clark (clark@netsites.net)
Tue, 18 Nov 1997 20:31:54 +0100
Good morning Maggie and LS,
I was sitting here reading the morning mail and your last communication
popped in and forced me to tell you a story that I think supports your
ideas.
Every morning I sit on the edge of my bed and drink coffee and look out
the window and watch my dogs interact.
The first dog was apparently a corgi that was dumped on us about ten
years ago. A very intelligent and forceful dog. A couple of years later
Nellie, A little indeterminate pup, was dumped on us. A very intelligent
pup and a real doll. The Corgi was naturally the top dog and Nellie was
very happy with this. The last year or so, The Corgi (Lady) got too old to
function as top dog and I could see her trying to get Nellie to take over.
Nellie resisted for quite a while and then reluctantly took over the top
dog spot. It was plain that she didn't want the job but felt obligated to
do it. About a Year ago I got married again (my wife and my wife's husband
having died) and my wife brought a little male Part poodle and part
something else into the family as a house dog. We put him outside with the
other dogs and he spent about a month trying to take over the top dog spot.
Nellie was willing but one could see that she had no confidence in Rascal's
top dogging ability so she again reluctantly kept the top dog spot. Rascal
subsided and seemed happy with Nellie as top dog. A little later an almost
full grown bird dog became part of the mix, a male. Rascal and the bird dog
(Pepper) had quite a round with Rascal trying to be dominant. He lost. He
was too little. Nellie kept the top dog spot because Pepper was a
rattlebrained adolescent. As Pepper matured I could see Nellie grooming him
for the top dog spot. About three weeks ago Pepper became top dog and you
could see the relief that came over Nellie when she was able to relinquish
that spot. Rascal has apparently run off, he has been gone for about two
weeks and we can't find him.
It occurred to me that this situation pretty much supported your
discussion. I would push the social level back further than the 100K years,
even before humans. If you could have watched the interaction I believe you
would have even seen some intellectual level operating here. Dogs have a
pretty sophisticated system of communication. Thought the LS might enjoy
this. Ken Clark
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