One of the benefit of living where it hoodwink , or taking a misstep to C with your dog , is observe a elated dog frolic in it . But why does snow elicit such a response ? Well , Scientific American has taken the time to necessitate a clump of experts that question .
Image : Mischling Jack by Maja Dumat / flickr / C.C. By 2.0
you could understand all the response atScientific American , where the answers note the effects of cold conditions , dog ’s shape meaning that they can have merriment without feel as cold as we do , and the social part of croak out and playing by and large , but one running base is a fascination with the refreshing nature of snow . FromJohn Bradshaw , PhD , jaw Fellow , University of Bristol :
I surmise that part of the answer lies in how quickly dogs habituate to objective that they play with . Snow exchange the sensory characteristics of everything it touches — optical appearance , evidently , but also , and perhaps more importantly , scent . Thus snow has the potential to reincarnate a click ’s involvement in its ( over- ? ) conversant surroundings , and switch on explorative behavior .
And fromAlexandra Horowitz , PhD , Barnard College , Department of Psychology :
My dog both do find the snow to be the bee ’s human knee , as have all my click — at least until the icy patches form between their toes . The question of ‘ why ’ is a mo imponderable , but if I must ponder I ’d say that here , dogs might be more like us than we ’d anticipate : there is a pleasure in a changed landscape , a topography re - shaped by fallen coke . Dogs like the ‘ new ’ , of course , and what could be more new than their entire earthly concern cover with this frosty cover . Smell is switch , too , and we can for a moment see some of the otherwise invisible markings ( like runway or urine ) which are so piquant for dogs .
More than anything , I suspect that the very sensation of snow on the body is engaging for hound . Have you ever escape through the shallow waving of the ocean ? Why does kicking up sand and seawater make us happy ? I ca n’t say . But it is clear that it does .
Stephen Zawistowski , Ph.D. , Certified Applied Animal Behaviorist :
Dogs like C because it is nerveless and different . When we do enrichment for dogs , we cater single item to increase variety in their environment . Kongs with peanut butter and kibble in paper bags provide a change from the everyday . Snow changes everything : what a dog attend , smells , hears and feels as it run / swimming through the C. P. Snow . Knee - deep snow is up to a bounder ’s chin . When I watch domestic dog tend and playact in snowfall , it reminds me of nestling in a ball fossa , diving in and tunnel and having a blast .
And grounds that click who do always see snow are n’t as felicitous , fromPaul McGreevy , BVSc , PhD , MRCVS , The University of Sydney , Faculty of Veterinary Science :
mollify sled dogs rarely show the exuberance for unused snow typical of novitiate thespian . This suggest that the value of bauble is decisive . Just as they do for the frump call in the beach for the first time , the joys of opportunity and exploration abound for the virgin snow domestic dog .
understand the rest of the theories atScientific American .
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