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submitted 11 months ago by fossilesque@mander.xyz to c/science_memes@mander.xyz

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[-] aFaustianBargain@lemmy.world 176 points 11 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 11 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 11 months ago

I guess you could say the study was dogshit.

[-] MentalEdge@sopuli.xyz 86 points 11 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 11 months ago

You can put magnets near dogs.

[-] Tier1BuildABear@lemmy.world 29 points 11 months ago

There's also this thing called "indoors"

[-] BassTurd@lemmy.world 14 points 11 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 11 months ago

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

[-] Zorque@kbin.social 2 points 11 months ago

And "clouds"

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

Dogs still poop when they're inside

[-] mobius_slip@beehaw.org 6 points 11 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.

[-] agent_flounder@lemmy.world 3 points 11 months ago

Dogs can poop at night...

[-] ignotum@lemmy.world 62 points 11 months ago

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

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

Still more useful than most office jobs.

[-] agent_flounder@lemmy.world 13 points 11 months ago

And less shit to deal with.

[-] AnUnusualRelic@lemmy.world 51 points 11 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 11 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 11 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 11 months ago

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

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

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

[-] Sconrad122@lemmy.world 10 points 11 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 11 months ago

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

[-] Hugh_Jeggs@lemm.ee 34 points 11 months ago

Your house must fuckin stink mate

[-] Frozengyro@lemmy.world 12 points 11 months ago

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

[-] kokesh@lemmy.world 2 points 11 months ago

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

[-] ParabolicMotion@lemmy.world 24 points 11 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 11 months ago

Someone asked to be paid to observe dogs defecating.

[-] sicarius@lemmy.world 23 points 11 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 11 months ago* (last edited 11 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 11 months ago

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

[-] Gerudo@lemm.ee 4 points 11 months ago

Have you tried just restarting it?

[-] pastermil@sh.itjust.works 20 points 11 months ago

Top shitpost

[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 15 points 11 months ago

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

[-] Buck@lemmy.world 8 points 11 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 11 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 11 months ago

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

[-] Emmie@lemm.ee 12 points 11 months ago

This is some real shit

[-] Stalinwolf@lemmy.ca 10 points 11 months ago

My pug used to shit right on top of rocks.

[-] BakerBagel@midwest.social 10 points 11 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 11 months ago

[-] onnekas@sopuli.xyz 2 points 11 months ago

Saved this for later.

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[-] Shareni@programming.dev 5 points 11 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.