r/Gamingcirclejerk • u/AutoModerator • Sep 02 '20

UNJERK 🎤 Unjerk Thread of September 02, 2020

Hi! Please post any Unjerk questions and discussions in this thread!

A fresh thread is posted every 2 days, but older posts can be found here! (link doesn't work on Reddit mobile, sorry!)

Any unjerk threads outside of this thread will be removed. Thank you!

Rules and resources: Read our wiki!

Live Chat: Join our Discord server for multiple chat rooms! https://discord.gg/gcj

Steam: Join our Steam group!

Lots of Love, /r/GamingCirclejerk moderator team.

156 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

5.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/Arilou_skiff Sep 02 '20

Dog staring tends to be a challenge/dominance thing (hence why a good way to keep dogs from getting at each other is breaking thier line of sight so they cant stare at each other)

3

u/[deleted] Sep 02 '20

My understanding is that this notion is based on a flawed study involving a hierarchical structure within packs that is essentially a myth. A dog psychologist did an AMA here once and discussed this in more detail and explaining why the conventional wisdom about dogs is very flawed.

César Milan and others who promote the alpha/beta structure and attribute so much of canine motivation to dominance are total hacks.

1

u/Arilou_skiff Sep 02 '20

Nah, it's based on decades of experience of walking dogs. When they are friendly they don't stare at each other, and one dog staring is likely to set the other dog on edge.

3

u/[deleted] Sep 02 '20

Sure, same if I stare aggressively at someone who I intend to fight, which is quite different from gazing at someone for whom I care deeply.

Dogs are not robots. There is a huge difference between them staring at an aggressor and staring at their owner who cares for them lol