21st Century Dog
Thoughts on canine behaviourist Elsa Weiss’ poem about D-O-Gs
Ah dogs, inspiring art, literature, jewellery, and poetry since cave art. But what I like about fellow behaviourist Weiss’s most recent piece in particular, is not just that it’s a dedication to our wet-nosed friends; but that it puts under the microscope the context of why & how we keep dogs, through the lens of breed function/origin. What do they do all day in our homes vs What were they bred for?
Weiss reminds us that most breed dogs today are picked for their physical appearance/size as pets, and what’s often given less thought to is, what has been genetically selected as key criteria for an optimal representative of the breed? What were the key ingredients to making a perfect Labrador?
The function they were originally bred to carry out still drives a lot of their current behaviours, such as a terrier’s drive to sniff out small prey. They weren’t bred to ride around in people’s purses and bags. It’s something we mustn’t forget when choosing a pet dog. It’s something we should nurture in our dogs to the best of our abilities. eg. Understanding that beagles are scent hounds that thrive on games that stimulate their keen sense of smell — like a snufflemat sprinkled with treats. Mental enrichment is vital for ALL dogs, but knowing what your dog was bred for helps you fine-tune the types of activities, games and exercise that will offer them a higher quality of life.
When dogs act out (say, when left home alone for long periods during the day), they do so out of boredom and frustration. They aren’t able to express their normal behaviors. Expecting a husky to sit still in a small house or apartment isn’t fair, when their sole purpose was once to run for thousands of miles through the toughest conditions, pulling sleds of supplies. While we may mean well by thinking we’re offering them a ‘better life’ in a cushy house, we must think past the surface level comforts we provide, and try to understand the dog for who/what they are. Where they originate.
The same applies to street dogs; they’re scavengers. They roam for miles. They’re territorial and stick to their ‘hoods. In SL, where the climate is hot all day/year long, they’re active mostly at night, preferring to snooze during the day in the shade of a shopkeeper’s doorstep or under a neighborhood mango tree. Street dogs have a strong line of sight hound in them, so they’re stimulated by visual activities. How do we incorporate this basic knowledge of them into the pet life we offer them?
Expressing normal behaviours is one of the 5 freedoms of animal welfare. What’s interesting is, what is considered normal for a dog, is often considered disgusting, inconvenient or destructive for humans. Marc Bekoff explains it beautifully in Canine Confidential. To sum up rather basically, as humans, we’re imposing our definition of ‘normal behaviour’ on another species. And then we get all bent out of shape when they don’t fall in line. What am I referring to? Anything from digging holes in the garden, to sniffing other’s butts and privates, licking people in the mouth, stealing food. These are all natural perfectly normal behaviours in dogs! They all serve a function. But to us, they’re unacceptable and not how a dog should behave. We expect dogs to follow human rules in order for them to fit into our life molds. And while this makes sense to us (we can’t have a garden slash excavation site in our backyard), what can we offer as an alternative to our dogs to keep them happy too? Offering them an outlet to express themselves, is a good start. Freedom within reason. eg. “You can go dog in this part of the yard — but not the rest of the house please”. I use a similar approach with my toddler where she’s able to draw and paint and make a mess with sand and water in the garage, but not inside the house, thank you.
One more thing to note in Weiss’s poem, is the mention of electronic collars; also known as shock collars/ prong collars/ impulse collars, they’re used to control a dog’s maladaptive behaviour, and are scientifically unsound (having been debunked over and over again), cruel and wholly unnecessary. Working with reactive dogs is a MUST as a responsible dog owner, but resorting to force, pain and shock to demand that behaviour is not the sign of a good dog owner or trainer.
