Would you be happier if you were a dog?

[Matthew Mussolini]

I mean if your owner loved you and threw the ball and took you for walks.

Dogs seem so happy to me when they are loved, going for walks, or chasing a ball or wrestling playfully.

Would you be happier as a dog perhaps?

I wouldn't want to be a dog, but they do strike me as being more happy than the average human, including myself.

Neither do they probably have thoughts of suicide or struggle with alcoholism or drug addiction.

[Audiogen]

For whatever perks there are with being elated with walks, chasing a ball, etc... their lifespan is just too short for it to be appealing.

[lode]

There was this Greek philosopher Diogenes of Sinope who suggested that dogs were living the way we should be, just following our instincts. He despised wealth and purposefully lived in the streets with no possessions, and argued that people should live without shame. I think he lived in a tub.

there are a lot of good stories about him, he was like the OG troll.

There’s a story where Alexander the Great was looking for him. He went up to Diogenes and said “ Diogenes, I am Alexander the Great. Have you heard of me?”

”Yes” says Diogenes.

”I have heard that you’re the wisest man in Greece, and I have decided to grant you and wish” Alexander tells him.

Diogenes looks up and Alexander the Great and says “Get out of my sun”.

Alexander looks surprised and leaves him be.

Supposedly as Alexander was walking away he told one of his commanders, “If I were someone else I would surely be Diogenes.”

A little bit later Diogenes said to one of his friends “If I were to be someone else, it would be Alexander”.

[Meliai]

I like this story and this Diogenes fella

[lode]

[Din Djarin]

It wasn't Turkey in Diogenes days

[Jessica]

Yes.

But I'm glad I'm not. Life isn't about happiness; that's just an enjoyable side effect.

[Irminsul]

Yeah, nah I don't want to be a dog. There's pros and cons I'm sure for being any animal. I'm quite happy with being human.

[neonspectraltoast]

Depends on whose dog. I'd rather be my girlfriend's dog than her boyfriend, though, hypothetically. I would just want to excitedly be all over her till she calmed me down, and no this isn't innuendo. And she would feed me, tell me I was good, and take me outside. *shrug*

[Din Djarin]

I likely would be, yet somehow I rather am a human.

[Tropical Breeze]

Dogs appear happier but i wouldn't want to be one. I wouldn't want to be dependent on human beings. Being told when to eat, sleep, and shit. Some "good" owners and trainers are horrible. I know some dog owners who don't want their dogs to bark. They yell at their dogs to stop barking whenever they do. Like, what the fuck. That's the way they communicate. Do they seriously want a non-barking dog? Why even get a dog? The dog will feel guilty for doing something its naturally suppose to do.

[Jessica]

Dogs appear happier but i wouldn't want to be one. I wouldn't want to be dependent on human beings. Being told when to eat, sleep, and shit. Some "good" owners and trainers are horrible. I know some dog owners who don't want their dogs to bark. They yell at their dogs to stop barking whenever they do. Like, what the fuck. That's the way they communicate. Do they seriously want a non-barking dog? Why even get a dog? The dog will feel guilty for doing something its naturally suppose to do.

Yes! And the most annoying thing is when a dog is barking and the owner keeps going "shh! Stop barking!" and it's entirely obvious that the dog isn't ignoring or disobeying, it just literally has no idea what the human means.

And when people won't let their dogs sniff on a walk, and drag them onwards. Exactly. Why get a dog. In those cases, I call it wanting an emotional slave. Someone to "always be excited to see them" and that kind of selfish desire.

[Meliai]

I've always felt a little sorry for dogs. The fawning, the following around and being dependent on your owner's every whim. I guess as far as domestic animals go I relate much more to the independence of cats.
love me, pet me, feed me, then leave me the fuck alone. That's how to do it. Meow meow

But I would most want to be a bird ? ?

[6-eyed]

Only time I tell my dog to shush his barking is when I’m on the phone. Most of the time he barks at non-threats. Thankfully he has a beautiful sounding bark; my neighbors even say so. Therefore I rarely tell him to shut up.

I’ll pull my dog away from sniffing disgusting things on walks, such as other dog’s excrement or dead animals. Other than that, he’s free to sniff around.

As much fun my dog has from chasing delivery vans along the fence line, squeaking his toys as he runs and tosses them in the air, and going on new adventures, I’m still happier being human.

[Din Djarin]

Commanding your dog to stop barking being bad/not cool for the dog all depends on the details. Most of the time we project our human feelings and thinking onto the dog, like when it has to be on a leash etc. or being told rigidly what to do, but when done for proper reasons and done in a consistent way a dog actually thrives on rigid commands.

I would be most offended as a dog if I was pooping in a public place and my owner would carefully remove it. WTH, for dogs its not just excrement you know!? Now other dogs regard me as a pussy for not properly marking my territory..

[Jessica]

I’ll pull my dog away from sniffing disgusting things on walks, such as other dog’s excrement or dead animals. Other than that, he’s free to sniff around.

But that's the point, to a dog those things aren't so disgusting. Being a dog means wanting to sniff those things. I don't see why a human should think they have the right to stop them engaging in normal dog behaviour.

[lode]

But that's the point, to a dog those things aren't so disgusting. Being a dog means wanting to sniff those things. I don't see why a human should think they have the right to stop them engaging in normal dog behaviour.

I had this thought before too. We're here telling dogs that butts or whatever smell bad.

But their sense of smell is millions of times better than what mine is. What if peoples butts fantastic, but my poor human senses can't even comprehend it. Like me walking up to picasso and saying I could draw a more realistic face.

[Din Djarin]

But that's the point, to a dog those things aren't so disgusting. Being a dog means wanting to sniff those things. I don't see why a human should think they have the right to stop them engaging in normal dog behaviour.

Being a dog also means chewing on those things if you let them, and then they wanna lick your face afterwards

[Din Djarin]

Somehow this reads back as a VG post...

[Jessica]

lol! Kinda does, yeah.

See? I told you we're all more similar than we pretend ;-)

[Din Djarin]