Information on working terriers, dogs, natural history, hunting, and the environment, with occasional political commentary as I see fit. This web log is associated with the Terrierman.com web site.
I think the analogy you draw here between dogs and cars is a very interesting and fertile one for the reasons you outline and more.
Sir Ken Robinson in his second TED Talk “Bring on the Learning Revolution!” reminded us of the famous Lincoln quote on “disenthralling ourselves” from outmoded ideas. This resonated greatly with me in terms of where we are with our dogs. Or where I am with dogs.
I like to think I am an intelligent woman who grew up never enthralled by cars. No, I have always chosen my cars very sensibly. The result is on my drive. I have a Honda Jazz (Honda Fit in the US). Good fuel mileage, reliable, great piece of engineering modestly packaged. I can handle this car. This car meets all my needs. I love my little Honda. I have never dreamt of an Aston Martin or even a BMW, I know I would be out of my depth with those. So have never bothered.
Sadly of course I have always been enthralled by dogs – breeds of dogs. I have always had a small personal library of dog breed books with which to feed my enthralledness. So when the time came, I chose for my “pet” dog one of those gorgeous, lean, hunting machines, with flashy show potential and serious canine intelligence. I made this choice not once but twice. The result (of the most recent of those choices at least) is curled up on my sofa. Because obviously with me only wanting a pet dog I have done my best to disenthrall my weimaraner/GWP cross of any hunting instinct he may have. I prefer him to channel his energies into playing nicely with the neighbours mini schnauzer or some Frisbee chasing in the park. And have to admit that I get in a blind panic if he so much as tries to sniff out any wildlife on the rare occasion I take him to the woods. Beaches are fine, the wildlife can fly away, it is backed by a golf course and he does not much like water (mercifully) so the terrain acts as a good leash at the coast. Parks are fine. But woods? No I like my dog liking the sofa.
Don’t get me wrong my partner ensures my dog gets some really great exercise every single day but we never take him hunting. We never needed him to do anything other than be a companion to us. So how come when I have proved that I can make sensible life choices and love them (as illustrated by my car), how come I failed to take the same sensible steps with my dogs?
1 comment:
I think the analogy you draw here between dogs and cars is a very interesting and fertile one for the reasons you outline and more.
Sir Ken Robinson in his second TED Talk “Bring on the Learning Revolution!” reminded us of the famous Lincoln quote on “disenthralling ourselves” from outmoded ideas. This resonated greatly with me in terms of where we are with our dogs. Or where I am with dogs.
I like to think I am an intelligent woman who grew up never enthralled by cars. No, I have always chosen my cars very sensibly. The result is on my drive. I have a Honda Jazz (Honda Fit in the US). Good fuel mileage, reliable, great piece of engineering modestly packaged. I can handle this car. This car meets all my needs. I love my little Honda. I have never dreamt of an Aston Martin or even a BMW, I know I would be out of my depth with those. So have never bothered.
Sadly of course I have always been enthralled by dogs – breeds of dogs. I have always had a small personal library of dog breed books with which to feed my enthralledness. So when the time came, I chose for my “pet” dog one of those gorgeous, lean, hunting machines, with flashy show potential and serious canine intelligence. I made this choice not once but twice. The result (of the most recent of those choices at least) is curled up on my sofa. Because obviously with me only wanting a pet dog I have done my best to disenthrall my weimaraner/GWP cross of any hunting instinct he may have. I prefer him to channel his energies into playing nicely with the neighbours mini schnauzer or some Frisbee chasing in the park. And have to admit that I get in a blind panic if he so much as tries to sniff out any wildlife on the rare occasion I take him to the woods. Beaches are fine, the wildlife can fly away, it is backed by a golf course and he does not much like water (mercifully) so the terrain acts as a good leash at the coast. Parks are fine. But woods? No I like my dog liking the sofa.
Don’t get me wrong my partner ensures my dog gets some really great exercise every single day but we never take him hunting. We never needed him to do anything other than be a companion to us. So how come when I have proved that I can make sensible life choices and love them (as illustrated by my car), how come I failed to take the same sensible steps with my dogs?
Philippa
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