We have a little bridle pit bull. She is from
Puerto Rico and it took 3 days to catch her but
of course my friends would rescue the pup which
needed the most rescuing. I brought her home from
the airport and have had the most exposure to her
for almost 5 years. You can tell that this dog's
mom's inbreeding ingrained in her the notion that
one should NEVER allow a human to touch you. I do
considered that she has healed significantly of
this imprint but most people cannot touch her.
She is small and cute and people want to touch
her but even men who claim ALL dogs love them are
unable to get her to allow them to touch her. I
massage her and have trained her to some hand
signals which work only because I am not touching
her, but seem to have overridden the pattern. Of
course, she is still that way with most people.
If she is in a mood where she reverts, the only
way I can *catch* her is to offer a ride in the
car which is like brain candy to her.
I had a dobermann who was desensitized to everything
and I would trust her with a baby's life. Our little
brindle though, I would not trust at all if she felt
in danger, so consequently, I would not trust her.
I have also seen her *turn* on a dime. I absolutely
love to fly kites and when a good wind shows, I am
more than eager to dig out a nice delta wing. Well,
my nice delta wing is now trash because our pit bull
was so upset it was on her territory and she perceived it
with as much contempt as she holds for any of the huge
birds who come to walk on our lawn. Anyway, the vicious
attack of the kite was very sobering and she went into
some instinctive mode which looked like dog rage to me
but perhaps might be some DNA thing further up the line
well into her past. Breeders will tell you, anything
you want a pup to know, teach the mother before you
breed her. Look to the nature of the mother and father
for a gentle natured dog.
Also, if a dog "packs" up with other dogs, they will
jettison a lot of human conditioning if they decide
to be part of the crowd. All the neighbors out where
I live have dogs. We have learned that if they get in
an unsupervised group of four that they *think* and
act differently. You can see it, and certainly it has
to do with an instinct that goes back to their common
denominator, the wolf. Dogs are pack animals and so
while you can domesticate them, I have not seen evidence
that they can purposefully *forget* those instincts and
if given an opportunity, they will revert.
Having said all that though, I also think that energy
work with animals can have a tremendous impact and if
a dogs nature is open to it, they can really blossom
into sensitive animals who seek to connect with humans
or show dramatic expressions of compassion towards
humans or other animals.
blessings,
Zoe
-_-