A few years ago, before having a dog, I browsed the internet to know a little more about the best friend of the man. Maybe I should have bought a book because I did not find much. What I wanted to learn was: how does the dog live with us? Why does he stay with us? How does he communicate? What does he like doing most in a day? How does he reflect?
Since the years spent with them, I have read, but also observed several details about them.
The dog sees his master as the best in the world. No matter what our blunders, our loss of patience and our inability to decode his language, he continues to follow without arguing, without making us morals and especially without rancor. He will never put us back on our noses past mistakes.
Without us, there is not much. For most breeds, if a dog was left on its own in wilderness, it would not survive long. Several studies have been done on stray dogs. They never form a pack like wolves, but groups of two or three individuals follow each other and search for food together but do not hunt in an orchestrated manner. Stray dogs survive thanks to us and our cities. This is normal, since he has been with us for thousands of years. He followed us in our movements of nomadic peoples by feeding on our waste. The more sociable and the players had better chances of survival with us and so the best friend of the man was born. Solitary wolves finding the human more interesting than his fellows. Not surprising then that dogs have so much trouble understanding each other! Their language is atrophied in comparison to the wolves between them. Dogs speak human ... but not French! It's different!
Did you know that the dog is looking for our eyes to understand how to find a solution to a problem? Neither the wolf nor the chimpanzee turns to humans when confronted with a puzzle put before him by researchers.
Most dogs I know are waiting patiently for their masters when they leave the house. In many cases, even if they have access to an outdoor yard and a multitude of toys, they will stay quietly in the house to sleep. As if time stopped in the absence of the masters. My Logan drinks only if we are there. Molly will not eat her bone when we leave so she loves to eat her on the carpet in our presence.A dog can change masters quickly if the new master meets the requirements. By keeping dogs, I realize that the boarders transpose their belonging to their master on me in a few days. Yes, they are sociable with me quickly, but complicity, trust and obedience come after. All dogs can change masters and I do not believe in the phrase that says a dog has only one master. In fact I understand it differently. A dog has only one master at a specific time. The boarders follow me and not my boyfriend. Why? Because it's me who plays with them, who feeds them, who walks them, who tells them the limits. Even if my boyfriend flatters and loves them, he does not become a leader for them. But when the teacher comes back, I'm nothing! Sometimes I can still have leadership on a dog in the presence of his master. In this case, it means, in my opinion, that the master does not meet all the needs of the dog especially in terms of discipline, obedience and play. Even with our own dogs, if my boyfriend and I are walk in the forest and we go on two different trails, the dogs go on my side. It's not because I'm the finest, the most beautiful or the one who gives the most cookies ... Oooo no ... It's just that I guess I'm their guide ... of life. The one they must follow if they want to survive! You will tell me that I spend the most time with them ... Yes it is true that I spend all my days with them. But spending time with a dog does not guarantee his loyalty. In the first year of Logan's life, I lived with my friend's father. When we were at work, my father-in-law spent his days with the dog. Even though he was at home all day with Logan and was spending the afternoon on the patio rolling his ball in his crossword, when I came home, it's me. he followed everywhere in the house. He listened to me best. Just because when I was there, I worked with him. I taught him things, I took him around and imposed a certain discipline on him. What my father-in-law had a little trouble doing!
Finally, a dog is all the time there for us. It follows our eyes and even if it seems to sleep on his big cushion, just put our coat so that it gets up and come to check if we do not go out for a walk without him.
He asks nothing and will endure all that we are ready to endure, while beating the tail at each of our returns.
The least we can do is treat it well and meet its needs. Make him move, work and love him!
