There seem to be only two main thoughts in my mind these days: Robert and my puppy. Meanwhile I go about my daily tasks, prepare to leave for two weeks, even paint some, sew, clean house (more or less), read, enjoy friends and very much look forward to being with my children. School is finished for the semester, grades are in; I’m free for three weeks. Just me. Me and my family and friends.
Meanwhile, I give you one more interesting section from How Dogs Think. It’s about anthropomorphism. As described by Stanley Coren anthropomorphism is rooted in the human “ability to use knowledge about our own behaviors and feelings to try to understand and anticipate the behavior of others.” He continues: “Viewing the world and estimating the reactions of others based upon the assumption that they act and think like we do is not unique to people. I have often heard people say, ‘My dog thinks that he’s a person.’ This is not true. The dog really thinks that we humans are dogs. We may be strange-looking dogs who walk upright instead of on four paws, and we might not be very bright dogs, since we don’t respond or engage in the full spectrum of canine behaviors, but we certainly act enough like dogs so that they can get along with us by assuming that we will react and respond like dogs.”
So it makes me think about those long hot days of August, the ones we call dog days. Because we think they are for lazing around, like a dog. But actually, it’s that Cirrus, the dog constellation, is high in the sky. Or people who misbehave, the ones we don’t like and call a “dog.” Or the expression, “Dog gone it!” That’s a strange one. From a dog’s point of view, we’d better shape up quick!
And in three weeks my whole life will revolve around that point of view as I turn into an Alpha Dog. Woof!
Posted by leya at December 17, 2005 12:41 PM