March 3rd is a day devoted to pondering the possible answers to this question.
Tomorrow is "What if cats and dogs had opposable thumbs" day. It had me wondering what my dogs, Shadow and Rascal, would do if they had opposable thumbs. I challenged myself and my friends to come up with a few things our fur babies would do with thumbs. This post features some special "pawsome" guests.
About "What If Cats and Dogs Had Opposable Thumbs" Day
Ruth and Tom Roy, well-known for creating fun holidays, came up with this fun "What if cats and dogs had opposable thumbs" day. Tom said he realized his pets' dependency on us humans was solely for food.
Tom then wondered how things would be different if cats and dogs had opposable thumbs. Since then, pet owners were encouraged to ponder what their fur babies would do with opposable thumbs.
How to Celebrate
As weird and wacky as this day is, I started to wonder about what my dogs, Shadow and Rascal, would do if they had opposable thumbs. I first envisioned them packing their suitcases, raiding my wallet, and taking the car keys to head to a park or beach to live full-time.
Then I thought about their individual traits and figured (or hoped) that they wouldn't just desert me. However, they would have a little more independence when it comes to accomplishing things they wanted.
I thought the best way for me to celebrate this day was to identify some of their distinct traits and create a list of two or three things each dog would probably do with opposable thumbs.
I also challenged my friends, both of whom I introduced when I celebrated Happy Intl. Friendship Day, to create a list of things their fur babies would do with opposable thumbs. Below are six "pawsome" fur babies and a short list of things they'd probably use opposable thumbs for.
Shadow (Dog)
Before I pondered what Shadow would do with opposable thumbs, I first thought about his traits. I believe Shadow has the following traits that define his personality:
Loyal. He never leaves my side, not even for a meaty treat.
Intelligent. He's demonstrated quick problem-solving skills and ability to understand a lot more than people give dogs credit for.
Traveler. He doesn't hesitate to go on a short or extended road trip to new places.
TV enthusiast. He'll sit and stay to watch his favorite TV programs.
Shadow's traits led me to imagine him using opposable thumbs to do the following:
Drive. Because he's traveled and visited twenty states and many more attractions, I think he'd want to travel more and share driving responsibilities to get to his destination sooner. Shadow would also drive himself to fast-food restaurants to pick-up hot dogs, burgers, nuggets, and other meaty meals.
Text. I imagine Shadow would text me frequently when I'm away from him to make sure I'm alright when he's not by my side. This would happen even if I were in a different room of the house.
Successfully change the channel. Currently, he stomps on the remote control when he wants to watch something different on TV. With thumbs, he'd easily channel surf until he sees something that catches his attention.
Open the refrigerator. While he's not food motivated, he loves 'human' food when he can get some to snack on. I imagine he'd help himself to sliced ham, sausage links, and other meaty snacks without relying on someone to get it for him.
Rascal (Dog)
Rascal proved more challenging for me to imagine what he'd do with opposable thumbs. I started pondering the question by identifying the following traits I believe define his personality:
Affectionate. He loves to cuddle and snuggle every minute of every day.
Lazy. He'll do absolutely nothing if I don't make him get up and be active.
Jumpy. He gets scared easily and will hide if he can't bark a potential treat away.
Territorial. He doesn't like it when people and animals are on his property.
Rascal's traits led me to imagine him using opposable thumbs to do the following:
Drag me everywhere with him. He's loyal, except when he gets scared and runs to hide. With thumbs, I think he'd try to drag me to a safe place if he thought there was a threat nearby.
Build a panic room. He'd build a safe or panic room for us to hide when there's a threat. Delivery drivers, rain, wind, and beeping noises would be a few reasons he'd want to run and hide in his panic room.
Help himself to ice cream and whipped cream. He'd recruit Shadow's help to get ice cream and whipped cream from the refrigerator or drive to a fast-food restaurant any time his sweet tooth acted up.
Bruise his thumb. My Dad believes he'll bruise his thumb from constantly squeezing whipped cream directly into his mouth.
Ringo (Cat)
My friend, Belle, shared the following things her cat, Ringo, would do with opposable thumbs:
Grab the ball from the ball cat toy with scratch pad.
Open windows to go in and out as he pleased.
Easily turn off the lights to sleep better.
Milo (Dog)
Belle also shared the following things her dog, Milo, would do with opposable thumbs:
Cover himself with a blanket.
Fix the pillows to his liking.
Use the toilet whenever he wants without having to go outside in bad weather conditions.
Rocket G. Thompson, Doctor of Journalism (Cat)
My friend, Pirate Redd, shared the following things her cat, Rocket, would do with opposable thumbs:
Open the back door.
Hold a megaphone and yowl across the house to make sure everyone could hear him.
Use the toilet and take baths whenever he wants without help.
Actually earn his PhD and title.
BONUS: Pirate Redd's husband shared the following about Rocket:
"If Rocket had thumbs, the first thing he would do would be to construct an elaborate series of traps, using [Lazlo] as bait to draw us [his people] in like a war era sniper. After we were dispatched, he would eat everything in the house, and begin ranging out to the neighbors, building an army of all the other strays in the neighborhood and teaching them his weirding ways. Six years until global financial collapse due to food shortage."
Dr. Lazlo Hollifeld, Nobel Laureate (Dog)
Pirate Redd also shared the following things her dog, Lazlo, would do with opposable thumbs:
Climb and repel to conduct a surprise attack on Rocket without detection.
Move blankets to where he needed or wanted them to be with ease.
Suck on his thumb (since he's still a puppy).
Easily catch his tail to suck on it like he would his thumb.
Actually earn his PhD and title.
What's Next?
This weird and wacky day was fun to ponder and daydream about. My friends, who are busy 'adulting' unlike myself, must've enjoyed it, too, because they answered my challenge in record time! I'm ready to celebrate another fun random day this month.
I challenge you to identify three to five things your fur baby would do if they had opposable thumbs! Login and Sign up to share your list and a photo of your fur baby with us.
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Thanks, and have a great day!
Simply Jelly Jam
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