One of the nicest opportunities that presents itself in this job is to watch dogs 'blossom' behaviourally...
A lovely client of mine who lives in a very rural, remote area of Kent has offered her secure paddock to dogs who need somewhere safe to run and be free so I offered to help organise a small group of new friends for her and her dog. Our first meeting was last week and it was wonderful to see 7 dogs all of different breeds and temperaments (a Lab x Collie, Lab x Dachshund, Lurcher, terriers x 2 and a Springer) simply enjoying the company of each other during sessions of play, rest, sniffing, running, drinking etc.
They formed a wonderful, natural social group with fluently transient roles depending on who fancied a chase game or scenting exercise or simply chilling out in the sun or taking some shade.
There were no fights, no squabbles, no panics. Once they all got acquainted and learned how to observe each other's personal rules (i.e. Indie the terrier was NOT prepared to tolerate rough play and enthusiastically enforced this, while Sticky the Lab x Dachshund made it quite clear he'd happily entertain anybody that wanted some ruff stuff!).
I'm going to be blogging on these play sessions with photos, video footage and commentary. It's going to be sheer joy for me to simply watch dogs being dogs... I consider it an honour to be able to observe these wonderful animals demonstrate such beautifully simple and subtle ritualistic behaviours. Yes, I may sound like I'm talking more about dolphins or some other rarely encountered animal, but to me, dogs are as fascinating and awe-inspiring as the most rare whale or tiger - we've just stopped realising it.
