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| "Momma, I understand our relationship is unique and beautiful. But... really?" |
The article mentioned a recent paper out of George Regents University that studied the hypothetical situation of a bus hurtling towards both a dog and a human. They asked 500 people who they'd save - and varied exactly whom was in front of the bus.
In the first scenario, everyone opted to save a sbling, grandparent or close friend over a stange dog.
But... when asked to choose between a distant cousin or a stranger versus your own dog, people started voting in favor of the dog. And in the biggest swing in Fido's favor, 40% (and 46% of women) said they'd save their dog over a foreign tourist. As the WSJ noted, "This makes Parisians' treatment of American tourists lood good in comparison."
What if the tables were turned... would your dog save you? Would your cat save you?
For today's Mirth Watch, we have two videos. First, is a Lab "saving" his "drowning" person:
I love the first comment** which (if you can get past the bad English) says to picture your cat sitting there licking itself while you drown. (And goes on to say that your last words will be - and I paraphrase - "f you Mr. Whiskers.")
Now, I give you Rita and her reaction to Daddy swimming. (This was when we went to The DogSpa Resort in Desert Hot Springs. Dogs are allowed in the mineral-water pool, but she was having none of it.)
I think she's very concerned about Daddy here. But does she jump in and save him? No, she just yells at him to get out of the pool, and licks his hand, I'm assuming, in supplication to "PLEASE EXIT THE POOL NOW, DADDY."
So, maybe only certain dogs would save you. But no cat would.
What about you? Would you save your own dog over a distant cousin? If you ask the follow-up question, "How distant?", I think we have our answer.
** I didn't read beyond the first comment, because reading comments on YouTube and news sites scares me and makes me worry about the future of humanity...
Of course that Lab in the first video was trained to do that and they are a water dog by nature. My guys would get in the water, but it wouldn't be to save me, just to have their own fun!
ReplyDeleteWe agree we'd be in the water just for our own fun. Have a tremendous Thursday.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes Molly
The 2 videos made us SMILE and reminded us of our HI beach adventures. I (Sugar) tried to save surfers when they loose their surfboards. It became so dangerous (my mom's opinion) that I was banned from that beach. I Golden LOVE to swim and will definitely save anyone. Golden Thanks for sharing. Lots of Golden Woofs, Sugar
ReplyDeleteSugar, you're so sweet! Of course you would try to save everyone!
DeleteWhen my hubby wants to demonstrate to people what a crazy, dog-loving woman I am, he tells this story from our early dating life: We were watching news of a local wildfire, and he asked me -- if he and Cassy, my beagle, were both in a burning car, who would I save first? My response was a question: "Which one of you has hands and can open the door himself?" Jon always follows the story up by advising, never ask a question you don't want to hear the answer to.
ReplyDeleteGotta say, I agree with this. A human can get himself out of the way. A pooch perhaps not so much.
DeleteThis question makes mom think when she watches video of natural disasters. She feels bad for the humans but it is the pictures of the dogs and cats that make her cry. As far as us Pugs, hmmmm we might be like Rita running back and forth but I don't think we would be jumping in and saving anybody!
ReplyDeletehugs
Bailey, Hazel & Greta
Not going to touch THAT question with a 10-foot pole! LOL! I can tell you that if I were drowning, Wrigs would let me drown. He doesn't like water. After I'd gone under for the last time, he'd be looking around and wondering, "Who's going to bake my treats and prepare my meals now?" :-)
ReplyDeleteSusan and Wrigs
Too funny.
DeleteIf we fell in the pool someone would have to save us and our mom!
ReplyDeletestella rose
I am in the same camp as Life with Wrigs human Susan - Blueberry would watch me drown and probably wonder the same thing. Lol
ReplyDeleteSeriously - I have two hands, two arms - I'd probably try to save both. I guess it really depends on the situation - none of us knows for sure what we'd do until the actual scenario plays out in real life.
Wow, but yeah, I think it would be my instinct to save my dog over someone I barely knew.
ReplyDeleteKobi would let me drown, because he won't even go in the water to get a treat. Sheba or Cricket might save me though, they both love the water. It might help if I was holding a ball though.
When we had our lab mix, Maggie, we used to swim in the river at our campground. One time she jumped in almost right on top of me, and almost drowned me!! Of course, she was just playing, and didn't realize, but still. :)
Loved the video of the Lab...how cute! (And well trained.) Hey, at least Rita was concerned. I think my Leah would be concerned like that too, but my other two would care less if I was drowning.
ReplyDeleteWell, Toby might care if I was holding a dog treat.
I hate when people pose these hypotheticals. Of course, I never know how I'd behave in a certain situation, but I really do think (know) I'd save my dogs over distant relative, and certainly over strangers. It's nothing personal against the individual, but I really cherish my dogs and the relationship I have with them. I can't say the same for distant family or strangers. I hope this doesn't make me a bad person...actually, I don't really care :)
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure in dog-blogging circles you'll find most of us answer the same! I would definitely save my dog over a stranger too!
DeleteI was talking about this study with some friends this morning. We all confessed we would save our dogs before a stranger, but would not tell this to a researcher we didn't know.
ReplyDeleteMy dogs think I am a goddess, above needing help for anything.
Perfect answer. Which makes me think that the 46% of women reported in the study is actually more like 86%!
DeleteThat is a tough question that Mom has pondered many times, especially when there are kids around. She would probably save us over stranger's kids but it is just so hard. We are so bonded Mom and us, us and Mom. Let's just hope the situation never happens! Mom feels a bit guilty about choosing us over a human but it is how she feels.
ReplyDeleteYes, lets hope none of us ever has to find out!
DeleteI vote for saving the dog. when i would go swimming if i went underwater my chessie brooke would start to wine swim over by me and grab my arm and swim to shore.
ReplyDeleteI'm really not sure in what situation you couldn't save both. How hard is it to open the door to the driver's side and recall your dog out the door while rescuing the driver?
ReplyDeleteIf dog and child are both plunged into a lake and one can swim...rescue the able swimmer last. If they both can't swim, surely you can fling something floating out there for one to cling to and then grab the other?
There's never going to be a sadistic situation where a gunman has a stranger and your dog and will shoot who ever you decide not to save.
I would definitely save any one of my dogs over a stranger or a cousin! Would they save me? Given the water ... I don't know if Jeffie would, though he'd be going crazy on the sidelines. Rudy and Rosie, I think, would try to save me. I base this on the fact that all I have to do is heave an unhappy sigh and all three dogs surround me trying to "fix" things for me :-)
ReplyDeleteLove that video of Rita!
I love the video of Rita! She sounds so serious, lol. She's really trying to tell your hubs the what's what about that pool. More videos of Rita, please!
ReplyDeleteMy two hate water... they think taking a bath is torture, so it's unlikely they'd attempt saving me. They'd whine and bark and worry, but that's as far as their saving efforts would go.
As far as saving my dogs over people? I'd save my dogs over just about capable, able-bodied adult. What? Did I just type that out loud? My elderly mother gets a pass... of course I'd save her.
P.S. Dear Andrea... stop being so serious and logical... it's all just in fun.
OMD - my cat would walk away. And the dogs would save me. The duck - Lord only knows what that dang duck would do. He'd probably take advantage of the top of my head, then paddle off to smoke a cigarette.
ReplyDeleteHey! Hey hey hey hey hey! Is your book out yet? Imma pop over to Amazon and check for the Kindle version ...
Heh. I ordered my copy. It should be here Friday. If I send it to you after I read it, with some dog treats, will you sign it and send it back? I'm not above a little bribery.
ReplyDeleteI would save my dog over my hubby. :-D
ReplyDeleteAs for Rita? I think she thought Daddy was playing, her tail was just a wagging away!! LOL