How Do You React When a Dog Licks You?

Heh, well i started off with a jocular statement. Anyway, let's start with a few facts, While selectively bred, many breeds of dog can function perfectly well independently and in the wild, (The Huskies, German shepards, Setters, Labs etc.) in the wild..
The spanish army has a minimum IQ for recruitment, i think it's about 70. The only reason the German shepard can't join is because their iqs tend to fall around 60. Higher then a few million americans. (and a few hundred thousand Brits.)
This makes them about as intelligent as a 5 or 6 year old child. (Of course, they lack speech centres, and their brain's more focussed on hunting, then maths.)
My remarck about kicking children was (as with much of the rest of my comment) jocular, related to my personal dislike of children, and habit of being kicked when i was one.
But, where was i? Dogs are self aware, intelligent organisms that form social structures and bonds familial romantic etc. they exhibit emotion, problem solving, immense learning capacity. They perform tasks, Guide dogs, drug and hunting hounds. A dog is to a fly, as a fly is to an amoeba.
On that note, they're no more mutated then you are. They've evolved. Genetic and physical changes across generations to accomodate selection pressures. (Even if some of these selection pressures are determined by humans, and not all natural)
The same happened in humans, the more desirable physiological traits have become more prevalent, (Note reduced body hair, comparative facial structures by region/nation, to the increased size of breats and penises in humans compared to other species.) And of course, the natnural ones, like the dark skins and large foreheads of africans to accomodate the heat, the doubled blood vessel density of the Nepali sherpas to compensate for low oxygen levels.
Are all humans genetic mutations worthy only of your hatred and unjust violent retribution?

check this link, 22 minutes in: http://www.youtube.com/watch?...
and this one for many redeeming qualities including their capacity for physical variation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Quote from the article "Fruit Flies – Small and Intelligent": “These little fruit flies, the same that hover around the brown bananas in your fruit bowl, are making complex decisions about how much alcohol to consume based on whether or not they have internal parasites,” Schlenke concluded.” ~ http://kristinasaid.wordpress...

Your decision as to the "value" of life is flawed and bias. You argue that dogs are more intelligent therefore more worthy of living than a fly. However, you based your argument on the anthropomorphic characteristics of the species. How do you judge intelligence? How do you justify hunting? So all hunted animals are not as worthy of life as a dog? Here is Wisconsin wolves are now able to be hunted because they annoy farmers and people living in their hunting range. So wolves are not as valued as domesticated dogs? How is it, that one can justify the killing of wolves that are being a nuisance but not the unleashed, nuisance dog crapping in your front yard?

It is an abomination when different species live together. You don't see birds living in the same homes as squirrels or deer living with racoons, There was a time when dogs were subjugated to living in a dog house in the backyard, now they live inside the home and are considered equal if not more valued than people. It is absolutely sickening to hear someone say, "Rover is part of the family. He is like one of our children." People will waste huge amounts of time and money on dogs, when that time and money could be spent relieving the suffering of people. I have no problem with work dogs, living outside. I have a huge problem with dogs living inside the home with people and being considered of equal or greater value than humans.

Every one of your examples are symbiotic relationships, they use each other for their own survive. There is no symbiotic relationship between dogs and humans. Most domesticated dogs used as pets are genetically engineered by humans for no relevant purpose.

What relevant purpose does a maltese serve?


If you are thinking companionship and emotional bonding, wouldn't the energy wasted on companionship and emotional bonding be better spent on companionship and bonding with humans? Why does the dog owner place a higher value on the time and money spend with their dog than on other humans who are in desperate need of that same time, money and emotional bonding? Why does the dog owner think that their pet dog is more important and more deserving of those resources (time, money, etc) than humans like the elderly, the homeless or orphaned children?

You waste your time, money and energy on this:


When it should be spent on this:

and this

and this