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submitted 6 months ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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[-] aFaustianBargain@lemmy.world 176 points 6 months ago

The article itself is over a decade old and based on questionable data gathering and a faulty analysis processes. If you read the article they published they essentially didn't find anything, determined without providing evidence that other factors couldn't be a determining factor, and then data-dredging when they could find anything statistically significant to match their hypothesis.

SkeptVet article explaining the findings in detail.

Basically it was just shitty science.

[-] Johanno@feddit.de 7 points 6 months ago

I mean my dog could be an exception but she shits always in the direction we walk. No exceptions.

[-] Ultraviolet@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago

I guess you could say the study was dogshit.

[-] MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz 86 points 6 months ago

Studies like this have me confused.

How do we know they use the magnetic field, and don't just like... Look at the sun, or the shadows it casts.

[-] AnyOldName3@lemmy.world 44 points 6 months ago

You can put magnets near dogs.

[-] Tier1BuildABear@lemmy.world 29 points 6 months ago

There's also this thing called "indoors"

[-] BassTurd@lemmy.world 14 points 6 months ago

The text in the picture literally explains it's in a free roaming environment not influenced by walls or doors.

[-] Tier1BuildABear@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

Walls and doors don't stop existing when you walk outside lol, big buildings exist

[-] Zorque@kbin.social 2 points 6 months ago

And "clouds"

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[-] mobius_slip@beehaw.org 6 points 6 months ago

Presumably, they'd do the same thing at night.

But in that case, we'd need to be sure that they aren't using the North Star.

[-] gmtom@lemmy.world 6 points 6 months ago

Dogs still poop when they're inside

[-] agent_flounder@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

Dogs can poop at night...

[-] ignotum@lemmy.world 62 points 6 months ago

"what do you do for work?"
"I watch dogs poop"

[-] KISSmyOSFeddit@lemmy.world 11 points 6 months ago

Still more useful than most office jobs.

[-] agent_flounder@lemmy.world 13 points 6 months ago

And less shit to deal with.

[-] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 51 points 6 months ago

So when you're lost, just find a pooping dog to know where the North is. Or the south.

Wait this is useless.

[-] threelonmusketeers@sh.itjust.works 12 points 6 months ago

If you're not in a hurry (and you know which hemisphere you're in) you can make a sun compass to figure out whether the dog pooped north or south. Come to think of it, you can make a sun compass observing a pooping dog first.

[-] anothercatgirl 42 points 6 months ago

I blame the sun. Dogs poop in the morning and evening when owners are not at work. The sun shines from the east and from the west during these hours. And I think they don't like facing the sun.

[-] tabarnaski@sh.itjust.works 16 points 6 months ago

My favorite explanation. Occam's razor, ladies and gentlemen.

[-] partiallycyber@ttrpg.network 11 points 6 months ago

Time of day is addressed in the study and

was not a reliable predictor of expression of alignment

They also mention that the presence of the sun is possibly likely to affect dogs less than humans - meaning that dogs might have less aversion to facing the sun.

Study is here: https://frontiersinzoology.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1742-9994-10-80

[-] LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net 8 points 6 months ago

This doesn’t make sense. Why wouldn’t they orient west in the morning and east in the evening?

[-] Leate_Wonceslace@lemmy.dbzer0.com 32 points 6 months ago

If the study was re-attempted in-Doors with a mechanism to control the magnetic field, we could be able to verify that dogs are orienting by the magnetic field instead of, say, the position of the sun.

[-] WeeSheep@lemmy.world 12 points 6 months ago

Or, like, have night mode exist on earth. One of these ideas should work.

[-] Sconrad122@lemmy.world 10 points 6 months ago

New study suggests dogs capable of celestial navigation: "Columbus was a sucker for using an astrolabe when he could have just brought along a good boi and watched him shit"

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[-] kokesh@lemmy.world 29 points 6 months ago

Don't know about that... I've got 54 dogs and they shit in all directions.

[-] Hugh_Jeggs@lemm.ee 34 points 6 months ago

Your house must fuckin stink mate

[-] Frozengyro@lemmy.world 12 points 6 months ago

I think it's a farm at that point, and yea farms stink.

[-] kokesh@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago

Not really, only 4b love inside. Those shit outside:)

[-] the_post_of_tom_joad@sh.itjust.works 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Dooddio 54

[-] ParabolicMotion@lemmy.world 24 points 6 months ago

I’m amazed. I am also amazed that someone was paid to observe dogs defecating in the wild.

[-] NeatNit@discuss.tchncs.de 4 points 6 months ago

Someone asked to be paid to observe dogs defecating.

[-] sicarius@lemmy.world 23 points 6 months ago

I just got a new puppy and when she poops she starts facing one directing the turns 180 while pooping then scoots over to the side a bit to finish.
Is she broken? Should I do an RMA?

[-] nem@sopuli.xyz 34 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Might just need to be calibrated, try turning her in a figure eight in front of you a few times before the next poop and see if she aligns.

[-] Ragnarok314159@sopuli.xyz 9 points 6 months ago

“Before” is the key word here. Trying to align a puppy during the poop is not recommended.

[-] Gerudo@lemm.ee 4 points 6 months ago

Have you tried just restarting it?

[-] pastermil@sh.itjust.works 20 points 6 months ago

Top shitpost

[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 15 points 6 months ago

Gonna start bringing a compass with me when walking my dogs now...

[-] Buck@lemmy.world 8 points 6 months ago

Apparently we no longer need compasses. Just bring the dog out to the deck to figure out where we're going.

[-] Stupidmanager@lemmy.world 14 points 6 months ago

My 5 year old dog spins when she poos. Picking up her poo requires me to check the area she was in, as there are usually 3-4 spots it landed. But unleashed, she’s fine.The vet tells me this might be harness related. Something about the restraining leash and harness makes her spin.

But now I have a morbid curiosity to see if she starts north or south.

[-] MBM@lemmings.world 2 points 6 months ago

Does she spin clockwise or counterclockwise, and does it change when you cross the equator? Important questions

[-] Emmie@lemm.ee 12 points 6 months ago

This is some real shit

[-] Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca 10 points 6 months ago

My pug used to shit right on top of rocks.

[-] BakerBagel@midwest.social 10 points 6 months ago

Foxes are pretty notorious about that. You'll be hiking and have a gorgeous view and look down and a rock had a fox turd right on it

[-] Shareni@programming.dev 7 points 6 months ago

[-] onnekas@sopuli.xyz 2 points 6 months ago

Saved this for later.

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[-] Shareni@programming.dev 5 points 6 months ago

My lagotto has an exquisite sense for art, he loves to place his work on the best possible pedestal. Sometimes it's a rock or something man-made that's sufficiently elevated and stands out, but he also sometimes plants his ass on top of a bush or a small tree.