Does naming your pets bring them self-awareness?

When you call your pet by their name, they recognize it is them being called and not another animal around them. Having a name actually differentiates them from others and makes them an individual.

Is it possible we are actually helping our pets evolve faster and developing their consciousness and their self-awareness by naming them and treating them as an individual?

Would they think of themselves less as an individual if they never had a name?

Of course, we are not advanced enough to even know what our own consciousness is, so talking about the consciousness in pets is nothing more than a thought experiment, but to me an interesting one. Are we contributing to self awareness of another species?

I'm not sure pets are all that self-aware. It's not like they wake up in the morning or after one of their many naps and think to themselves, "Well, I'm a pet cat, so I guess I should plan my day out to search the house, see if there are any mice, and then I think I'll go get a nibble at the food bowl. Busy, busy. Being a cat is great."

If we call our cats by their name, they don't pay attention unless we have something they want from us. They are fully aware way before we name an animal. Man named them cats long ago, according to the bible, anything man names has consciousness. That includes the potato plants and cucumbers in my garden.

a reply to: Oraculi

I think all animals are self-aware, its just that in most cases, that self-awareness has to compete with instinct to shine through. In the case of pets, the more you treat them as family, the more you disarm their natural instinct, which allows self-awareness to rise to the surface. That's just my opinion off the top of my head.

I can call my cats by name... and they come... maybe not all of them, but my favorites. Skunk, Dum Dum and Lefty...Rowdy will come if he wants to.
I could talk for hours about my cats

pets all have names for us.
im assuming dogs, name us on our smell.

i hope i do not smell like body odor to the dog!

but like my cat, he for sure has a snide remark name for me. like 'sucka' in cat language.

my cat is awesome, but he thinks he is boss. he bites my toes when i walk into the bathroom as a joke.

but my cat has helped me corner THREE mice that got in when they were doing construction on my building. then i scooped the mouse up in a cup, and brought him outside told him to scram.

so that proved, i gotta always have a cat. cause he senses the mouse as soon as they get in. like instantly. its crazy how great a mouser he is.

the building workers left the front door open for 6 weeks straight over the summer a few years back. sure enough, mice snuck in thru the front door, which makes no sense, cause its a hallway. but then i see them leaving the door open, and that was the culprit.

a reply to: Oraculi

In my experience, our doggos respond to the inflection of the sound rather than the name itself. Our specific voice timbre and tambre also seem to be relevant.

Ive worked with a lot of dogs..

Try saying literally anything in the same way as their name, especially with the same amount of syllables, and the response is generally going to be the same.

I sure hope my dog doesnt become self aware because of the things I call him.. Parents have literally given their kids the earmuff treatment.

That said, my old dog (miss you..) would primp and preen herself in front of mirrors, even going so far as to check out different angles. She managed to hide this from me for what I assume to be years, until I became curious about how she was spending her time. She definitely, without question, was not mimicking me and there was never anyone else.

Really though.. I feel like "self-aware," "consciousness," etc. may be anthropomorphic terms themselves that may not accurately apply outside our species, even if there might be similar underlying concepts. Its tricky..

a reply to: Oraculi

This is a very interesting topic. I've researched this and have spent a lot of time writing about it.

All my dogs and cats I have gone out of my way to relate their names to them, much in the same way you would someone of a different culture (or perhaps an alien) by pointing to my self, "daddy" and then to them with their name. I also teach them their body parts, paws, toes, nose, tummy, butt, ears and both left and right, up and down, in and out, etc., really just basic communications with another entity.

I've always figured if we do this with other hominids like monkeys and apes, creatures like dolphins, why not with the animals we choose to spend our lives with.

Unsurprisingly, it does make a difference in both the relationship as will as how the animal perceives the world around it. One of my current cats even picks up treats with his toes AND uses his left paw to point things out to me like toys, his food, and the like.

So, I have to answer, yes it does seem to bring additional self-awareness to them.

Most pets I know respond equally well to whatever name you call them. My friend with all the cats often chides me for trying to "confuse" her kitties by calling them a different name almost all the time. I think they instinctively respond to being looked at and another creature paying attention to them, like any animal. But pets have learned to differentiate between good attention and bad.

Is that self-awareness? Are they able to imagine themselves from an external point of view to see their place in their world? I don't know. Could be anthropomorphic projection.

originally posted by: dantanna
pets all have names for us.
im assuming dogs, name us on our smell.

i hope i do not smell like body odor to the dog!

I've always wondered this too! Do they have a name for me?

Am I "The Food Bringer"?

"The One That Brings the Sun Indoors"?

Or just "Dad"?

a reply to: Oraculi

If you have a cat you know they are already self aware.
They spend their entire lives reminding you of just how important they are.

Who else gets attention from just one word? meow...

a reply to: Oraculi

My great aunt had a cat named come-here She would stand on her front porch and hollar come here come here come here and that cat would come a running.
Had an uncle with a begal named damtit, he would call the dog damit come here and that dog would come a running. Now my dog is named trixie and she will come for that or for her nick name term of endearment stinker butt. So what is in a name is it an object or a sir name, I dont think they mind at all what we call them as long as they know that they are loved.

a reply to: Oraculi

I dont know if I have a name in her mind but I am told my cat sometimes meows for me when I am not home.
What she does know is I am the one who will play with her if she drops a toy at my feet.

a reply to: Oraculi

Pavlov comes to mind...I think it's just conditioning but isn't self awareness kind of like the same. The illusion of free will and all...

Peace

a reply to: Oraculi

I think most pets naturally respond to calls due to connecting the sounds with pleasant experiences, food, attention, play, etc.

Our cat just had a litter of 4 kittens a month ago. Each kitten has their own unique characteristics similiar to personalities. So, I would say that they are already naturally self-aware as an individual. They are already working out how they individually fit into the collective. Not just in their feline world but within the bigger world of our household and family members.

Even I as a human will take notice of someone simply calling out a familiar phrasing to determine if it is meant for me. Aka: hey Miss, mom, grandma, etc. It is natural instincts based on experience but even humans have their own unique personalities.

a reply to: Oraculi
Accoding to T.S. Eliot ("The naming of cats"), the names we give them are much less important than the names they've got already;
"But above and beyond, there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover-
But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same;
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name;
His ineffable effable,
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name."

originally posted by: CynConcepts
a reply to: Oraculi

I think most pets naturally respond to calls due to connecting the sounds with pleasant experiences, food, attention, play, etc.

Our cat just had a litter of 4 kittens a month ago. Each kitten has their own unique characteristics similiar to personalities. So, I would say that they are already naturally self-aware as an individual. They are already working out how they individually fit into the collective. Not just in their feline world but within the bigger world of our household and family members.

Even I as a human will take notice of someone simply calling out a familiar phrasing to determine if it is meant for me. Aka: hey Miss, mom, grandma, etc. It is natural instincts based on experience but even humans have their own unique personalities.

Very true. But when I call one of my dogs from another room , and ONLY that dog comes to me, I have to wonder about that point in time when that dog went:

"Oh, that's me!" and then came to me, while the others stayed put.

That individual "Me" is what I'm wondering about, and if it would even exist without the name in the first place.

a reply to: Oraculi

Give different auditory ques to different dogs everytime you give them a doggy biscuit....will dog nr.1 drool on the que of dog nr.2's biscuit?

Peace

originally posted by: Oraculi
When you call your pet by their name, they recognize it is them being called and not another animal around them. Having a name actually differentiates them from others and makes them an individual.

Is it possible we are actually helping our pets evolve faster and developing their consciousness and their self-awareness by naming them and treating them as an individual?

Would they think of themselves less as an individual if they never had a name?

Of course, we are not advanced enough to even know what our own consciousness is, so talking about the consciousness in pets is nothing more than a thought experiment, but to me an interesting one. Are we contributing to self awareness of another species?

Not only is it we are helping pets awareness evolve but Australia has just yesterday passed new laws declaring pets a Sentience being.

Definition of sentience - The capacity to feel, percieve or experience subjectivily.

So in Australia from now on apparently if you do not excersise by way of walking your dog daily and keep it locked up in the backyard you will be fined $4000 and charged with cruelty to a being.

Fascinating stuff and spot on in my opinion.

Nothing is more loyal than a dog generally speaking. Nothing.

So yes at the very least naming your pet triggers this awareness i believe.

a reply to: billxam

Very cool. I do the same. I also experiment with pointing at things.

Only one of my dogs recognizes this concept and will go in the direction I point. When I point to something immediately on the ground in front of me it's a bit easier for the others, but that's different.