Are Dogs Religious?

I think this dog may be expressing some skepticism on this topic, or at least the wisdom of discussing it.

First, the disclaimer: this isn't intended to be a post that's dismissive of religious belief at all.  I actually think that humans crave the answers to questions, and are genetically programmed to ask more and more and more of them. I don't have the answers to a lot of those questions, so if someone else believes they DO have those answers, who am I to question?

I don't think other animals are this way, generally, where something gets into their minds and they just HAVE to know about it. On the other hand, I do believe that animals think, they make connections between actions and results. They don't contemplate and are not very self aware, but they do apply brain power of some sort to the basic challenges of being alive, like getting enough food to stay that way.

Anyway, this line of thought started with my recent mild infatuation with tidying. That would never have come up if I was working, and didn't have time to think about anything much. That in turn got me thinking about animals that for some reason no longer have to spend their every waking moment hunting and gathering...like pets...or animals in zoos.

What's all the brainpower that those animals used to need for full time hunting and gathering (or avoiding being hunted and gathered) now being used for? I wonder if zoo animals ever think about where the food that appears in their cages comes from, or what makes it show up, or why it's better some days than others? They used to think about the conditions under which prey would be vulnerable, and how to catch it, or how to avoid being caught, so they have awareness of their environment and of course they care about getting food.

Ever see wolves in zoos, some other predators, ceaselessly repeating the same set of movements all day long? You know, trot along the fence to the corner, turn to the right to keep along the fence, get to the next corner, jump to the left and reverse direction, follow the fence back....you can see the grass all worn away along the fence from pacing. I always assumed they were gone mad, obsessively seeking a way out that countless attempts showed wasn't there.

Maybe what's really going on is one day early on they were checking out the fence when the keeper brought food. The same thing happened the next day, and some dim wolfy awareness of a connection between the keeper showing up with food and checking out the fence started to grow...a "belief" that if they pace, and maybe pace ju-u-u-st right, the guy will show up with food. Maybe if they never turn to the right when they reverse direction, the food will be tasty, not half vegetables. Maybe when it IS half vegetables, the wolf starts wondering whether it missed a turn back there somewhere.

Some dogs just comfortably assume the love of those that bring their food.

What about dogs, our title subjects? They're pack animals and dedicated to us as alpha pack members, but what do they think of our ability to produce food? If we miss a day or give them food they really dislike, or yell at them for no real reason, do they assume it's their fault, and start thinking about what they did wrong? They do a million tricks for food, is that their religion? - "I don't know how or when he catches the food, but I know he keeps it coming if I do this when he does that, and if I do it just perfect sometimes it's the really tasty kind of food".

Check out Cash, in the back:  "Have I somehow offended The Bringer of All Things? I must hang back, and abase myself completely."

I get that this may just be semantic somersaults around a specific definition of the word "religion", but given that humans are often passionate believers in things there's no definite proof of, I thought it was fun to wonder if animals also feel passionately about things they can't understand or "prove".

It's hard to look at that face and not think it's expressing gratitude for the comfy new bed he's in.  Okay, hard for me.  Caesar, wherever he is, might know Boo is considering an all-out lethal attack at this moment.

Cash in a rare moment of apparent confidence in his human benefactors.

One final, completely unrelated remark: The Weather Network says it's overcast in North Vancouver this morning.  I just took the picture below from the yard. If this is overcast I can't wait to see what "really bad weather" looks like....

Just look at all those looming thunderheads...