5 Things My Dogs Taught Me About Human Beings
2) It’s Not All About Words.
If you’re someone like me who writes for a living and places a lot of emphasis on words, one of a dog’s most amazing traits is the ability to make people like him without ever saying a word. How does a small, shaggy creature with bad hygiene, the brains of a two year old, and the inability to speak make everyone fall in love with him? By displaying a host of traits that we admire in both humans and animals. Whether they’re playing with a toy or chasing a squirrel, dogs are enthusiastic. They’re loyal. When I was wiped out sick in bed, 20 hours a day with the Norwalk virus, my dog Patton was right there with me. If I was in bed, he was in bed.
Dogs are always trying to find a way to touch you, whether it’s being petted or just lying across your foot. They’re genuinely excited to see you, even when you’ve just been gone for 30 minutes. How many people can we say that about? Dogs trust you, believe in you, and know you’re a good person. How many people in your life have you managed to get to believe that all the way down to their bones? There’s nothing wrong with being suave, smooth, and sophisticated, but just remember that our four-legged friends are none of those things and few of us will ever be as well-liked as a friendly dog.
Patton used to do this every day, waiting for me to come home.
>> A Lot More of Your Behavior is Instinctual Than You Probably Realize.
We have instincts, but far, far fewer than animals. That’s why our young are so helpless.
>> Everything from whether you prefer math or English, are better at sports or chess, what type of woman you find most attractive to how well you manage your emotions is determined by genetics.
Totally false. There are natural temperaments, aptitudes, and abilities naturally. But the older I get the more I realize how a different approach would have yielded much more success than I had at things I failed at that. Perspective is everything.
I like your other observations from your dog. We share things with them but we’re still more different than alike. We’re the rational animal, and quite different. Hereditarianism is enjoying a resurgence, but its past was ghastly. Review the history on the eugenic movement for that. And on the rational animal, that comes from classic philosophy. You’ve rejected more of the Western tradition than you know in buying into Hereditarianism. That has never turned out well, and it never will. We’re humans, not animals.
No, there are some verifiable difference between the brains of the genders, for example. Women and men do tend to have different abilities with math and English. Women are much stronger with the latter on average than men who are stronger with the former. Like everything you have those individuals who are equally good at both and those who reverse their abilities despite the gender pre-disposition, but the brains really are wired a bit differently.
It’s why when I go to work as a proofreader at a publishing company, I have about five male colleagues across the two editorial departments who, combined have a staff of around 20 people. And when I worked as a clinician with kids who had phonemic awareness deficits (a job that required high language processing and verbal acuity), out of a staff of 10 to 15, we had 1 male colleague.
We have instincts, but far, far fewer than animals. That’s why our young are so helpless.
No, our young are helpless because they have a longer maturation process than other animals.
No, that’s that guy in the beer commercials.
I used to buy the story that dogs and many other mammals were simply “dumb” animals led by pure instinct, some just a little smarter than others.
After ownership of four of the finest dogs the world has ever known, I don’t believe that anymore. And I mean that. I think in our arrogance, we don’t recognize the sheer brilliance our Creator has instilled in our four legged friends. In fact, I’ll go so far to say not only are many mammals not pure instinct, but far smarter than we humans are in many regards.
My dogs were/are more intuitive of my emotions than my kids and possibly on par with my spouse. It wasn’t mammals that sat back and watched the tide go out before being decimated by the tsunami – I understand even the barn yard animals were headed for the high ground while we stood around staring at the horizon and clueless.
And these mammals apparently have emotional senses we can only dream about. Nope, I think we have just scratched the surface of just how talented and beautiful our furry friends really are.
And one day we will be ashamed of our arrogance and stupidity for not recognizing it sooner. There’s much to be learned from a good dog.
Well, I haven’t had wide experience with dogs, but I have had quite a bit of experience with cats. And, they aren’t dumb contrary to what a lot of dog people will say. They also read your emotions and physical state very well. I had (and I do miss him) and large black and white tuxedo named AC who never met a stranger and could be obnoxiously demanding when he wanted to, but he also knew without error when I wasn’t feeling good. And when I felt bad (or sad), he was unfailingly quite and simply sat beside me like a security blanket.
Cats are also very, very good at problem solving. If you get a cat determined to get something, it can be impossible to keep them away from it. We had a gray tabby who liked to unravel my mom’s yarn, and my mom started an arms race with her trying to keep the yarn away from the cat. Every night, mom would institute some new “security” measure on the tub holding the yarn balls, and every morning we’d wake up to an open tub and yarn balls unraveled all over the house, between chair legs, etc. We never did keep the cat out of the yarn. Mom finally had to resort to keeping her yarn out in the garage away from the cat entirely.
1. Always turn around 3 times before laying down
2. Be sure to smell and check out the entire area carefully before choosing where to poop or pee.
3. A good sniff in the right spot will tell you everything you need to know about a person.
4. Anything can be eaten if you have the right attitude
5. Squirrels are bad, very, very, very bad.
Funny!
You missed one, Mr. Hawkins, if you can’t eat it or f**k it, piss on it. Perhaps the greatest lesson of our four-legged friends. It’s why they have a perspective we can only dream of.
This is why I always preferred dogs to cats.
With a pet dog, you know he loves you and wants to be with you, period.
With a pet cat, yes, he acts like he loves you–BUT just by looking at him, you just know he has a hidden agenda of his own.
Partly that’s a matter of their evolutionary history. Dogs were domesticated from wolves over 100,000 years ago. They’ve had a lot of time to get comfortable with humans. Cats were domesticated from the wildcat just about 10,000 years ago. Evolutionarily speaking, they’re still making up their minds about us.
I love both dogs and cats for very different reasons. Cats are more opportunistic than dogs and, so I’ve heard, are the only animals who domesticated themselves. I suppose they were accepted and fed by us not only for their mousing skills, but also for their mysterious ways and elegant beauty. They have a subtle intelligence and when they love you you know it’s because, in their carefully considered estimation, you deserve it.
I’ve just recently adopted a rescued feral cat who lived his first four or five years (we don’t know his age for sure) on the city streets. Now he’s a retired Tom cat (neutered) and adjusting to living in a home and having regular meals for the first time in his life. It’s fascinating to watch his fascination with things like TV, flushing toilets and light that’s there even when it’s dark outside – the first time he saw the early morning sunlight from inside he became very agitated and confused. He’s bonding with me and learning to trust humans, but cats need lots of attention and closeness with their people to be understood. Dogs, on the other hand, are born with oceans of love in their hearts, looking for the person who will be “the one”.
One thing dogs have and cats don’t is a sense of humor.
That’s so not true. I’ve lived with as many as five cats at once, and they definitely enjoy making each other look foolish.
I’ve lived with as many as five cats at once, and that is so not true. They enjoy making each other look foolish.
But dogs enjoy making themselves look foolish because they know it pleases us, while cats enjoy making other cats look foolish because it pleases THEM.
Partly that’s a matter of their evolutionary history. Dogs were domesticated from wolves over 100,000 years ago. They’ve had a lot of time to get comfortable with humans. Cats were domesticated from the wildcat just about 10,000 years ago.
Your timeline is most likely overstated, but your premise is vastly understated.
Dogs have been genetically altered by their long association with humans; in fact it’s likely that humans have been altered by that association too, ie that we are symbiants.
Loved the piece – many fine observations. Thanks.
My life is remembered in segments that correspond to the lifespans of several dogs. There was Tiger the Catahoula, who carried the scars from a desperate fight we had with a grizzly, when I was a teenager. He was happy to be sitting with me on the seat of a wagon, running alongside my saddle horse, or next to me while I read a book.
They were serious hunting dogs and stock dogs, but they were mainly my best friends. A Labrador walked my kids down a quarter mile drive way to ride the school bus and waited for their return at just the right time on each school day. It was not perverts that concerned her, it was the Black bears that were looking for an easy meal. She and my cat killed squirrels with ruthless efficiency, but it was moose in the hay fields that real got her blood boiling. I could leave my family for days at a time to work on my trapline without worrying about weirdos, for any dog who will protect you from a bear at the cost of its life will consider a two legged predator to be easy pickings.
I have two dogs today; a Black Mouth Cur called Boomer and a Pit cross named Scooter, more loyal friends a man will never know. Although, we don’t have the adventures of my youth, they now take my protection as their most important mission in life. To go with me to feed the horses is like they are kids on Christmas morning. Sadly, I am close enough to the end of this game called life; I wonder if they will outlive me and what will happen to my loyal friends, if I cross over the divide before my friends.
Think of the joy all of you will share meeting on the rainbow bridge. I’m planning on being buried with my girl’s leash. We’ll need it.
Nope. No leashes in The Beyond. Not needed There. Better to bring a fresh rawhide bone for her.
I highly recommend a marvelous film called Dean Spanley, the tale of an elderly gentleman (Peter O’Toole) whose childhood dog pal manages, through reincarnation, to bring him great joy and comfort in his old age. A beautiful film!
“If there are no dogs in Heaven, then when I die I want to go where they went.”
― Will Rogers
Love the photos of Patton and Jackson:) I discovered a long time ago that life was not worth living without a dog (or two or three) by my side.
We don’t have many opportunities to write of our four legged friends, so I must write about the Akita cross that came from a wild litter who moved on to my place and took charge. The first time I saw him, he was just a puppy and he attacked the tires on my truck when I drove through the gate of the ranch. My girlfriend wanted to get out of the car and pick up the “cute” puppy. I told her to wait and give him time to come to us, he was like a wild animal, and despite what Disney films portray, feral animals are dangerous.
It was six weeks before he let me touch him. Before that he followed me around and stayed behind me so that I could never get a good look at him. I put out dry dog food for him, but he ignored it; he lived off rabbits and small animals. After I touched him, he would leave half a rabbit for me every morning in front of my front door. I acted like they were great presents and put them in plastic sacks to dispose of without him knowing I was rejecting his gifts. He ate raw meat for the rest of his life.
He didn’t allow people to point things at me or touch me. He killed coyotes for sport, but I was his God, forgive me for saying such a thing, but it was true. He traveled everywhere with me, but stayed hidden wherever we traveled, until someone approached me and they would hear a low rumbling growl from the dog that sounded more like a grizzly than a dog.
When he died a part of me died with him. I considered following him just to be with him. Everyone noticed my depression and told me to get another dog, but I thought that would be like cheating on your wife. After going to five dog pounds and looking at all the sad eyes, I chose a pit who became another life buddy and gave me a new lease on life.
Everyone considers me to be a horseman, but dogs have been my first love in this life.
There’s something poorer about a person who can’t allow an animal into their lives. I understand that some people can’t have furred creatures because of allergies, but even fish have lessons to teach us (and honestly, there are some fish that have pretty neat personalities even though you can’t cuddle them like you can a dog or a cat).
But in my years of life, I’ve had a dog, many cats, several rats, a few snakes, lots of fish and I’m looking at getting a dog again. Even though I have mild pet allergies and have for most of my life, some of the dullest years I ever went through were my college years when I could not keep a pet. There’s so much to learn, and animals are so fascinating.
You might want to look up Domesticated Fox to understand more human relationships with dogs. A Russian experiment to domesticate foxes was begun about fifty years ago, which has resulted in foxes that are like dogs and which like people.
Mr. Hawkins; You need a pony and some fleas for a complete carnival.
One of the biggest injustices in life is that dogs do not live as long as we do.
The Power of the Dog
by Rudyard Kipling
There is sorrow enough in the natural way
From men and women to fill our day;
But when we are certain of sorrow in store,
Why do we always arrange for more?
Brothers and sisters I bid you beware
Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.
Buy a pup and your money will buy
Love unflinching that cannot lie–
Perfect passion and worship fed
By a kick in the ribs or a pat on the head.
Nevertheless it is hardly fair
To risk your heart for a dog to tear.
When the fourteen years that nature permits
Are closing in asthma or tumors or fits
And the vet’s unspoken prescription runs
To lethal chambers, or loaded guns.
Then you will find–its your own affair
But–you’ve given your heart to a dog to tear.
When the body that lived at your single will
When the whimper of welcome is stilled (how still!)
When the spirit that answered your every mood
Is gone–wherever it goes–for good,
You still discover how much you care
And will give your heart to a dog to tear.
We’ve sorrow enough in the natural way
When it comes to burying Christian clay.
Our loves are not given, but only lent,
At compound interest of cent per cent.
Though it is not always the case, I believe,
That the longer we’ve kept ‘em the more do we grieve;
For when debts are payable, right or wrong,
A short time loan is as bad as a long–
So why in Heaven (before we are there)
Should we give our hearts to a dog to tear?
Thanks, everyone! Animals purify all the garbage we humans have to deal with, they bring what really matters into focus, they are God’s gift to us. It’s lovely to read about other’s love for them. Thanks.
I always strive to be the person my dog thinks I am.
Terrific list, especially #4. Instincts are completely underrated.
Horses can teach us things as well:
http://floppingaces.net/2010/03/31/tom-geraldine-the-ultimate-dedication-reader-post/