to mention the Phu Quoc dog (Phu Quoc Ridgeback). This is the only native dog in Phu Quoc Island, Kien Giang and is classified as one of the rarest species in the world and is very intelligent, easy to teach and loyal to its owner. The dog is gray-brown in color, with a slim belly, twisted hair on the back, gray-yellow fur with light lines running along the body. Features only 3 dog species in the world have, that is Thai Ridgeback, South African lion hound and Vietnam’s Phu Quoc dog. Up to now, there are only about 800 Phu Quoc dogs registered worldwide.
In October 2015, Catherine Lane, a 42-year-old British woman became famous. Because she is the first European to own and successfully breed Phu Quoc dogs. Lane went to Vietnam, picked 2 black Phu Quoc dogs to bring home. After a period of care, the pair gave birth to 4 puppies: 3 female, 1 male, and they were ordered for 10,000 pounds / dog (about more than 300 million VND at the exchange rate at that time).
2. Dogs are toe-walkers and have characteristic paws, five toes on their front paws and four toes on their hind legs. Sometimes there are cases where domestic dogs have five toes on their front paws, hind paws, and the fifth nail is called “hyphen claw” or “pronged dog”. The myth is said to be the remains of the big toe.
People often talk about special dogs: “Double dove crane” is a dog with two myths, usually on the hind legs or the front legs; “Four quarters of the dog” means that all four dog legs must have a myth and are ranked as “the fifth dog general”, so the human world has the phrase “a wise dog with a mysterious theme”; The “Confucian Crane” is one that has two felines on each hind leg and one on each front paw, for a total of six; The “eight dragons” are two mythical threads on each leg, a total of eight. This animal is rated “fourth dog general”. According to the world, among all kinds of myths, the best is “Eight Dragons”, followed by “Four Quarters”, then “Lix Heps” and finally “Double Sentences”. ” No matter who trades in hundreds of trades / It is not as good as raising a dog with four legs”. If you can raise this dog, the owner will grow rich very quickly.
In the spiritual culture of some ethnic groups, dogs are close and faithful animals with their owners in particular and people in general. The virtues of dogs are honored. temples, shrines. Dog worship is quite popular in many ethnic groups around the world.
Preparing to welcome the New Year of the Dog, I went through the shops selling feng shui items, and saw many different types of feng shui dog statues with different materials. In addition to the traditional stone material, the feng shui dog statues are also made from high-quality stone powder to match modern trends and beautiful designs to bring many blessings. There is a dog statue made of quartz stone, very expensive.
What does feng shui dog statue mean in life? In the opinion of the Eastern people, dogs are animals that can bring good luck, convenience and much joy, so the adage has appeared: “It is difficult for a cat to come home / A dog to come home is beautiful” . This comes from stories about dogs in the Ly Dynasty. Ly Cong Uan was born in the year of Giap Tuat (974), in his hometown had a dog that gave birth to a white child with yellow hair spots forming the word “Vuong” on his back. It was a harbinger of the year when the Dog was born, he became a king and Ly Cong Uan later ascended the Dragon throne…
In addition, in the year Ly Cong Uan moved the capital from Hoa Lu to Thang Long, there was a pregnant dog from Ba Tieu mountain, Bac Giang province, swimming across the Cai river, and then up on Nung mountain (Botanical garden, Hanoi). , gave birth to a puppy, in the year of the Dog, both dogs were petrified, this place later built the “main hall” and set up a temple to worship the mother dog and the puppy. In the following dynasties, the temple of Cuu Nhi was moved outside the Imperial Citadel, built on a mound in Truc Bach Lake.
The people created the proverb, based on the conclusions in the process of taming and raising dogs and cats and the legend of Cau Nhi to express the prosperity for a new dynasty. Moreover, in the process of raising dogs, it was discovered that dogs are very loyal to their owners, the owners of the house are full and hungry, they do not leave, protect the owner until the end, even when the owner dies, the dog still starves to guard the grave – ” love code dog”.
In contrast to dogs and cats, when they have food, they stay, when they don’t eat, they leave, ready to leave when they like – “old cats turn into foxes”. It is the cat’s departure, which represents the loss of property and is considered to be bringing bad luck and poverty.
But according to feng shui researchers: The qi field has an effect on people and animals. When alive, both humans and animals have a biofield ring, a combination of negative bioelectric particles that surrounds the body. Biowaves and bioelectric currents propagate through space. Humans and animals both have the ability to transmit and receive biological waves. Biological waves can interact with each other or interfere. Thanks to the bio-field ring and bio-electric waves that are transmitted and received, humans and animals have the so-called premonition, sympathy.
Dogs and cats are both animals with good premonitions, especially dogs that can foresee bad things happening to their owners. There are many cases, when the owner goes out, the dog feels bad and bites the hem of his pants to keep the owner, or save the owner from danger. Moreover, dogs also sense strange waves, bad waves to scare away, so the world has a saying: “anxious like a dog biting a ghost”. There is also a conflict between two sources of biological waves between humans and dogs, so there are people who pass by dogs and do not bite, but there are people who bite very hard.
In contrast, the cat’s premonition ability often reports bad news such as, seeing a dead person is a cat to come, revive the dead… The phenomenon of corpses bouncing up after being jumped by a black cat is also known as “demon”. enter the colon”. According to biologists, feng shui: Black cats are animals with very strong yang. And dead people lack yang qi. When a cat approaches a dead body, the cat’s very strong yang qi can cause the corpse to startle, thereby reacting. It is these things that make people think differently about good and bad omens in dogs and cats. And science has confirmed about the earth’s field, the radiation node… Through observation, it was found that cats like areas with bad radiation or gas fields. In contrast, the dog prefers areas with good radiation and air fields. Therefore, places where cats lie often have a bad air field, and dogs often lie down. Therefore, when a dog or cat comes to the house, it is caused by the attraction of a certain qi or radiation field that has just arisen in the area you live in.
3. All of the above factors of luck and chance are summaries and experiences of grandparents, ancestors, lineages, and historical generations passed down, with a factual basis. It is wrong not to deny those accumulated experiences, but to rely on that to expect good luck, or to worry about some vague mishap that happens and is far from reality. Both dogs and cats have been, are good friends of man. But animals are still animals: The brain of dogs has 530 million neurons, cats only have about 250 million, humans have about 16 billion. For people, only genuine labor creates wealth and every opportunity to rise, ie luck for themselves.
Science is still trying to explain the intelligence of dogs, there are very convincing explanations, there are things that are not very clear, so the study of dogs is still continuing. Who knows, there will be many new things in the next year of the Dog.