I had two dogs and two house cats dropped on me a few years ago, after spending a lifetime successfully avoiding such responsibilities. It turns out to be a lot more than simply feeding them, avoiding cats which sharpen their claws on the sofa (tinfoil on the sofa until I dumped that one onto my daughter), getting rid of or avoiding poo in the house, and figuring out how to get them to leave me alone when I want to be alone.
As a concept-oriented speaking primate, it has become interesting to determine how the relationships between me and the animals can be described. So let me try.
The dogs are a Westie (Mac - white long-hair terrier) and a sheltie (I think that's what she is. Her name is Foxie.) The westie is a pure hunting dog. Sweet, smart, noisy, and if something moves within sight, Mac will chase it. Instantly. Barking all the way. That's what Mac does, but when he is at rest, he wants to be close to me and to get my approval. I am his alpha dog.
Mac is like having a small boy in the house. When he has something to do, he is totally focused on it. I am told that a major problem with terriers is that when they see something to chase as prey, they narrow their focus on the prey and chase it anywhere. They notice nothing else. Terriers chasing prey are aften killed by cars they never noticed. They were focused on what they chased.
When the prey goes to ground and seems safe, a terrier does not forget it. They may walk away from the prey's safe haven, but they will repeatedly come back and recheck it for hours. A mouse dared to enter our kitchen, and Mac chased it under a cabinet. After a long period of trying to dig him out (my linoleum shows the damage) he just sat and watched for nearly an hour. Then he walked away, but came back and checked several times during the day. He had other things to do, and was making no progress, so he went and did them, but he didn't forget that mouse and where it went to ground. At least not that day.
The sheltie is a herding dog, not a hunting dog. She is social rather than process-focused. (My opinion only. I have not researched this. From my limited view I think this is the case with herding dogs.) Foxie seems more aware of her surroundings, both social and physical. When I say aware of her surroundings, I mean that she does not find a prey and then narrow her focus to nothing else. She is always aware of all her surroundings. She will chase the cat (in play. If the cat doesn't want to be chased she turns and swings a paw at the offending dog, and the dogs let her alone. She is five pounds, Foxie is 30 pounds and Mac is 22 pounds) or a mouse, but once it is gone, she forgets it.
Foxie is blonde-reddish brown and about 32 pounds with alert ears, brown eyes and long slender muzzle. A very beautiful dog. She is also very smart.
Foxie was found by my daughter-in-law. Foxie was lost or abandoned by her previous family and looking for her pack. When my daughter-in-law went into work one day at about 8:00 AM Foxie was a sweet but starving dog outside the building and (politely) approaching everyone she saw in essence asking them to notice her and feed her. At 5:00 PM when they were leaving Foxie was still there outside. When everyone said "Someone needs to do something." and no one did, my delightful daughter-in-law showed her Buddhist training and took responsibility. I met Foxie about four years ago when she alighted from my daughter-in-law's car. Foxie was half starved and looking for someone to belong to. (This is key!)
In nature dogs (wolves) are pack animals. Their prey is generally larger then each individual dog (wolf) can deal with by himself. If they do not belong to a pack they starve. This is why the term "lone wolf" is derogatory. A lone wolf is rejected by the pack and will soon be a dead wolf. Membership in a pack is the key to survival for wolves.
Packs are organized by hierarchy, so that belonging to a pack means that the individual always must understand his rank in the hierarchy. This is determined mostly by dog-play, that is, dogs (and wolves) will compete with each other in fake fights.
Apparently, some East Asian wolves learned that if they recognize human beings as alpha dogs, they had all the advantages of belonging to a dog pack made up entirely of wolves. Since East Asian wolves were less aggressive than European wolves, Asian people decided that association with wolves was to their advantage. This apparently happened about 50,000 years ago. But a key to this relationship is that dogs relate to people within what we call the hierarchy. People are alpha dogs and dogs are beta dogs. Dogs challenge this (as they should) but need to be trained to their position. Society is human, not canine. Canines need to be Trained to their place in human society. Training and hierarchy are the key.
Then there are cats.
Where wolves live by catching prey that are generally larger than they are, cats are predators who go after prey that are generally smaller than they are. They are individual hunters, not pack hunters. Where pack hunters look first to where the pack leader is and what he is doing, cats are totally responsible for the results of their own actions. Cats somewhat understand hierarchy, but That is not their first priority.
But cats are also social animals. They want relationships with other animals, and they still have some hierarchy issues. If given experience with other cats at early ages, they will understand the ways to relate to other cats. If taken from their mother and siblings too early and given entirely to people with no other cats, they will not understand how to relate to other cats. They also need to be associated with people at an early age (roughly before ten weeks) to understand how to relate to people. A cat which has been properly socialized with people at an early age will enjoy being with people. But this does not seem to be as much of a social hierarchy issue as with dog. It is more a case of equals who enjoy each other. Over time, a cat will learn to trust the people he/she associates with and will expect certain treatment. My cat, a 5 1/2 lb grey and brown tabby now expects to be a bit to hop onto my lap and get stroked, or to leap to my knee and then directly to the top of the computer monitor where she presides or sleeps depending on her mood - unless I tug her tail, in which case she swings a claw at me. This is a game with us, both of us challenging each other, so no hard feelings. She trust me to not pull her tail for more than a second or until her claw is unleashed. I trust her to not carry a grudge.
So the story is, in human language, that the dogs and I relate through a social hierarchy, with me as the alpha dog. The cat and I relate as equals, friends, on a basis of trust based on experience. But I am the source of cat kibble.
All in all, it has been very educational for someone like myself who has not previously had the responsibility for animals like this.
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