In between a few novels, I�ve been reading How Dog�s Think by Stanley Coren. As an inveterate dog-lover, it�s been very enlightening to me. It�s an intense little book, full of information that pertains not only to dogs but, in my mind, to people as well. About proper socialization, learning and training. If a dog is not properly exposed to socialzing at a particular stage of its development, somewhere between three and twelve weeks, then they never learn these skills. It does make me wonder about people as well.
One thing that impressed me was when he commented that prenatal influences on dog personalities: if a male dog is in a litter of mostly females, he has more female traits and vice versa. That was true of two of my dogs, Katie and Sebastian. I had them both at the same time, for three years (before Sebastian died prematurely). From a litter of mostly males, Katie was the dominant dog. She could (and did) win any dog fight. In the neighborhood of Duncan�s Cove, where we lived at the time and where there was a large, congenial dog community, she was always the top dog. Sebastian, from a litter of mostly females (and twice her size), was gentler, more docile. He would happily go along with any mischief she devised. And there was plenty.
Next time I get a dog, I�ll have more to think about beforehand.
Posted by leya at October 6, 2005 08:32 PM