An autistic quality in dogs?

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My theory is that when dogs lay around in places that make them trip hazards it's because their visual perspective is different than ours and they don't see themselves as obstacles. This might be giving dogs more credit than they deserve in that sense or me thinking about it too much but oh well.

My dog has the same annoying habit of laying in the wrong places and making me have to step over her IF I see her.
When standing her eyes are only about 24" above floor level and mine are about 64" above floor level. She would not miss seeing an obstacle her size lying on the floor because she'd be looking almost directly at it whereas I'd be looking over it if I'm looking straight ahead.

They aren't actually based in any of the senses: both of those examples that you gave are translations.

Hey, i have that kind of dog too! As a matter of fact, i have 2 dogs (see my avatar): one female (Dolly) and one male (Riser). Dolly has the 'gift' of always standing in your way. And i mean always all the time everywhere! I don't know how she does it, but it's just astonishing how she always seem to go in the direction you just want to go. It's hilarious sometimes! Than, my other dog, Riser, omg he is just really one of a kind. He is our autistic dog, seriously! I recognize a lot of him in me. He is very highsensitive, can't handle a lot of 'razzle-dazzle', and is very sensitive to changes (if you deviate a little bit of the structure, he can be a pain-in-the-ass sometimes. And when i change something in the settings of our furniture, he's like: what the f*ck happend here??). I'm telling ya, this dog needs structure and routine! He also has difficulties with touching. He's now 5 and it's getting better now, but in the beginning, when he was a little puppy, he just didn't want the physical attention at all. He still doesn't make eyecontact that much and that naturally as my other dog, he always seems to be more 'in his head'. He's a real dreamer, and very on his own and eccentric. If you yell at him, you just see him go 'out of his body' as it were. His body is there, but his spirit's somewhere else. He's an observer. Every little detail doesn't go by on him. Sometimes, he can go outside for hours, just sitting in the yard, looking up in the sky, even if it rains. Doesn't bother him. Many times i wonder what he is doing. Maybe he's philosophizing

I think there are a lot of properties to dogs that is related to autism to be honest. For instance, dogs are smart and loveble and honest. You just get what you see, nothing more, nothing less. They are dependable at what you say. If you don't give a command, than they don't follow. You really have to be clear of what you mean. Also they can have a great memory, which is both an advantage and a disadvantage sometimes i guess. They learn through associating, and don't struggle with a lot of emotions like a lot of humans do in certain situations. They are creatures of structure and routine. Changes in things got to be taught, one at the time. They like things to be predictable. They can be very focused on details, and most dogs are very perceptive.

I think that there's a reason why autistic persons and dogs get a long so well. If i look to myself, i sometimes can empathize more in my dogs than in other people. They're just much better to understand in my opinion, because they are not that complicated as people sometimes are. And it seems to go the other way around too! Just love to be a doglover!

Your Riser sounds a lot like my Viggo, Dutchy

Check out Temple Grandin's book Thinking in Pictures.

Anyway, to the OP - theory of mind is a rare ability among animals. There is some evidence for ToM in primates and in spotted hyenas, but other than that, most animals do not have this ability. Dogs are pretty good at lower-level social skills such as following eye gaze, but they can't do a lot of the higher-level cognitive processing needed for ToM. It's not so much like an autistic person, more like an NT toddler. They can't do ToM because they can't do a lot of the required cognitive prerequisites, such as thinking about thinking. Indeed, some dogs even lack object permanence (although this depends on breed).

No, you don't. Things can stay exactly as they are -- sight, sound, smell, sensation, taste, spatial relationships, concrete/direct perception of speed and movement.

For me, the translation of real things (things that have sights, sounds, smells, sensations, tastes and spatial properties) into symbols is an unnatural and extraneous process and makes normal (sensory-based) thinking harder rather than facilitating it.

Just because you yourself can't imagine something (thinking without symbols) doesn't mean that it doesn't exist/happen.



I concur.

Dog is trying to kill you and make it look like an accident.

I know of few people who would up in the ER because the dog did something to either knock them over or trip them...then it acted like it did nothing wrong.

Aaahw how sweet! What kind of breed is your Viggo? Riser is an Stabyhoun (dutch breed of huntingdog). So is my other dog too. Just 2 individuals of the same breed, bot totally different in character. Me i like

I have noticed that I feel more familiar, i suppose, more able to read the body language of wild animals than I am able to read other humans. Perhaps it is that animals tend not to obfuscate with intentionally false body language in the way people often do. Or maybe it's just that they are more basic about it, more direct.

you do not need simbols to think. if you are thinking about things then it is not just living in the moment.

Viggo was a collie. And he was particular about food, wasn't thrilled about being touched, was very sound sensitive, always observing his surroundings unless he was following a trail, in which case he saw nothing. Whenever someone in the family was acting outside of the way they usually did, he'd get uneasy and pace back and forth. He'd also get confused at times when changes were done inside. He'd stumble over things that wasn't usually there and look for things that were gone or moved. He was a cat when it came to taking baths. He hated it and acted like it was just about the worst thing we could do to him. He also disliked being brushed, so we often did that outdoors so his mind was busy observing his surroundings; he didn't mind it so much then.
Dogs are awesome!

There used to be another collie living nearby, and Viggo and Sacco were so alike in behavior! When they were together they'd react exactly the same way to stimuli. There were other collies here too but they didn't have the same twin like behavior as Viggo and Sacco did.

How cute! Sounds like a dog to love him very much! I'm fascinated by the fact that an animal can have such a unique character and be an individual. Some animals will for ever hold a spot inside your heart. Very extraordinary.

Indeed! Some pets are so special, so much individuals, while some others just tend to 'be there', if you know what I mean.There are 4 pets in particular (out of 16) who forever have a special place in my heart. Viggo is one of them.