© UnknownEach morning, like clockwork, they board the subway, off to begin their daily routine amidst the hustle and bustle of the city
Then after a hard day scavenging and begging on the streets, they hop back on the train and return to the suburbs where they spend the night.
Experts studying the dogs, who usually choose the quietest carriages at the front and back of the train, say they even work together to make sure they get off at the right stop - after learning to judge the length of time they need to spend on the train.
Scientists believe this phenomenon began after the Soviet Union collapsed in the 1990s, and Russia's new capitalists moved industrial complexes from the city centre to the suburbs.
Dr Andrei Poiarkov, of the Moscow Ecology and Evolution Institute, said: "These complexes were used by homeless dogs as shelters, so the dogs had to move together with their houses. Because the best scavenging for food is in the city centre, the dogs had to learn how to travel on the subway - to get to the centre in the morning, then back home in the evening, just like people."
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The dogs have also amazingly learned to use traffic lights to cross the road safely, said Dr Poiarkov. And they use cunning tactics to obtain tasty morsels of shawarma, a kebab-like snack popular in Moscow.
With children the dogs "play cute" by putting their heads on youngsters' knees and staring pleadingly into their eyes to win sympathy - and scraps.
Dr Poiarkov added: "Dogs are surprisingly good psychologists."
Reader Comments
the train to work in early morning, before even the sun came up , I used to get something for breakfast. I remember once a bulldog watching me eating on the deck , it was like complaining. I left him the rest of the chocolate milk I was drinking and some of the pie. He went like mad on them.
>>>>>The dogs have also amazingly learned to use traffic lights to cross the road safely
I have seen this here in Chile (another country with a large street dog population). Most dogs know to follow when the mass of people cross but one time I saw a dog all alone on a sparsely trafficked condition avenue in Santiago wait for the light to turn green with the walk signal to casually saunter across! Other dogs literally look both ways before crossing and wait for any oncoming vehicles to pass.
I like that they sit on the seats and stretch out like they own the place instead of slinking around on the floor somewhere.
And how smart could they become? 3rd density lever? If so could one imagine planets populated by 3rd density beings that look almost the same as our 2nd density beings? And what would our planet look like if we 3rd density humans had to live with some species of 3rd density 'animals', 'insects', 'birds', 'plants', 'fishes' or 'bacteria'. Or is it that we get at chance to bump it to 4th while some of the other species get a chance to work in 3rd?