I'll start with two questions: the first, will dogs of the future fly? Yes of course they will. They already fly if you count travel in airplanes. Geez, dogs have even been in space. When the day comes that humans fly around in jet packs, you can bet that dogs will tag along in jet packs of their own.
The second question: what will dogs of the future look like? No problemo, that's easy to answer. They'll look like us. Lots of them (below) already do.
You probably think I'm kidding, but I'm not.
When I was a kid lots of dogs still looked like modified wolves (above). Not any more.
Most modern breeds (above) look like teddy bears. They're fluffy little things.
But that's not the only change I've seen. Modern dogs love to kiss. When I was a kid dogs kissed less frequently, only when the dog decided we deserved it. Now dogs are effusive. Even when in pain they want to kiss their masters. They're obsessed with it.
Amazingly, humans kiss the dogs back!!!! If I'd done that when I was a kid my Dad would have freaked out. I can hear him now: "What's the matter with you? Don't you know where that tongue has been?" The thought of that would have been deterrent enough.
It's common nowadays to walk into a room and find humans and dogs kissing on the mouth. It's embarrassing! I feel like asking the couple if they'd prefer to be alone.
But I said I said I was going to speculate on the next step in dog evolution. Brace yourself, because this is creepy. The next step is...are you ready?..... human expressions. Dogs get more expressive every day. Look at the way that dog above is looking thoughtfully at something offscreen.
Decades ago dogs (above) had the basic doggie emotions: happy, sad, eager, angry...stuff like that. Now you see emotions like arch, whimsical, bemused, and puzzled. Yikes! Dog breeders must be doing that!
Whether or not the dog (above) really feels those complex emotions is something only the dog knows. All I know is they increasingly have the
appearance of having them.
It's disturbing. I want to be the only one in my house who's bemused. I don't want my parakeet or goldfish to look like they're wrestling with the great questions of philosophy. That's MY job!
BTW: Here's an interesting link on a similar subject from Roberto Severino:
http://dogbehaviorscience.wordpress.com/2012/09/29/100-years-of-breed-improvement/
