Coming Together

A little observation made on a walk with a friend the other day.

Eddie, Cassie and I were joined by my friend and her new boy Frank - a rescue greyhound I will tell you more about soon. We had done a lap of the park and my friend sat down to try the new cafe.

Frankie, a young and frisky hound, was leashed but lied down calmly next to our table. Cassie, the independent lady, found some shade to lie in under a tree a few metres away. Eddie was sniffing in some bushes a similar distance from us. All was well.

Suddenly a fight broke out between two dogs further away in the park. We were too far away to intervene (besides having three dogs of our own), but close enough to see and hear everything. A small fluffy on a lead was attacked by an over-zealous staffordshire bull terrier off the lead - the sort of thing that unfortunately happens quite often here in London. The situation wasn't well handled by either owner, and although undoubtedly it sounded worse than it was, the whole thing was very unpleasant. Dogs growling and squealing, people shouting unproductive accusations.

Frank started barking - he is still not entirely comfortable with other dogs, especially when leashed. Besides, who can blame him, it all felt very threatening. In fact, I am sure a few years ago, when Eddie was new, he would have barked too.

Instead, an interesting thing happened. Almost immediately, both Cassie and Eddie came closer. I only noticed after the fray had stopped, that she was now lying next to the table and Eddie was standing by her. The three dogs, my friend and I, were suddenly positioned as a very close group.

A natural enough response, if you think about it, and a sign of good pack cohesion. It made me feel happy and proud that my dogs' reaction to a threatening situation was to come to me and come together. When you have rescue dogs that often don't show that much emotion, this is a welcome sign.

It is also a much truer representation of the dogs' true nature, I think, than the fight that we were witnessing. Dogs, like their ancestors and cousins, are social animals whose survival depends on the peaceful co-existence with other members of their species. Sure, disagreements happen, but assuming most dogs are aggressive is counter-productive and often a self-fulfilling prophecy. Dogs would much rather be friends and allies than combatants, and most dog interaction, often gone unnoticed by us, whether between members in a pack or with strangers, is designed to diffuse any aggression or tension and forge or strengthen bonds.

Asiatic Wild Dogs (Dholes) in a pack.

What Dogs Do blog is re-launching after a quiet few months with a special announcement:

Eva Aldea is appearing at the HowTheLightGetsIn, the philosophy and music festival at Hay-on-Wye (parallel to the famous literary festival in Hay).

Save the date - 2nd June. Yours truly is hosting a philosophical lunch and appearing on a panel discussing evolution, animal and human. If you're anywhere near, I hope to see you there, but if you can't come, don't fret, I will report back on What Dogs Do Blog.

Saturday 2 June 2012

1:00pm

Venue: Lower Gallery

HowTheLightGetsIn Lunch

Philosopher Eva Aldea leads the conversation on  the morning's debates in the Hall, The Fantasy of Technology and Hawking vs. Philosophy.

Price includes lunch.

Earlybird price: Sold Out

Advance price: £18.00 

Full-price: £24.00 

Saturday 2 June 2012

6:45pm

Venue: International

Philosophy Session

The Paragon of Animals

Nicholas Humphrey, Ken Binmore, Eva Aldea and Nick Maxwell. David Malone chairs.

Darwin's Origin of Species appears to ally evolution with advance, and as humans we place ourselves at the top of the tree. But is evolution progress or simply change for good or ill? Have we transcended our animal nature, or is this a dangerous illusion?

Evolutionary psychologist Nicholas Humphrey and evolutionary game theorist Ken Binmore clash with cultural critic Eva Aldea and philosopher of science Nick Maxwell.

Earlybird price: £4 

Advance price: £6.00 

Full-price: £8.00 

To purchase tickets and see the full How The Light Gets In program click here.

Moving House

We have a good excuse for not posting for the last few weeks – we’ve moved house! After a lot of packing and unpacking, some painting and decorating and a bit of carpentry we are finally installed in our new, fabulous garden office: the new What Dogs Do HQ (still in South East London, UK).

Eddie and Cassie have had a few unsettled weeks, but have coped very well. We bought the new house from friends, who we actually know thanks to our dogs. We met them because they also have a greyhound, Bertie, and over the past year and some we have walked together, and often taken care of each other’s dogs. Eddie and Cassie know the house well, therefore, which on the whole has probably been an advantage. They immediately settled in their beds in the old study, which will eventually be our library, where they usually slept when staying with our friends, and where they will continue to sleep at night. I am hoping to install a wood-burning stove in there before winter, which will keep them warm and snug.

Nevertheless, they have been a little stressed and confused over the past two weeks, starting from when we were packing all our things in boxes in the old house. Their beloved routine was broken, both by our general business, and by the disappearance of their usual “landmarks” in the house. I am not sure if reappearance of our things in the new house reassured them or confused them more. For a few days they seemed quite perplexed, almost waiting to go “home” (as they usually did after staying in this house). But then again, we were all there, which was both strange and familiar, at the same time.

Although the first week wasn’t quite back to normal, we did establish the basics of routine – feeding, walking and bedtime – which allowed them to start feeling at home. However, a new element has been added, with a little challenge for the dogs. We now have our TV room upstairs, which we want them to join us in of an evening. Neither of them is keen on stairs, and haven’t previously encouraged them otherwise, as in the old house dogs did not go upstairs.

To help them overcome their awkwardness on stairs, I have tried to establish a routine that gives them a good reason to want to walk up: when we go to watch TV they get a yummy treat in their comfy beds upstairs. This seems to be working fairly well, and they certainly expect the treat now. Cassie rushes up, even though she is clearly still a little uncomfortable. Eddie, however, is still hesitant, and needs extra encouragement before braving the stairs. I hope that with practice he will gain confidence.

There was a small snag in re-establishing old routines at feeding time. I have written previously about how I expect my dogs to lie down and wait for their dinner until they invited to eat. For the first few days, Eddie and Cassie, seemed to find this challenging, even though they were so used to doing it in the old house. Not only was it a strange experience to be fed by us in this other house, but, I expect more importantly, my friend never did require them to lie down. To their minds that routine was firmly associated with the old house. After a few battles of the wills, however, it is now established as a routine in the new house too.

This will be the first week back to normal working routine for me and M, and the doggies too. That will mean that they can properly settle down in our new house. Cassie is a very relaxed little dog, and although she has made sure to patrol and sniff all new spaces thoroughly, she has been happy just to find a comfortable spot to lie in. Eddie is harder to please, and has been pacing and following us around a lot more than usual. His stomach has also shown his stress, with looser stool, which is still ongoing. I am hoping now we go back to a proper routine that will settle.

So starting today is another new routine, or rather a variation of an old one: coming with me to my office, as I work. I have purchased yet another pair of dog beds, taking the total in the house up to a somewhat embarrassing six! They have their night beds in the library, a couple of comfy beds up in the TV room upstairs to encourage them to spend time with us there, and two in the office, where I will be spending a lot of time during the days. I drew the line at getting beds for the kitchen.

Well, for me the point of having dogs is companionship, so I want them to be with me most of the time at home (although I prefer to sleep in a different room from them at night, due to smells and noises!).  The least they can expect from me is a comfortable place, and I think they seem comfortable enough!

Wordless Wednesdays - Closeups