Moscow's stray dogs getting more intelligent; learn to use subway.

I love this.


ive always been amazed by wild dogs. theres something so beautiful about something so inherently feral, so straight from the dirt of the earth, and the night and moon, and yet something still that has such an intimate understanding of the worlds and societies around them. humans domesticated wild dogs a long time ago, and in return theyve domesticated us, thickening our common languages and giving us unconditional companionship, even love.

There are 30,000-35,000 stray dogs in Moscow right now; thats approximately 84 stray dogs per square mile.

they are brilliant survivors.


science time.

over the last 30 years, the generations of strays have been moving in a less and less domesticated direction, their learned tail-wagging has disappeared, their ears repoint and their coats lose their spots, which is a direct effect of adrenaline levels rising, which affects aggression.

the strays are currently grouped in one of four categories in the hierarchy of de-domestication;
gaurd dogs, beggars, scavengers and wild dogs.

the metro dog is a subcategory of beggar and there are only about 20 or so known to researchers. they know when certain people ride, listen for stops on the loudspeakers, have finely tuned internal clocks and greet specific types of passersby, all the while avoiding the fuzz.




heres a bunch of links if you want to read more about these wonderful dogs <3

original article
the popsci post i found first
a russian website dedicated to metro dogs