As an owner of two border collies I feel like in some ways we're already on the very cusp of it starting to get creepy. Our female is insanely intuitive and able to figure out what's going on in simple sentences (probably mostly keywords and tone) and is extremely alert to the things going on that might be key to her.
Let's say you breed a dog past toddler level intelligence, and a little more conscious, and communicative... How do we now feel about them having a lifespan of 10-15 years? It's already heartbreaking enough. Imagine if they were aware of their mortality and short relative lifespans...
> Imagine if they were aware of their mortality and short relative lifespans...
Having had dogs live with other dogs growing old and passing away, I think this might be a lower threshold than understanding (a subset of) human language. Surely even without humans, a pack of social animals has individuals getting sick and growing old, and that changes how they interact with each other. Elephants are known to keep visiting bones of relatives over multiple years.
I'm personally more surprised at how well my 12-year old mutt picks up new routines, and the words that are said at the start of the routine, than at the thought that she would know that everyone's getting older and will die at some point. I'm anecdotally actually quite convinced she used to live with older people before -- she comes to "take care of me" every time I cough or sneeze.
Let's say you breed a dog past toddler level intelligence, and a little more conscious, and communicative... How do we now feel about them having a lifespan of 10-15 years? It's already heartbreaking enough. Imagine if they were aware of their mortality and short relative lifespans...