So much can we learn from them…..Whether we choose too is in our hands…..Happy New Year!

Wolf and I are walking down the lane. As we pass the village pump and turn into the main road, we suddenly see Wolf’s traditional enemy and rival, Rolf, standing in the middle of the road about two hundred yards away from us. We have to pass him, so a meeting is unavoidable. These two dogs which are the strongest and most feared, in other words the highest in rank in the village, cordially detest one another but at the same time are imbued with so much mutual respect that, so far as I know, they have never come to blowa. Both of them seem to view this particular encounter with equal antipathy.

From within their respective gardens they bark and threaten furiously, each convinced that only the fence prevented him from flying at each other’s throat. But now their emotions are different and, anthropomorphising somewhat, I interpret them thus : each dog feels that he must keep up his prestige by putting his former threats into action and fears that it would be ‘losing face’ not to do so. They have, of course, seen each other from afar and immediately assume an attitude of self-display, that is, they stiffen up and raise their tails vertically on high, walking more and more slowly as they approach each other. When they are separated by a mere fifteen yards or so, Rolf suddenly lies down like a crouching tiger. Neither face shows a sign of hesitation or of threatening. Foreheads and noses show no wrinkles, ears are erect and pointing forwards, eyes are wide open. Wolf  reacts in no way to the crouching attitude of Rolf, no matter how threatening the latter appears to a human eye, but, walking inflexibly up to his rival, stands still by his side. Thereupon Rolf shoots up to his full height and now the two stand flank to flank, head to tail sniffing each other’s freely proffered hindquarters. This voluntary rendering of the anal regions is the expression of self-assurance and if this is at all reduced the tail sinks immediately; one can read by its angle, as by an indicator, the level of courage in the dog.

The two animals hold this tense position for some time, then, gradually, the smooth faces begin to pucker : the foreheads are furrowed by the horizontal and vertical lines directed towards a point above the eyes; the noses are wrinkled, the fangs bared. These facial expressions are obviously threatening, and are displayed also by dogs which are frightened and threaten in self-defence when cornered. The extent of the dog’s own morale and control of the situation is indicated by two parts of the head only : the ears and the corners of the mouth. If the former are directed upwards and forwards and the latter are drawn well forward, the dog is unafraid and may attack at any moment. Every vestige of fear expresses itself in a corresponding movement of the ears and the corners of the mouth, as though the unseen powers which aid flight were pulling the animal backwards. The threatening attitude is accompanied by growling; the deeper the growls the more sure of itself the animal feels (allowing, of course, for the individual tone of of voice : a cheeky Fox-terrier will obviously growl on a higher note than a timorous St Bernard).

Still flank to flank, Rolf and Wolf begin to circle round each other. Every moment I expect the start of hostilities, but the absolute balance of power prevents the declaration of war. The growls become more ominous but still nothing happens. I have a vague suspicion, enhanced by the sidelong glances which first Wolf then Rolf throw at me that they are not only expecting but indeed hoping that I will separate them and so absolve them from the moral duty of a fight. The urge to preserve prestige and dignity is not specifically human, but lies deep into the instinctive layers of the mind which, in the higher animals, are closely related to our own.

I do not interfere but leave it to the dogs to find a dignified way out. Very slowly they separate and walk, step by step to the opposite corners of the road. Finally, still watching each other out of the corner of one eye, they lift a hind leg, simultaneously, as though at an order, Wolf against a telegraph post, Rolf against the fence. Then, in an attitude of self-display, they proceed on their own ways, each priding himself on having gained a moral victory and intimidated the other!   ‘ Man Meets Dog’,  Konrad Lorenz. Routlage Classics, Taylor and Francis Group.