The Sheer Wonder Of Dogs

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122 – The Annual, 2024-25

By Chris Robinson

One of life’s many mysteries is the emotional connection between dogs and humans. I don’t think any scientific study will ever be able to completely explain the bonds we forge with our dogs. As I sit at my desk putting words on the screen, my dog is either snoozing on his dog bed that’s between my desk and my office door or on the couch on the porch, a bit closer to the outside door.

Sometimes it causes me to shake my head in amazement. Here is a 100-pound animal with an impressive set of teeth. He is potentially a ferocious canine with a bite force somewhere in the vicinity of 230 to 240 pounds per square inch, strong enough to rip me to shreds, and yet there he peacefully sleeps, his only obligation–self-appointed by the way–until hunting seasons begin is to guard me. When we are hunting and a bird is shot, like the other members of the sporting group, despite every instinct telling him to pick it up, run off with it and eat it, he brings it back to me and gently deposits it in my hand. What’s more, there’s never a mark on the bird and if it was alive when he picked it up, it’s alive when he delivers it.

Indeed, he, and all his predecessors, have brought fledgling birds to me totally unharmed except for being a bit wet with dog drool. We have a maple tree in our yard that has a perfect launching platform for birds learning to fly. I put these baby birds on the platform after the dogs have brought them to me and when I’ve come back an hour or so later to check, they are gone so once the dog spit dried, they clearly were just fine despite their journey in my dog’s mouth.

People who herd with their dogs have made similar observations about their dogs defying their instincts. Their dogs could easily pull down and kill all but the largest livestock. My dad, who was the secretary of a mutual insurance company, adjusted many losses for farmers where a single dog got in a flock of sheep and not only raised havoc but killed several in just a few hours. Yet the herding breeds move stock easily and calmly when, like the sporting breeds, every instinct tells them that these critters are lunch and should be killed.

Click here to read the complete article
122 – The Annual, 2024-25

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Posted by AnthonyA on Dec 29 2024. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.