Arlo killed a bird this morning. Worse, he killed a dove.
A dove?! The universal symbol of peace?
My karma is so screwed.
He killed it while I was in the shower, and then brought it into the house. By the time I came out, the kitchen and lounge room were scattered with feathers, and the little broken bird-body was in his mouth. He grinned up at me from around the feathers, all proud of himself, and wagged his tail.
Eventually I wrenched the bird out of his clamped jaws and gave it a less than dignified burial in a plastic bag in the bin. I swept up the feathers and yelled at Arlo for getting underfoot.
I was really shaken up by it.
Anyway, it got me thinking about the basic dilemma of pet ownership: how can my precious, gentle baby transform into a ferocious predator in the time it takes me to have a shower?
The answer of course is that there is no transformation. The predator is part of the package and always has been. Dogs don’t anthropomorphize themselves, we do it. We give them names and collars and pretend they’re kindly, benevolent beings exempt from the food chain and enamoured of the salon.
'Here, I've caught us this wild raw hide chewy.'
Humans torture and kill weaker creatures all the time – within and outside of our own species. I studied history and politics, and I accept that people always have and always will be this way. So why am I in so much denial about my dog? Partly of course it’s that I don’t kill and torture people. But that’s too easy. I understand that Arlo acts out of his instinctive doggy nature.
Actually, I think it’s a deeper compulsion that makes us see our dogs as pacifists. I think we project our better side onto our dogs. We see what’s good and kind and gentle in them because we love them – it’s the same thing we do with human members of our family.
So. Despite the odd bird-murder, Arlo remains my precious puppy-angel. He’s the puppy-angel of my better nature.
Angel
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
That must have been a sock to see all the feathers and bird in Arlo’s mouth. Willow has not caught anything thing yet. It’s true they do have natural instincts to hunt.
Hi Linda, Yes, it was a shock, but it led me on an interesting journey in thinking about Arlo as a multi-dimensional ‘person’. So it’s not all bad
Thanks for your comment, I love getting them! Come back soon
x ~ Roro and Arlo
It is always so difficult to acknowledge that our fur babies are basically wild animals at heart and if we weren’t there would need to hunt for themselves. We seem to accept it of our pet cats and although we may not like them killing birds we expect they will take care of those small grey rodents with not even a second thought.
I knew someone who had three black cats who used to bring home little treasures to share and they only reacted when one of the cats brought home a snake. Rabbits, birds barely raised a comment, but the snake was apparently the limit.
There was an interesting program on SBS earlier this year about what would happen if all the people died and only animals were left. Pet dogs would either have to learn to hunt or die once all the food in cupboards/fridges had gone. The little ones first then weaker but bigger ones. It was rather confronting and very thought provoking. I wonder if Arlo had brought in a bird that wasn’t such a symbol of peace and hope, such as a minor bird, would you have reacted the same. Not wishing to make light of the experience, just a thought.
Sorry, I have rambled a bit, but this is an interesting topic.
cheers
Ruth
Ruth, your comment has made my day!
I wish I’d seen that program on SBS, it sounds fascinating. Clearly Arlo would be A-OK if we were all wiped out – there’s some comfort for me!!
It’s so true about cats; I hadn’t thought about that. I think it’s because of the way they move! The predator in cats is on the surface more than it is with dogs and so we can’t fool ourselves as readily. Could this be part of the (probably mythical) cat person/dog person divide?
I agree that once I realised it was a dove the whole thing took on a more symbolic edge! On the other hand, it also turned the experience into an anecdote, and so brought it onto my blog, and so elicited your great response. (The immediate visceral reaction would have been the same though – poor little birdie!)
Do you have dogs? I think you should write a guest post on dogMa!
All the best – ramble here anytime!
~ Ro
Yes I have an 8 mth old labradoodle named Niles who is lying beside me on the couch, generously allowing me to have just enough to sit on, LOL gently snoring and twitching away chasing the birds in his dreams. I have always been owned by dogs since my first little Australian Terrier when I was 12 months old. Niles is my fifth pup and I just couldn’t imagine life without a four legged friend.
I think you are right about cats. They just look like predators and we expect it from them but dogs are just goofy clowns, especially doodles, and although they can be trained to protect and indeed do attack we dn’t expect it and certainly don’t expect them to hunt. We forget they are just wolves at heart and exhibit so many traits if only we can recognise them.
When we play with them they can hunt and stalk us. My third pup was a Welsh Corgi and it used to try and herd us. Quite funny until she nipped at your heels!!
The bit on dogs was only part of the SBS program. The rest was really interesting talking about how long it would take for the evidence of humans to be removed. Not that long really. Forest and jungle start to grow and concrete and buildings just collapse and disappear. Both fascinating and frightening at the same time. I will email a picture of my smiling boy. He hasn’t been around long enough to have a laughing picture but this is close.
Thanks for the invite to ramble. As you can see I am pretty good at it!!
cheers
Ruth
I’m very lucky with my two. I have a border collie X and a JRT (shorty). They will both chase a squirrel until such time that they have the poor little thing cornered. When the squirrel no longer runs (because it has nowhere to go), they get fed up and walk away. For them, it’s all about the chase!!!
Haha, I love it! Just keeping them on their toes.
I love border collies!
(Reply to Ruth’s comment)
Do you know, I find it really calming and reassuring to think about nature taking over after humans disappear! I like to think that if we go too far the planet will euthanise us and start over. Go figure.
On the dog/wolf thing, the hardest thing to think about is that they became domesticated because it was in their interest to be given food – NOT because they love us!
Now that I have Arlo it’s hard to imagine not having a dog. But getting him meant giving up my pattern of living overseas every few years. That was a big mental adjustment to make! I still sometimes have a tiny panic (at least you can take kids with you!) but he more than makes up for it.
Thanks so much for your comments – it’s starting to feel like the conversation I was hoping it would be.
Best, Ro
(Reply to Ro’s Comment)
It is starting to feel like a conversation isn’t it. I have to agree that the thought of human’s disappearing and mother earth taking over again is not necessarily bad. If you look back far enough it has already happened with dinosaurs so it is arrogant of us to believe it couldn’t happen again.
It is hard when we love our animals, especially our dogs and cats to not anthropomorphise their actions. And then when they act like their wolf ancestors we are surprised and try to change them. But having said that I sill find it amusing when Niles starts to growl at his ball or acts like he is hunting. At this stage he hasn’t caught anything yet and I’m not sure he will. Bit slow sometimes.
I have found that the times in my life that I haven’t had a dog strange. Yes they are a tie and although you can take kids with you the opposite of that is I guess that you can put the dog out when they are naughty but kids have to stay inside!!
Mind you that doesn’t happen in this house!
cheers
Ruth