03-30-2018, 08:22 PM
My shiny newbie days of across-the-length-of-my-life-very-rare-for-me zoophilia-is-god optimism are behind me. I remember those days, and oldbies like Ren undoubtedly remember those days about me. I am pretty sure however old and sourpussy I imagine a lot of my fellow "decades-in-the-community" zoos have followed a similar path (and, funnily enough, years ago I often remarked about how some notoriously sourpuss 'old zoos' had been a lot more positive/optimistic in their earlier communications ... and yet here I am finding myself in that same track).
I recently read in a thread here someone saying they love dogs because (among other reasons) dogs don't judge. Its an assertion I once stated enthusiastically ... but, hate to shower on that parade, I have found that to not be true. Dogs ... for that matter, all sentient beings (sentient basically meaning possessing a complex nervous system -- the word is often confused with sapient which roughly means intelligent to the point of technological progress -- Star Trek confused the two words) judge. And mis-judge. I've recently had a refresher in this.
About a decade or so ago, I attended a small zoo gathering at a friend's home. Several area zoos attended and brought their sexy tailwaggers. My friend whom was hosting had a small male (sadly neutered) black lab I'll refer to henceforth as "Dog A", another brought a small female dog whose breed I cannot specifically recall whom I'll henceforth refer to as "Dog B."
I am a bit of an obsessive dog petter/scritcher (as anyone whom has seen me interact with dogs regularly can attest). I had visited my friend, the host of this gathering, quite a few times, and had earned a reputation with Dog A for my pets, scritches and massages, and he would get particularly excited when I'd enter and frequently come to me for my pets/scritches/massages. I happily obliged Dog A's request for pets and scritches, and as I often do, did not focus on one spot. Muzzle, all over the head, behind ears, all over the neck, all over the back, sides, belly, fore- and hind-legs, paws and tail ... I scritch 'em all! On this particular occasion, though, at the gathering, I cannot specifically recall the spot, I think it was a forepaw, but I discovered a sore/sensitive spot on Dog A as I was giving scritches. Dog A whined/yalped as I found it, and Dog B alerted and stared at me. Through the noise of the gathering, I let his owner -- the host of the gathering -- know something was amiss with his dog. Dog A was carefully carried into the host's bedroom so a thorough exam could be done away from the noise of the party.
I can't remember what the ultimate find was, might have been a tick, but the relevant bit is Dog B's reaction. She paced and whined while Dog A was sequestered in the host's bedroom to get checked out. She became terrified and upset with me, growling and not letting me near her from that point on -- not just that day, but for /years./ Just as I often earn a reputation with my friends' dogs as dispensing vast, deep and thorough pets and scritches, I acquired a reputation with her for having done something to hurt her friend (dog A) and she judged me with upset and distrust.
I've had other similar incidents, most recently with a young female dog my roommate and I were asked by a mutual friend to watch after for several weeks. She was nervous and distrustful from the getgo, but even moreso of me after I attempted to corral her away from our front door so my roommate could take his own dog out for a walk, and we were both very worried and convinced that she would escape with half a moment's opportunity to, and if she did manage to get outside unleashed, her fear of us and separation anxiety of her owner would make it impossible for us to recover her. She attacked and bit me as I attempted to corral her back in the kitchen ... I am not blaming her here, I clearly made a terrible mistake, but that incident marked me in her mind similarly to dog B previously. She slowly, gradually acclamated to my roommate, she would sleep in his room and come up to him and let him tether her to a leash and take her for walks, but not me. She would growl, run and hide from me from that point on.
I am in no way saying that dogs or other animals are stupid or mindless, but neither are they perfect beings. In my view, many of the complexities and quirks of human thought and psychology are not as unique to our species as most members of the human race believe. I have witnessed and beheld many examples of a wide variety of complex thoughts, behaviors, emotions and various elements of psychology in dogs, horses and a lot of other species.
Animals do judge, and those judgments are not always correct ... just as humans do.
