Looking at some news articles I would also guess dogs are smarter than some humans.
The point I was trying to make is that dogs operate by instinct while humans (most of them anyway) operate by reason, and choice, when it comes to the consumption of food (and sex). If you have a dog living with you or in your household, you will know what I mean. The dog hovers under my table at dinner. If anything - ANYTHING - hits the floor, it is pounced on and scarfed down almost immediately. The other night I was eating a pulled pork quesadilla that I ordered out from a local restaurant. I took a big first bite, and somehow a piece of pork, dripping barbecue sauce, squeezed out of the quesadilla, hit my leg, bounced off, and then hit the porcelain tile kitchen floor. Although I was physically closer to the dropped piece of meat than the dog, she had pounced on it and swallowed it before I could even react- I had not even started to extend my arm. I was startled and amazed by the swiftness of the pounce. It is sort of exactly how things work in the animal kingdom.
These floor scrap activities by the dog have made me considerably leery of dropping things on the floor. Last night, I went to spit a piece of chewing gum into the kitchen garbage pail, and despite being very close to the pail, the wad of gum missed and hit the floor. Fortunately, I was around 2 feet from the gum wad, and the dog was 12 feet away from it, with me between dog and the gum on the floor. I quickly positioned myself as an offensive tackle would in order to protect a quarterback, and safely scooped the gum off the floor before the dog could pass rush me, knowing that the dog's 12 pounds of mass was unlikely to overcome my 195 pounds on a bullrush. I later realized that what I had done was fucking dangerous, and if the dog had gotten to the gum before I did, it would not have been good.
Humans do not pounce on food on the floor by instinct. Dogs do. That is the difference. Of course, I have seen homeless persons picking food out of a garbage basket or dumpster, but that is a reasoned behavior and not instinct just kicking in.
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