Hide and Seek in the Sun

Here in the Northeast, the sun has been hiding behind clouds and rain for weeks now. In honor of the one sunny day in weeks (this past Saturday), and to help us remember that warm summer feeling, here’s DJ covered in a towel—my own version of Dog Hide and Seek. While initially executed for my amusement (ie, How to make a large-ish dog disappear? Cover him in a beach towel! Where’d he go?!)  but DJ joined right in, seemingly delighted when I lifted the towel up to reveal him, I think because he sensed it was a game, and my intention was fun. 

Researchers have found that dolphins studied off the coast of Honduras, “seem to deliberately make their games more difficult, possibly in order to learn from them”; and also noted that adult dolphins modulated their game when playing with young dophins, so younger animals could fully participate and progressively improve. Dolphins in captivity have been observed to have created 317 different forms of play.  Researchers surmise that “play facilitates the development and maintenance of flexible problem solving skills. If this is true, play may have evolved to enhance the ability to adapt to novel situations.” And that, “Although dolphins of all ages participated in games, most of the newly invented ones came from the youngsters themselves, the group wrote, providing evidence for a contribution of games to dolphin “culture.””

(For more, check out: www.world-science.net/exclusives/051107_dolphinfrm.htm. If you want to see it for yourself but can’t get out to Discovery Cove to swim with dolphins before lunch (www.discoverycove.com), check out: www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMCf7SNUb-Q.

In a human-centered world, it’s easy to assume that because we invented the Mac, tetherball, and proms, that the ascendency of our species is guaranteed and we have the 411 on how to play. But dog (and cat) lovers everywhere already know better: what we know and sense is just the tip of the animal iceberg. Creatures across the world have fundamental survival needs, and one of them is to play, discover, explore in order to understand, grow, and make a day feel good. Ask your dog. Mine agrees and would roll his eyes at our obvious science and wonder why I’m not playing tug of war instead.